By Chris Duncan
The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino said Tuesday what pleased him most about watching a tape of Sunday's 40-24 win at Kentucky was how well the Cardinals drained minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter.

The traditionally pass-oriented Louisville (1-0) used an effective running game to keep the ball for 11:47 on two possessions in the final period. The Cardinals finished both drives with touchdowns and derailed Kentucky's comeback hopes by simply keeping the Wildcats' offense off the field.

"That's how you need to win the game," Petrino said at his weekly news conference. "The best thing about it is we've been preaching that's why we're running the ball so much in practice. It worked out well."

It didn't hurt Petrino's plan to have burly Eric Shelton and speedier Lionel Gates carrying behind the much-improved offensive line. Shelton ran for 151 yards and Gates added 75. The duo rushed for a combined 92 yards in the fourth quarter alone.

Petrino said Shelton was particularly effective at killing time.

"He did a really nice job of taking care of the ball, staying in bounds, staying on the ball until the official asked for it," Petrino said. "When he got a little bit tired, Lionel showed a little bit of a different speed."

The Cardinals rushed for 240 yards against the Wildcats, the most by a Louisville team since 1999. Petrino praised the offensive line after the game, but was less complimentary on Tuesday, the day after he broke down the game film.

"Their effort grade was very high. They gave good second effort, they were finishing blocks as much as they could," Petrino said of the offensive front. "We have some technical things to clean up as far as our hand placement, our first step, our second step and we did have a few assignment errors. Our communication needs to be a little better, too."

Petrino found little else to nitpick.

He praised the special teams, which turned a blocked punt into a touchdown and a botched punt into a safety. Punter Wade Tydlacka did his best to keep the ball away from Kentucky's Derek Abney, who set an NCAA record with six kick returns for touchdowns last season.

"He's their No. 1 playmaker, and as long as we didn't allow him to beat us, we felt we had an opportunity to win," Petrino said.

He was also happy with Louisville's defense, although he saw several missed tackles on the tape. He said the unit tired in the third quarter, as Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen engineered two four-minute touchdown drives.

"Our defense was on the field too long," Petrino said. "The offense got together on the sideline when it was 26-24 and we said, 'It's in the offense's hands. We've got to go score and keep the defense off the field."'

The Cardinals retook control of the game behind junior quarterback Stefan LeFors, who was making his first college start. The left-hander completed three passes and rushed for 18 yards on the decisive touchdown drive bridging the third and fourth quarters.

"When you said something to him, you could see him picturing that look in his mind," Petrino said. "That's a major key for a quarterback - when you talk to him, he's got to picture that in his mind and know exactly what you're talking about.

"It was really good to see how he competed and the way the players rallied around him."

Petrino graded his own performance in his head coaching debut more harshly.

"I've got a lot to learn," he said. "I felt like I spent a lot of time wondering about the next series on offense, wondering what we were going to call.

"I wasn't even in position one time to yell at the official. I've got to make sure I do a better job of that."

The Cardinals are off this week and return to practice on Wednesday. They play at Syracuse (0-0) on Sept. 13.

"We've got a long way to go to be the team I want to be," Petrino said. "It's critical for us to have a good week of practice technically."