– “Annoying” Orange

The Louisville Cardinal football team’s quest for a perfect season came to an end yesterday as the “Annoying” Orange overwhelmed the Cards in a 45-26 rout.

Our Cards rolled into the Carrier Dome yesterday playing with house money. They had everything going their way. The Orange were playing with their backs against the wall, and needed a win to have a chance at playing in a Bowl game. It was also Senior day and Homecoming. These things proved to be all the motivation needed to pull this major upset. The Orange put 524 yards on a Louisville defense that looked unimpressive. And were lead by their senior QB Ryan Nassib who put on one last show for his home crowd throwing 15 of 23 for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Jerome Smith ran for 144 yards. And go figure! It was a guy for the Orange who’s last name is Lemon that roamed free through the Cardinals secondary all day, catching nine passes for 176 yards.

Coach Strong:“I am very embarrassed today for our program,” “We didn’t play well – the preparation and the execution weren’t there. We didn’t play well in all three phases – offense, defense and the kicking game. We have a lot to learn from this game.”

Coach Doug Marrone:“We were able to get the ball vertically down the field. We had a good balanced attack.”

It was a positive thing to see our offense continue its pace yesterday behind Teddy QB who completed 36-of-49 passes for 424 yards and three touchdowns. Eli Rodgers who had 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Keep your heads up Cardinal football fans. I seem to remember this time last year when the Orange posted a 49-23 win over West Virginia in the Carrier Dome. That also happens to be the last time Syracuse beat the #11 team in the AP Poll. But we all know what happened then. Syracuse did not win another game and finished 5-7. Meanwhile the loss proved to be some type of reality check for WVU as they won out, became Big East champs, and went to the Orange Bowl. They say history repeats itself and in this case it will. It was “Annoying” to lose Saturday but the train is still rolling in the right direction. And our Cardinal football team will finish what they started.

It is an off weekend next Saturday as our Cards will have a week to reflect and lick their wounds before returning home to face UConn in the final home game of the season.

– Our Cards are undefeated and its a “Hoot”

I’m bursting with Cardinal Pride today and it was a “Hoot” to watch our #10 Cards remain undefeated with a 45-17 victory over Temple. 20 years from now I’ll be watching a Louisville Cardinal Football game with my son and they will do a trivia segment: When was Louisville’s first 9-0 start? And I’ll smile and remember this day. It is hard to believe that almost 3 years ago we were all feeling like the folks down the road with a 4-8 season looming. I’m very proud of this team and Coach Strong. And UofL may not be able to beat anyone in the country but they can play with anyone… which is the only shot a team needs. Right?

Coach Strong: “Who’s to say, when you look at undefeated teams, take us and let us go play some of those teams and see where we stand or fall.”

The Owls came out just as I thought they would and punched the Cards in the mouth as the kick coverage breaks down when Temple’s Matt Brown returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. And the Owls were able to take the lead a couple of times in the first half behind Montel Harris and the powerful Temple running attack. These were areas I had mentioned with concern in my pre-game post. Even though the Cards sleep walked through much of the first half they were able to keep the owls caged with an offensive that looked awesome today. Teddy QB threw for a career 324 yards and 5 touchdowns, as he simply picked apart the Owls coverage. Andrell Smith also had a big day as he hauled in a pair of touchdowns, while Ryan Hubbell, DeVante Parker and Eli Rogers each caught a score in the win. Jeremy Wright had a solid effort as he ran for a 100 yards and scored a touchdown.

Coach Strong: “At start of game, you’re like, ‘My God, that’s an 8-0 football team?’ That’s what I was saying.”

Coach Strong on Kickoff Coverage: “A major concern. No. 1, we need to get the ball kicked. … We have to do a better job.”

Coach Strong on the Defense: “The only thing that bothered me on defense was the missed tackles.”

Our Cards had rallied for wins in each of their past five games so it was good to see this one get put on cruise control as we got to see heady QB Will Stein finish the game.

(ABC Telecast dubbing our team the “CARDIAC CARDS”)

The Cards have some areas to improve on and have yet to put together a complete game, but that gives us something to look forward to. I don’t need to look too far ahead though as our Cards have a lot of work left to do and it will start with a tough road battle next weekend in the Carrier Dome as they will face a hungry Syracuse team that lost to Cincy today.

It’s a great day to be a Cardinal fan. Enjoy the moment folks!

– Legaux my Keg-o

The Cards sprinted toward the end zone at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium like kids at Christmas. Sitting idly on the turf was the coveted Keg of Nails, awarded annually to the winner of the Cincinnati/Louisville football game. For the first time in four years, the Cards laid their claws on the prize. Not since October 13, 2007 had UofL beaten the Bearcats. But, after four consecutive losses, the Cardinals tasted victory, winning 34-31 on a rainy, windswept evening in Louisville.

Coach Strong: “Each week it’s going to be like this, so just prepare yourself it’s gonna be tight and it’s gonna be a finish at the end.” But when I look at this football team you can talk about tenacity, you talk about finish, and you talk about resilience.”

Munchie Legaux praised Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater last Tuesday but when he was asked if he considered Bridgewater’s game similar to his, the UC quarterback said, “I’m better. We’ll see Friday night.” But on Friday night Bridgewater let his play on the field do the talking in the win. Bridgewater passed for 417 yards and had 2TD’s and 1 interception in the huge win for the Cardinals. Legaux managed just 157 yards and threw three costly interceptions to his single TD on the night.

On a night where one would expect the Cards running game to be the key factor it wasn’t. The dynamic duo of Wright and Perry only combined for 110 yards and 2 TD’s. It was a night where the receivers and the passing game stole the show. It was the dynamic duo of Parker and Copeland that would combine for 216 yards and some monster plays. Teddy QB connected with DeVante Parker for two terrific touchdowns that included a 30 yard bomb that tied the game 24-24 early in the fourth quarter. The two would connect again for a 64 yard-er to put the Cards up 31-24. The lead would be short lived though as Cincy would put together an impressive drive of their own to tie the game 31 all.

The back and forth battle would go into overtime. On the Cincy possession Munchie Legaux would throw an interception into the end zone to Terrell Floyd. The Cards then kept the ball on the ground for 3 plays and drove 12 yards on their OT possession to give red-shirt freshman John Wallace the curtain call by kicking a 30 yard field goal to win the game. Wallace was hoisted by his team-mates hero style and carried around the field.

John Wallace: “I was calm and cool,” “I had a lot of confidence.”

This win puts Louisville in some very elite territory at 8-0 on the season. The Cards will stay at home next weekend as Temple comes to town. One can only imagine that after this wild Keg party on Friday night that our Cards will vault a few spots in this week’s polls. It was a great game and will now go down as my favorite in this rivalry.

-Cards stay perfect in Homecoming battle

The Bulls came to Louisville with one thing on their minds Saturday. They wanted to start the second half of their season off right and spoil the Cards Homecoming. But Teddy QB and company were determined not to let that happen as they survived a gutsy effort by South Florida winning the Homecoming battle 27-25. With the win our Cards move to 2-0 in the Big East and 7-0 on the season for just the third time in school history. The last time this happened was in 1925 and 2006.

Coach Strong: “You watch today, and it was a good lesson for us. They came in here, South Florida wanting to win this game bad. But we had the answer at the end.”

These two teams met for the 10th time Saturday and South Florida almost pulled off the stunner. USF kept Louisville off the scoreboard in the first quarter. But the Cardinals would open the second quarter on the USF 1 and Senorise Perry just got enough on fourth down to help give Louisville a 7-3 advantage. Then really got rolling when Jeremy Wright ran 11 yards into the end zone with 3:38 to go before the break. The first half was all about Teddy QB as he completed all 11 of his pass attempts for 125 yards and led all rushers with four attempts for 48 yards. Cards led 14-3 at halftime, but B.J. Daniels and company weren’t going to go away quietly as he threw three TD passes in the second half, the last one putting South Florida ahead 25-21 with 3:09 left. This set the stage for a impressive drive by Teddy QB as he would lead the Cards down the field 75 yards. He set up the winning TD pass by scrambling 11 yards, and officials flagged Bulls cornerback Kayvon Webster for a late hit as the QB went out of bounds. A play later, Bridgewater found Rodgers at the back of the end zone. DeDe Lattimore blocked the extra point and Louisville remained on top 27-25. On South Florida’s ensuing possession, Daniels could only advance the ball to the Bulls’ own 47 before his final throw was intercepted by Adrian Bushell. Cards close out the Bulls to even up the 10 game series at 5 each.

USF Coach Skip Holtz: “Seems like we’ve been here before, we had our opportunities today, but one thing I certainly can say is that this team did go out and just compete their tails off.”

Most impressive moment of the game in my opinion was during a goal-line stand in the third quarter when South Florida thought it had scored not once but twice. After Marcus Shaw’s 4-yard run set up 1st-and-goal from the four, the Cardinals denied the Bulls of the end zone on four straight running plays. Daniels was stuffed for no gain on fourth down and South Florida came away with nothing after eating up over five minutes of the game clock. This is the biggest defensive moment of the season for the Cards.

(Video Courtesy of uoflcardgame.com YouTube channel)

Teddy QB was my player of the game completing 21-of-25 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns connecting with nine different receivers in his seventh straight game with at least one touchdown pass. He added 74 yards rushing on 10 carries. Other mentionable Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright each scored a touchdown. Damian Copeland had 93 yards and one TD.

Cardinal Nation was hoping for a game featuring undefeated teams on Friday Night when old rival Cincy comes to town for the Keg of Nails battle. But they were upended by Toledo on Saturday. Nonetheless we will see a battle of undefeated teams in the Big East. This is also the oldest rival for each. Our Cards will look to make history as they go for an 8-0 record matching the feat of 2006.

-CARDS IN ELITE GROUP: Move to 6-0 after Pitt win

It was a very busy weekend in Cardinal Nation with both the basketball and football teams in action. But it was the football team who stole the show. They went to Pittsburg Saturday morning and took care of business winning the game 45-35. With the win, the Cardinals put themselves in an elite group with only 10 other teams being undefeated. The Cards 6-0 on the season are now ranked #16 in the AP top 25 and #14 in the USA Today Poll. This is the highest since the Cards were ranked ninth in both polls back in 2007. This is also only the 5th time in school history that the football program has started 6-0. The other years were (1925, 1957, 1972, and 2006).

This Cardinal football team has had a Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of feel to it at times. And on Saturday that wouldn’t change. In the first half, we got to see the mild sluggish Mr. Hyde side of the team as Pitt was beating us on both sides of the field and even had a special team’s breakdown with a punt being blocked for a touchdown. I can only imagine what was said in the locker room at halftime. Coach Strong: “There were some very choice words, but you have to get them going and sometime that’s the only way.” They must have been choice indeed, because when the Cards took the field to begin the 3rd quarter it was the Dr Jekyll group that we had seen for much of the season. Teddy Bridgewater hit DeVante Parker for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second half to give Louisville the lead 24-21. The Bridgewater and Paker connection was the longest TD pass of the season. And they would keep pouring it on the Panthers, as Senorise Perry would add 3 more rushing touchdowns to his first half romp to give him a career day. This is also the first Cardinal Football player to rush for 4 TDs in a game since the great Michael Bush.

Teddy QB: “Opening up the Big East schedule with a win is a big confidence boost for us,” “Hopefully it will send a message to the rest of the Big East.”

The win over Pitt ended a four-game losing streak. Bridgewater finished with 304 yards passing while Parker had four receptions for 153 yards, Senorise Perry rushed for 101 yards and a career-high four touchdowns and all of this coming after Strong’s half time pep talk.

Now the Cards come back for a home stand that starts with a Homecoming battle with South Florida next Saturday.

– Cards win a football game on a giant slip&slide

(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

It was raining cats and dogs tonight in Hattiesburg, but it was Cardinals and Golden Eagles splashing around on what looked more like a giant slip&slide than it did a football field. I think the Southern Miss folks wanted it that way but I will keep my conspiracy theories to myself. It was a gutsy effort for our young Cards to overcome such harsh conditions to get the win 21-17 as they move to 5-0 on the season giving them their best start since 2006. Southern Miss goes to 0-4 giving them their worst start since 1976.

It was not pretty but the Cardinals got the job done. They move to 5-0 on the season and are undefeated through 5 games for only the 7th time in school history. Now they will head into a bye week where they will get rested up and ready for their Big East foes.

– Cards win a scuffle in South Beach

The Cards found themselves in a scuffle on a rained soaked Saturday night in South Beach and the FIU Panthers were matching them blow for blow. The environment was as highly charged as it was expected to be as family and friends watched former hometown heroes go at it with their respective college programs. Teddy QB had his toughest night of the season but he was determined not to let his homecoming be spoiled by the Panthers and would lead his team to the victory 28-21 as the Cards go to 4-0 for the first time since 2006.

Teddy QB: “We’re 4-0 now. We’re happy.”

Tonight was also a night of first for the Louisville Cardinals. It was their first road trip, it was the first time they had to play from behind, and it was the first time Teddy QB would throw an interception. But this young football team was determined not to let it be the first loss of the season and this game is just another learning experience that will pay big dividends down the road. Coach Strong has to be overjoyed because anytime you can have a valuable learning experience and still win a game that is good stuff.

Coach Strong: “We were able to finish.”

As mentioned above Teddy QB was not as sharp as he was in his previous efforts but was still the best offensive option for the Cards completing 19 of 36 passes for 194 yards with a pair of interceptions to go with two touchdowns. And he added a score on the ground. Medlock completed 10 of 16 passes for 116 yards before he was hurt. And he looked very good in the pocket for FIU. E.J. Hilliard replaced Medlock at quarterback and was 9 for 10 for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers. He really made it rough on a Louisville defense that has trouble with a scrambling QB.

The Cards defense also showed some discipline on Saturday night as they were able to hold a Panthers offense who was averaging 420 yards of total offense well under that average.

I expect the Cards to drop a few spots in the rankings tomorrow as they did have a tough battle against a lesser opponent. They end this home and home series with FIU 1-1. And even though FIU may not be the big name program they sure did provide some great competition and they have some great talent.

Whats next for the Cards? They come back to Louisville and get ready to face a Southern Miss (0-3, 0-1) team that got blasted on Saturday night by WKU. The Cards will be on the road again next weekend under the lights on a Saturday Night at 8PM in Hattiesburg, MS in M.M. Roberts Stadium.

– Cardinals beat the Tarheels but learn “it ain’t over till it’s over”

The 19th ranked Cards came out of the gates faster than the thoroughbreds across the street a Churchill Downs today against North Carolina. They would score on their first six possessions to take a 36-7 lead into the break. The Cardinals had 19 first downs and 360 total yards in the opening half. But after the half time show was over the Tarheels QB Bryn Renner put on a show of his own throwing for 363 yards and a school-record five touchdowns outscoring the Cardinals 27-3.

All I could think about while I was watching this game unfold was how many times I heard Coach Strong say that this team was not capable of handling and maintaining success yet. Today his young team learned that you have to keep playing until the final horn blows. And they did just that. Even though North Carolina mounted a great comeback in the second half our Cards did hold on to win the game 39-34. And it was a great learning experience in the process. Sometimes a coaches greatest challenge comes when his team is winning. They often find it hard to have those teaching moments among success. But after this game Coach Strong won’t have any trouble at all.

Coach Strong would say after the game: “It’s not that they lost intensity, it’s all about your focus and going out there and finishing the game,” “At the end of the day we still won the football game.”

Teddy QB after the game: “This week, we learned we have to finish.”

With the win over North Carolina on Saturday, the Cardinals are 3-0 for the first time since the 2006 and take a 4-3 lead in the series with North Carolina.

QB Bryn Renner tied the UNC single-game record with five touchdowns, and Teddy Bridgewater went 23-of-28 for 279 yards and three touchdowns. Both of these QB’s had outstanding days for their teams.

Today was the fourth largest crowd to ever watch a game at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The place was rocking and it was another great day to be a Louisville Cardinal fan. Not only did our Cards find out what they were made of they also found out “it ain’t over till it’s over.” Very proud of our team for finding a way to grind it out. I’ve said all along that these guys are going to be special and so far they haven’t disappointed.

– Cards take it to the Bears and Teddy QB leads the way.

It was a great day for football in Louisville at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium. And there was a great crowd on hand to watch the Cardinals take on the Bears. Missouri St did provide some competitive spirit but they were no match for a stingy Louisville defense and offense that wouldn’t disappoint as QB Teddy Bridgewater lead the team to a solid victory 35-7.

Teddy QB had a career day completing 30 of 39 passes 344 yards and touchdowns to tight ends Nate Nord and Ryan Hubbell. He would  connect  with 10 different receivers to help keep the Cardinals in control throughout the day. Louisville racked up 475 yards of total offense and was a combined 11 of 17 converting on third and fourth downs.

Charles Gaines had a game-high 73 yards including a 55-yard deep ball in his first time seeing action for the Cards. Eli Rogers had six receptions. Senorise Perry led the team in rushing again this week with 72 yards and one touchdown.

The Cardinal defense did its part as well, holding the MSU offense to just 249 yards of total offense on the day. UofL was really effective in stoping the Bears’ rushing attack, limiting MSU to 99 yards on 31 carries. Calvin Pryor led the defense with eight tackles and one interception. Lorenzo Mauldin had one sack.

Coach Charlie Strong seemed pleased with his teams effort but was a bit discouraged by the execution. The Cards had 9 penalties in the game. 

Strong: “I am very pleased with the victory, but what’s frustrating is that we played hard but did not play smart,”  “If you look at last week, our offense ran pretty well and then this week we sputtered in the first half. Defensively we were able to make some plays.”

It was another great day to be a Louisville Cardinal fan. Much has been said about changing the culture of the football program. During the last two weeks I have experienced that culture change first hand. You can see the pride that Louisville fans have for this team and this system. Fans show up early and they leave late. The Cards have not disappointed and are now 2-0 ranked 23rd in the nation. Up next is North Carolina.