– THE BEAK PREVIEW: Louisville vs. North Carolina

Our Louisville Cardinal Football team is on a roll. They are 2-0, ranked 19th in the country with big wins over in-state rival Kentucky and FCS member Missouri State. But the question still remains whether or not this Louisville football team is as good as it has appeared in recent weeks. That question is likely to be answered on Saturday as ACC member North Carolina rolls into town. 

Coach Strong: “You look at it, it’s an ACC opponent coming in here that just has some tradition about them. It’s a big football team and they’re going to look good. It has to be a physical game for us.” “This is great test for our program,” “I think this weekend we will find exactly where we are as a football program.”

North Carolina is 1-1 after beating up on Elon in their opener and getting beat by Wake Forest last week. The Tarheels are lead by first year coach Larry Fedora who used to be the head man at Southern Mississippi. Fedora took over the job at UNC after they were hit with a one-year bowl ban and a reduction of 15 scholarships over the next three years for violations involving illegal agent activity, improper benefits and academic fraud. He was able to convince 19 seniors on the roster to stay, even though they were eligible to transfer and play right away under NCAA rules. 

Fedora on his team:  “All we’ve done is come in and try to implement a philosophy, basically, a whole new offense, a whole new defense and a whole new special teams unit,” “We’ve worked hard at doing that. We’re not anywhere close at this time. But I think our guys have an understanding of what we’re trying to get to.”

This is the seventh meeting with UNC in a series tied at three. Last season, the TarHeels defeated Louisville 14-7 in Chapel Hill. The TarHeel defense limited the Cardinals to 273 yards to win a defensive struggle. Louisville missed a pair of field goals in the first half. This is the 11th straight season UNC has faced a Big East opponent. Since 2002, Carolina has played 16 games against Big East teams and is 7-9 in those contests with three consecutive victories.

Strong and Fedora were the defensive and offensive coordinators at Florida from 2003-04. In 2010, with Fedora coaching Southern Mississippi and Strong in his first season at Louisville, the two met in the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl with the Cardinals rallying for a 31-28 win.

UNC will come into Papa Johns Saturday energized by their high-octane new coach with his aggressive new offensive and defensive schemes. And the Cardinals will be fired up bringing in the momentum of a 2-0 record and a 19th ranking in the AP poll. This should be a great game and a great battle.

The Beak Prediction:
UofL 24 UNC 17

– THE BEAK PREVIEW: Louisville vs. Missouri St

Our Cardinals had no trouble in the home opener last weekend against instate rival Kentucky. And now its time to move on to the next opponent Missouri St. Missouri St gave Kansas St all they wanted last weekend for 3 quarters of football. They appeared primed to pull off a major upset tied 9-9 midway through the third quarter at then No. 22 Kansas State. However, the Bears gave up 35 points in the fourth en route to a 51-9 loss.

Here are a few things to consider:

The Bears and Cardinals have never met on the football field; Saturday’s meeting will also be the first for Missouri State against a Big East foe. I will play devils advocate and say that anything can happen Saturday, and we all know that Louisville had their share of difficulties against lesser opponents last season. However, a sign of growth and maturity for this team would be to handle the teams it should, particularly with a game against North Carolina looming. I think this Cardinal team is destine for greatness and will get the job done.

Score Prediction:
Louisville 55 Missouri St 7

– THE BEAK Governor’s Cup Preview: Louisville is back at home and looking for 2 in a row over Kentucky

This Sunday our Louisville Cardinals  will square off against the Kentucky Wildcats in the classic instate rivalry game in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. With a 24-17 win last year the Cardinals will be looking for their 2nd in a row over the Cats. The last time UofL won two in a row in this series was in 05 and 06.

Since the inception of the Governor’s Cup in 1994, each team has recorded a maximum of a four-game winning streak with Louisville winning from 2003-06 and Kentucky taking the Cup home from 2007-10. The Cardinals’ win last year prevented Kentucky from winning the Governor’s Cup for a record fifth-straight year. Kentucky leads the all-time series with a record of 14-10. U of L has lead the series since 1994 with a record of 10-8. The Cards go into this game listed as a double-digit favorite by many of the Las Vegas sports books.

(QUARTERBACKS)

(RUNNING BACKS & O-LINE)

(RECEIVERS)

(DEFENSE)

(SPECIAL TEAMS)

On paper, it looks to me like Louisville has an advantage with linebackers, offensive line, defensive backs, wide receivers, and running backs. Louisville also has the advantage at the quarterback position with home field. These are two big ones.The only advantage that I would give to Kentucky in this game is on the defensive line and in the kicking game. These are slight advantages in my opinion.

The Battle of the Bluegrass really shouldn’t be that much of a battle at all. These are two programs going in very different directions. But in these rivalry games you never really know for sure as UK found out last year.

The Beak’s Prediction:
Louisville 27 Kentucky 10
Louisville will win the Governor’s Cup for the second straight year

The Beak’s Pediction for the
Howard Schnellenberger Award:

My prediction for the award this year is QB Teddy Bridgewater who will finish 17 of 24 for 198 yards with one rushing TD. I believe he will win this award due to his game management.

The 2010 game was the inaugural year for the award. The award is given to the Most Valuable Player of the game. It is named for Howard Schnellenberger, who played under Bear Bryant for Kentucky and coached at Louisville.
Previous winners:
-(9-04-2010) Derrick Locke, RB@ Kentucky had 23 Carries, 104 Yards, for 2 TD’s
-(9-17-2011) Dexter Heyman, LB@ Louisville had 12 Tackles & 1 Forced Fumbles