Louisville football | Petrino says Boston College loss a chance to overcome 'adversity'

Louisville coach Bobby Petrino didn't offer many excuses at his weekly press conference Monday while reviewing his football team's most embarrassing loss of the season, a 45-42 defeat to Boston College.

Here are a few quick takeaways from his Q&A: 

► Petrino opened his press conference talking about adversity, a point he circled back to in order to compare Louisville to the Green Bay Packers and to Clemson. 

"Every team in America goes through adversity," Petrino said. "There are other teams out there going through it right now. The Green Bay Packers lost their quarterback. Clemson got beat. That's part of what this game is supposed to teach these young men. ... Stick with it, have a great work ethic and show mental toughness."

It might be a bit of a stretch to compare allowing Boston College 364 rushing yards with a six-time Pro Bowl quarterback breaking his collarbone. Still, this is as much adversity as Louisville has faced in recent memory. 

Last season, the Cardinals allowed NC State and Boston College a combined 20 points. This season, 84 points.

More:Boston College shocks Louisville football, winning on field goal as time expires

More:Four quick takeaways from Louisville's stunning loss to Boston College

► Petrino attributed his defense's struggles against Boston College to a "little bit of everything." 

What exactly does that mean? Caving into mental and physical fatigue from long drives, not getting in position to defend routes or failing to execute defensive schemes or any combination of the three, according to Petrino.

"We'll work on the game plan, but we've got to work on our technique and our fundamentals, too," Petrino said. "Like I said, tackling, we've got to come in and be physical, shoot our hips, run our feet, get more guys to the football."

► While Petrino portioned some blame onto his offense, defense and special teams, he ultimately called the loss "my responsibility."

"It's my job to make sure we can execute and do all those three things, and we weren't able to do that," he said. 

► Petrino didn't offer any criticism of quarterback Lamar Jackson, saying "Lamar is playing as well as anyone could ever play." 

Jackson was responsible for five of Louisville's six touchdowns against Boston College and set the program's career records for rushing yards (3,221) and rushing touchdowns (42) in the process. 

Petrino barely mentioned Jackson on Monday, seeming more preoccupied with addressing his team's defensive shortcomings. Maybe rightfully so, since Louisville gave up the most points Boston College has scored on a Power Five opponent since 2009.

► Petrino was complimentary of running back Reggie Bonnafon, who rushed for a 64-yard score in the second quarter. 

"One of the things that you really work on, and we've got to do this on defense, is that on every play we always say there's either a hammer or a nail; someone doing the hitting or being hit," Petrino said. "A few weeks back we addressed that with Reggie and Reggie really finished runs. He snapped his hips. He was the guy who was hitting when he ran with the football, and that was really good to see. I think his confidence and his ability to hit the hole is what allowed him to make that long touchdown run." 

We can also expect to see Trey Smith getting more reps and carries going forward. Louisville especially needs continued production from Bonnafon and Smith given the multitude of injuries to its running backs this season.

Speaking of which ... 

► Dae Williams is "good to go" for this weekend against Florida State, Petrino said. The redshirt freshman has been recovering from a torn ACL and was cleared to play last week but did not see the field against Boston College. 

Also on the injury front: Petrino said wide receiver Seth Dawkins did not play Saturday because he was hurt but declined to elaborate on Dawkins' injury or status. 

► Florida State's defensive front looks similar this season to what it was last season, but Petrino said he expects the Seminoles' offense to pose a challenge to the Cardinals' inconsistent defense.

"I think it's going to be really important that we set edges, because they like to run the outside zone play, and they do a really good job of it," Petrino said. 

►Petrino is also familiar with Florida State quarterback James Blackman, who attended Louisville's QB academy a few years ago. Blackman is completing 63 percent of his passes this season and went 18-for-21 for 197 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against Duke on Saturday. 

Sports enterprise reporter Danielle Lerner can be reached at dlerner@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4042.