(Photo GoCards.com)
The 2013 University of Louisville football season began last Monday evening when the players reported to camp at 6 p.m. When we last saw our football team on the field, they were beating the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl, earning the program’s second BCS victory. They will be looking to carry the momentum from that great season finale into the 2013 season. They will start the 2013 campaign ranked in the top 10 in the coaches poll, unanimous choice to win the AAC and a bona fide BCS championship candidate. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Cards had their open practices for fans to get a look at the team before the doors close and the real work begins. Below is some photos of this years group I shot during Wednesday nights practice. I have also added my breakdown of the season ahead.
The Cards finished the 2012 season ranked 52nd in the nation on offense averaging 31.2 points a game. With the fire power returning this year I expect this offense to put up huge numbers and quite possibly surpass their points per game average last season as they go against some shaky secondaries. Louisville’s offensive attack this season will be lead by our Heisman candidate Teddy Bridgewater. He turned in a stellar 2012 season throwing for over 3700 yards and 27 touchdowns and is sure to be a headache for opposing defenses again this season.
The Cards finished last season ranked 24th in the nation in passing yards averaging 296.1 yards a game. 70.7 percent of Louisville’s yards came from the passing game, the 15th-highest total in the country. Louisville had one of the best passing teams last year and will return one of the most talented and deepest group of receivers in the nation this season. They will be led by DeVante Parker who had 744 yards and 10 touchdowns last season and Damian Copeland who had 628 yards and 2 touchdowns last season. QB Teddy Bridgewater will have plenty of targets at his disposal with returning players Eli Rodgers and former starter Michaelee Harris along with the talented group of newcomers Tennessee transfer Matt Milton, Florida transfers Gerald Christian, Robert Clark and five-star recruit from Louisville Trinity James Quick.
The Cards finished last season ranked 105th in the country in rushing averaging 122.2 yards a game. The rushing attack will need to step up with the departure of Jeremy Wright. Wright accounted for 824 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. They return a stable of backs that should be able to make up for that production. The Cards will be led by Senorise Perry who had 705 yards and 11 touchdowns last season before he was sidelined with an injury. He is rehabbed and will hopefully return to the line-up. The rushing game will also look for heavy production from Dominique Brown who carried for over 500 yards in 2011 before missing last year with an injury. He has lost weight and gained muscle during his rehab year making him more explosive. He has also had the chance to learn more about the blocking schemes and where he should run making him more effective. Also competing for time this season will be Brandon Radcliff and Corvin Lamb two guys that had a great springs. Oh yea, and there’s that one guy who was added recently Michael Dyer. The kid was a beast at Auburn and is a proven winner. But until he earns his way into the rotation he’s still a question mark. He’s been out of football for a year.
The main losses off of the offense from last season are along the offensive line with the departures of tight ends Andrell Smith and Nate Nord, tackle Alex Kupper and center Mario Benavides.
Mario was big at the center spot and captained all of the calls for the offense. He will be replaced by Jake Smith who had a great spring and the coaches have full confidence in him stepping up to the challenge.
Kupper will be the toughest of the three to replace as he could play all five positions. And that’s one of the things that made him stand out to the NFL scouts. Jamon Brown will be the guy that try’s to fill his shoes and coaches believe that he has the skill set to do it and just lacks the experience.
Smith and Nord were fly under the radar type guys last season and the coaching staff was able to do some very creative things with them on offense. They will be missed but there are still some very good players at that position to fill there spots. BJ Butler and Ryan Hubbell will need to step up.
Charlie Strong is the man with the ultimate defensive plan. He has defense running through his veins and was the man behind all those great defenses at Florida when they won their national titles. Louisville’s defense has grown leaps and bounds over the last couple of seasons and continues to improve. In 2012, the Cardinals finished 12th against the pass nationally, 48th against the run, and finished ranked 23rd overall with opponents averaging 24.8 points a game on them. As more speed and athleticism is recruited to this program from the sunshine state look for these numbers to improve.
The center piece of this years defense is in the secondary where the Cards have two grizzled veterans in safeties Calvin Pryor and Hakeem Smith, both combined for over 170 tackles last season. Leading the charge at the second level are linebackers Preston Brown (2012 Big East Defensive Player of the year candidate) and Keith Brown (2012 Freshman All-American). Preston lead the Cards in tackles with 109 and Keith had 57 tackles. The guys holding down the defensive line are lead by Marcus Smith who had 29 tackles with 4 sacks last year, and Brandon Dunn who had 28 tackles with 2 sacks last year. I look for Lorenzo Mauldin to also have a big year. He had 22 tackles last season and lead the team in sacks with 4.5. The Cards did lose a great defensive player in Adrian Bushell. He was a quality cover man and strong presence in the locker room.
On Special teams John Wallace will be called on to continue his consistency in the kicking game. He knocked in all 14 attempts from 40 yards or closer last year including a heroic game winner in the “Keg of Nails” battle. Like most seasons punt return and kick return teams will be fairly open competition this summer with a few candidates vying for those slots. I think Kai De La Cruz will be called on for the punt return duties.
Cardinal fans we are less than 4 weeks from kickoff and a lot of things could change from my projections above. Coach Charlie Strong will make each one of these young men earn the reps and field time they get. And they will all be battling for that time. One thing is for certain, and you can guarantee that our coaching staff will have these guys ready to go when that ball is kicked on September 1st.