oct. 5, 2011 issue: can cards make carolina blue?

VOLUME XVI • NUMBER 7OCTOBER 5, 2011

$3.00

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT FEBRUARY 3, 2011

A

OCTOBER 5, 2011 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT PAGE 3

E D I T O R I A L S T A F F

GENERAL MANAGER - Jack Coffee

SENIOR WRITER AND EDITOR - Russ Brown

OPERATIONS MANAGER - Howie Lindsey

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES - Mickey Clark, Betty Olsen and Blanche Kitchen

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS - Dave Klotz, Shelley Feller, Gail Kamenish,

Howie Lindsey and Chuck Feist

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTS - Matt Willinger, Jeff Wafford,

Jason Puckett and Rick Cushing

GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Scott Stortz

COPY EDITOR - Rick Cushing

The Louisville SportsReport is printed in Kentucky and based in Louisville. It is published weekly in January, February and March, monthly in April, May, June and July and weekly mid-August through late December by Louisville Sports News, L.L.C., in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville Sports News, L.L.C.: Owner and General Manager - Jack Coffee. The SportsReport was founded in 1996. United States Postal Number: 015255

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VOLUME XVI, NUMBER 7 • OCTOBER 5, 2011

CSPACOLLEGESPORTS

PUBLISHERSASSOCIATIONCOVER DESIGNED

BY SCOTT STORTZ

AMERICA’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ONUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE ATHLETICS®

Office Phone: (502) 636-4330Fax: (502) 636-9265

E-mail: [email protected]

Official Web site:www.cardinalsports.com

W H A T ’ S I N S I D E

4 LOUISVILLE DEPTH CHART, MARSHALL GAME STATS6 YOUNG PLAYERS EXUDE TALENT By Mark Ennis8 CONFERENCE SHIFTS NOTHING NEW FOR UOFL By Jack Coffee10 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By Howie Lindsey11 UNC HAS STEPPED UP BEHIND A COUPLE OF YOUNGSTERS By Rick Cushing12,14 LOUISVILLE-MARSHALL GAME DAY PHOTO GALLERY

15 CARDS LAND BIG TIGHT END PROSPECT FROM GLASGOW By Jeff Wafford17 BIG EAST MAKING MOVES TO STRENGTHEN LEAGUE By Howie Lindsey17 A TAKE ON CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT - STAY PUT By Jack Coffee18 CARDINAL STARS OF THE WEEK By Howie Lindsey19 NEW TENNIS GENERATION READY TO MAKE OWN MARK By Russ Brown24 CARDINAL KIDS PHOTO GALLERY

16 THREE THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSEDUofL’s offense, which didn’t produce a fi rst down until six minutes into the second quarter, came alive when the Cardinals went to a no-huddle, hurry-up attack led by freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

5 STRONG WANTS PLAYERS ‘LOCKED IN’Louisville coach Charlie Strong wasn’t happy with his team’s focus against Marshall. “We are not good enough to just roll the ball out onto the fi eld and play anyone,” he said.

20,21 BIG EAST TAKES MORE HITSRutgers and Syracuse played as poor an exhibition as you could ever witness, combining for nine turnovers, fi ve missed fi eld goals, a botched extra point and 13 penalties. Oh, and UConn, last year’s champ, lost to Western Michigan.

9 LINE HEALTHY, BUT NOT SOLIDJunior Mario Benavides entered the Louisville lineup for the fi rst time this season, but his return was spoiled by the upset loss to Marshall. “Every loss is bad, but being my fi rst game back, it’s tough. It stinks,” he said.

22 SOCCER KEEPS SPIRITDespite suffering back-to-back losses for the fi rst time since 2008, the No. 8 Louisville soccer team is keeping its spirits up with the encouragement of their coach. Cards go on the road to face No. 6 Indiana next.

LOUISVILLE’S HONORED GUESTSPrior to Saturday’s game, four Kentucky natives were honored for receiving the U.S. Military Medal of Honor: U.S. Air Force major Leo Thorsness, U.S. Army private fi rst class Ernest West, U.S. Army sergeant fi rst class Gary L. Littrell, and U.S. Marine Corps staff sergeant John McGinty. Thorsness, Littrell and McGinty served in the Vietnam War, and West served in the Korean War. - photo by Howie Lindsey

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OCT. 11

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7 CARDINAL ROAD STARS?Louisville has a 4-2 road record under Charlie Strong, but a 2-6 record against FBS teams at home. Will that trend continue this weekend against North Carolina? Strong certainly hopes so.

DID YOU MISS LAST WEEK’S ISSUE? IT WAS A DIGITAL EDITION, AND WAS NOT PRINTED AND MAILED. YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR DIGITAL COPY OF THE MAGAZINE EACH WEEK AT WWW.LOUISVILLESPORTSNEWS.COM OR CARDINALSPORTS.COM.

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT OCTOBER 5, 2011

CARDINAL FOOTBALL

OFFENSEQUARTERBACK 5 Teddy Bridgewater 6-3 205 Fr. 4 Will Stein (INJ) 5-10 176 Jr.10 Dominique Brown 6-2 221 So. RUNNING BACK 20 Victor Anderson (or) 5-10 189 Sr. 28 Jeremy Wright 5-11 199 So. 10 Dominique Brown 6-2 221 So. 32 Senorise Perry (or) 6-0 201 So. 30 Kamal Hogan (or) 5-11 209 r-Fr. 22 Corvin Lamb 5-9 206 Fr. X-WIDE RECEIVER 14 Andrell Smith 6-3 209 Jr. 9 DeVante Parker 6-3 180 Fr. H-WIDE RECEIVER 1 Josh Bellamy 6-0 206 Sr. 82 Eli Rogers 5-10 184 Fr. Z-WIDE RECEIVER 2 Michaelee Harris 6-2 198 r-Fr. 89 Scott Radcliff 5-10 182 Jr. 88 Jarrett Davis 5-10 172 So. TIGHT END 11 Josh Chichester 6-8 240 Sr. 80 Stephon Ball (or) 6-4 231 Jr. 81 Chris White 6-4 243 r-Fr. 85 Nate Nord 6-5 248 Jr. LEFT TACKLE 73 Hector Hernandez 6-5 294 Sr. 78 Aaron Epps 6-5 265 Fr. LEFT GUARD 66 Alex Kupper 6-3 295 Jr. 68 Kamran Joyer 6-3 299 So. 70 John Miller INJ. 6-2 308 Fr. CENTER 55 Mario Benavides 6-4 300 Jr. 62 John Clark 6-2 305 Sr. RIGHT GUARD 53 Jake Smith 6-3 315 r-Fr. 72 Hunter Stout (or) 6-4 291 So. 76 Chase Petersen 6-4 294 Fr. RIGHT TACKLE 75 Ryan Kessling 6-5 314 Sr. 71 Chris Acosta 6-3 275 r-Fr.

DEFENSEFOX END 44 B.J. Butler 6-2 276 So. 91 William Savoy 6-1 248 Sr. 47 Malcolm Mitchell 6-2 236 So. DEFENSIVE TACKLE 95 Randy Salmon 6-3 291 Jr. 93 Roy Philon 6-3 272 So.

NOSE TACKLE 92 Brandon Dunn 6-3 308 So. 99 Jamaine Brooks 6-4 318 r-Fr. DEFENSIVE END 6 Greg Scruggs 6-4 280 Sr. 17 Marcus Smith 6-4 255 So. 90 B.J. Dubose 6-4 257 Fr. SAM LINEBACKER 2 Preston Brown 6-0 258 So. 34 George Durant 6-2 229 So. MIKE LINEBACKER 46 Dexter Heyman 6-3 239 Sr. 51 Mike Privott 6-0 224 So. 37 Tyon Dixon 6-0 208 So. WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER 24 Daniel Brown 6-1 219 Jr. 43 Deon Rogers 6-2 200 So. 31 Champ Lee 6-0 204 So. CORNERBACK 35 Anthony Conner 5-11 187 Sr. 3 Charles Gaines INJ 5-10 176 Fr. STRONG SAFETY 29 Hakeem Smith 6-1 183 So. 27 Jermaine Reve 6-2 175 Fr. FREE SAFETY 36 Shenard Holton 6-1 187 Jr. 25 Calvin Pryor 6-1 190 Fr. 33 Mike Evans 5-11 188 Sr. CORNERBACK 21 Adrian Bushell 5-11 190 Jr.5 Andrew Johnson INJ 5-10 178 Fr. 41 Stephan Robinson 5-8 175 r-Fr.

SPECIAL TEAMSPUNTER

12 Chris Philpott (or) 6-0 198 Sr.

40 Josh Bleser 6-2 213 Sr.

PLACEKICKER

12 Chris Philpott 6-0 198 Sr.

35 Andrew Fletcher 5-8 170 r-Fr.

LONG SNAPPER

33 Grant Donovan 6-1 213 r-Fr.

85 Nate Nord 6-5 248 Jr.

HOLDER

40 Josh Bleser 6-2 213 Sr.

4 Will Stein 5-10 176 Jr.

PUNT RETURN

89 Scott Radcliff (or) 5-10 182 Jr.

82 Eli Rogers 5-10 184 Fr.

KICKOFF RETURNS

20 Victor Anderson 5-10 189 Sr.

28 Jeremy Wright 5-11 199 So.

1 Josh Bellamy 6-0 206 Sr.

2011 CARDINAL DEPTH CHARTGAME STATSMARSHALL (2-3) vs. LOUISVILLE (2-2)Date: Oct 01, 2011 Site: Louisville, KY Stadium: Papa John’s CardinalAttendance: 53,267

SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 SCOREMARSHALL 7 0 3 7 17LOUISVILLE 0 13 0 0 13

SCORING SUMMARY:1st 08:28 MARSHALL - KING, Jazz 2 yd pass from CATO, Rakeem (WARNER, Tyler kick) 12 plays, 79 yards, TOP 6:32, MARSHALL 7 - LOU 02nd 03:48 LOU - BRIDGEWATER, T. 9 yd run (Philpott, Chris kick) 15 plays, 93 yards, TOP 5:51, MARSHALL 7 - LOU 700:33 LOU - ANDERSON, Vic 41 yd pass from BRIDGEWATER, T. (Philpott, Chris kick blockd) 3 plays, 69 yards, TOP 0:54, MAR-SHALL 7 - LOU 133rd 01:00 MARSHALL - HAIG, Justin 24 yd fi eld goal 7 plays, 62 yards, TOP 2:54, MARSHALL 10 - LOU 134th 01:49 MARSHALL - CRAWFORD, C.J. 3 yd pass from CATO, Rakeem (HAIG, Justin kick) 5 plays, 30 yards, TOP 2:43, MAR-SHALL 17 - LOU 13

KICKOFF TIME: 3:35PM END OF GAME: 6:32PM TOTAL ELAPSED TIME: 2:57OFFICIALS: REFEREE: B. ROGERS; UMPIRE: R. KOZICA; LINES-MAN: K. HUNTER; LINE JUDGE: H. CRUZ; BACK JUDGE: P. JONES; FIELD JUDGE: M. WINDHAM; SIDE JUDGE: P. JONES;TEMPERATURE: 59 WIND: NNW11MPH WEATHER: CLOUDY

TEAM STATS MARSHALL LOU FIRST DOWNS................... 21 16 Rushing..................... 6 7 Passing..................... 12 9 Penalty..................... 3 0NET YARDS RUSHING............. 117 60 Rushing Attempts............ 45 29 Average Per Rush............ 2.6 2.1 Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 1 Yards Gained Rushing........ 151 95 Yards Lost Rushing.......... 34 35NET YARDS PASSING............. 236 221 Completions-Attempts-Int.... 18-30-0 20-29-2 Average Per Attempt......... 7.9 7.6 Average Per Completion...... 13.1 11.1 Passing Touchdowns.......... 2 1TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 353 281 Total offense plays......... 75 58 Average Gain Per Play....... 4.7 4.8Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 1-0 1-0Penalties: Number-Yards....... 3-25 11-91PUNTS-YARDS................... 5-185 6-254 Average Yards Per Punt...... 37.0 42.3 Net Yards Per Punt.......... 33.6 42.3 Inside 20................... 4 3 50+ Yards................... 0 1 Touchbacks.................. 0 0 Fair catch.................. 2 2KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 4-233 3-181 Average Yards Per Kickoff... 58.2 60.3 Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 45.0 40.3 Touchbacks.................. 1 0Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 0-0-0 3-17-0 Average Per Return.......... 0.0 5.7Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 3-60-0 2-33-0 Average Per Return.......... 20.0 16.5Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 2-0-0 0-0-0Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0Possession Time............... 34:44 25:16

1st Quarter................. 11:11 3:49 2nd Quarter................. 7:15 7:45 3rd Quarter................. 6:54 8:06 4th Quarter................. 9:24 5:36Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 16 6 of 14Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 0 of 0Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-4 1-1 Touchdowns.................. 2-4 1-1 Field goals................. 1-3 0-1Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 5-20 2-11PAT Kicks..................... 2-2 1-2

INDIVIDUAL STATSRushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg AvgANDERSON, Vic 6 26 2 24 0 17 4.0Perry, Senorise 2 16 0 16 0 13 8.0BRIDGEWATER, T. 14 39 23 16 1 10 1.1BROWN, D. 6 14 3 11 0 6 1.8TEAM 1 0 7 -7 0 0 -7.0Totals... 29 95 35 60 1 17 2.1

Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long SackBRIDGEWATER, T. 20-29-2 221 1 41 5 Totals... 20-29-2 221 1 41 5

Receiving No. Yds TD Long HARRIS, M. 4 34 0 15CHICHESTER, J. 3 62 0 29Davis, Jarrett 3 32 0 13Bellamy, Josh 3 19 0 8ANDERSON, Vic 2 40 1 41Smith, Andrell 2 18 0 10Parker, DeVante 1 9 0 9BROWN, D. 1 6 0 6Wright, Jeremy 1 1 0 1 Totals... 20 221 1 41

Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TBPhilpott, Chris 6 254 42.3 67 3 0 Totals... 6 254 42.3 67 3 0

Punts Kickoffs InterceptAll Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.LgWright, Jeremy 0 0 0 1 23 23 0 0 0Jaboin, Kenneth 0 0 0 1 10 10 0 0 0Rogers, Eli 2 17 9 0 0 0 0 0 0Radcliff, Scott 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals... 3 17 9 2 33 23 0 0 0

Kickoffs No. Yds TB OB Avg Philpott, Chris 3 181 0 0 60.3

DEFENSIVE STATSNo. Player Solo Ast Tot

29 Smith, Hakeem 9 1 10

2 Brown, Preston 5 2 7

93 Philon, Roy 5 1 6

36 Holton, Shenard 4 2 6

21 Bushell, Adrian 4 2 6

24 Brown, Daniel 3 3 6

35 Conner, Anthony 4 . 4

46 Heyman, Dexter 2 2 4

41 ROBINSON, S. 3 . 3

33 Evans, Mike 2 . 2

95 Salmon, Randy 1 1 2

44 Butler, B.J. 1 1 2

43 Rogers, Deon . 2 2

32 Perry, Senorise 1 . 1

6 Scruggs, Greg 1 . 1

91 Savoy, William . 1 1

92 Dunn, Brandon . 1 1

47 MITCHELL, M. . 1 1


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONCARDINAL FOOTBALL

S T E I N C O U L D B E R E A D Y T O R E T U R N

ANGRY STRONG WANTS HIS PLAYERS ‘LOCKED IN’ AT UNCBy Russ BrownAfter Saturday’s 17-13 loss to Marshall,

University of Louisville football coach Char-lie Strong was angrier and more animated than he’s been at any other time during his brief tenure with the Cardinals, almost shouting at his postgame press conference as he called the defeat “an embarrass-ment,” among other things.

“We have all kinds of problems,” he said. “This program is nowhere near where it needs to be. We have so many issues we have to solve. We have eight games to get it fi xed.”

About 40 hours later, Strong had calmed down. But not much.

During his regular Monday press confer-ence, a day after the Cards (2-2) started pre-paring for their Saturday afternoon (noon kick-off) game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Strong was still fuming

as he ticked off his team’s -- and his own -- shortcomings.

And he said the results will be the same against the Tar Heels (4-1) if the Cards don’t mend their ways in a hurry.

“I need guys who are locked in, focused and ready to go play,” he said. “We talk about moving this program forward, but we took a step backward because of our performance. If we’re going to be who we say we are and we’re going to be who we want to be, then it has to be work every day and the accountability and responsibility has to be there. Everything has to work because we’re not good enough to just roll the ball out on the fi eld and go play anyone. We’re not that football team right now.”

Senior wide receiver Josh Chichester said he doesn’t blame Strong for being upset and expects a rough week of practice, but that he is willing to endure whatever it takes to get the Cards straightened out.

“Coach is boiling right now, as he should be, because we’re not the team we’ve been showing lately,” Chichester said. “I’m not dreading practice at all because you’ve got to bounce back from a loss. No matter how heated he is, we’ve got to take it and move forward. So I’m ready for whatever he has planned for us.”

One good piece of news is that UofL might regain the services of starting quar-terback Will Stein for the North Carolina game. Strong said Stein, who missed most of the Kentucky game and all of the Mar-shall contest with a shoulder injury, is close to being ready, but declined to predict whether the junior would be able to play Saturday. He said Stein is day to day.

True freshman Teddy Bridgewater made his fi rst collegiate start against Marshall, and Strong said Bridgewater “played very well” despite throwing two critical intercep-tions in the fi nal minutes, one of which led

to Marshall’s game-winning touchdown.“Teddy threw the ball well,” Strong said.

“He had a lot of pressure, had to run out a time or two. The touchdown he scored where he tried to hurdle that defensive back, I told him, ‘We only have one quar-terback, don’t get hurt.’ Will Stein is getting better. He wasn’t 100 percent Saturday, but if something had happened to Teddy we probably would have had to play him be-cause we don’t have anybody else. Each day if we can just get Will to keep coming, by Saturday we hope to have him 100 per-cent. We’ll wait til game day to make that evaluation.”

North Carolina has played well despite having suddenly lost its head coach, Butch Davis, who was fi red over the summer due to a recruiting scandal that led to NCAA probation and player suspensions. Defen-sive coordinator Everett Winters, a former UofL assistant from 1995-97 under Ron Cooper, was named interim head coach.

The Tar Heels have a balanced attack fea-turing sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner, redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard and senior wide receiver Dwight Jones. Renner is fi fth in the country in pass effi -ciency and Bernard is 19th in rushing, with 109.7 yards per game and a 7.0 average per carry. Jones (6-4, 225) was a fi rst-team All-ACC choice last year and has caught 33 passes for six touchdowns this season.

“North Carolina is a very talented foot-ball team,” Strong said. “Jones is tall; they just throw the ball up and he goes up over people and takes the ball from them. Their offensive line is 6-7, 6-2, 6-7, 6-7, 6-7, very tall. It’s going to be a good test for us be-cause they’re a very strong, powerful foot-ball team.

“Defensively, they have a defensive end (6-6, 285 senior Quinton Coples) who’s projected in the top fi ve of the draft, so they’ve recruited well, have some NFL pros-

pects. We’ll just see where we are and see if we can bounce back from losing here. We’ll see the character of this football team and what exactly we’re made of.”

Strong said he could see all week that the Cards weren’t taking Marshall as seri-ously as they should have, and he showed them practice clips to back up his point.

“I said, ‘If you play like this on Saturday you’re going to lose the game,’” Strong said. “We played like that on Saturday, and that’s what happened.”

Strong second-guessed himself for not pulling his players off the fi eld during warmups when he again sensed that they lacked focus and emotion. He said if he had it to do all over again, or if he sees a similar situation at North Carolina, he will react dif-ferently.

“For us to go out ... you had two weeks to get ready for a football game. Yes, you were patted on your back after the Ken-tucky win. It’s behind you. Put that game behind you and go get ready for the next one, and we didn’t do that. We still lived off that game, and guys were still all excited.

“I saw it coming and I didn’t do any-thing about it. In pregame warmups I saw it and started to blow the whistle and take the team off the fi eld. But I thought, ‘OK, let’s get them out here and maybe when I call, ‘Team up,’ they’ll get going, and it never happened. It’s my fault, my fault for their performance, and it can never happen again within this program.

“A lot of times when you see a football team, you know when they’re focused. When we went to play Kentucky, they were totally focused. There was nothing that was going to take their mind off that game. Out here on Saturday, they were looking in the stands, high-fi ving, jumping around, yell-ing. I don’t need that false enthusiasm, I need guys who are locked in and focused and ready to go play. We had so much false

enthusiasm out there Saturday.”Strong pointed out numerous sins com-

mitted by his team against Marshall, themost damaging being 11 penalties, poorexecution in the running game and a de-fense that allowed three third-down con-versions on the Thundering Herd’s openingtouchdown drive and 7 of 14 overall.

Strong said the loss to the 1-3, 11-point underdog from Conference USA was a bit-ter pill to swallow and apologized to anymedia members who thought his wrath inhis post game press conference was direct-ed at them. However, while criticizing everyaspect of his team’s play, he didn’t sparehimself of blame.

“After Saturday’s game I was really up-set, so I want to say this to each of you,”he said. “It has nothing to do with you. Itwas just the performance of myself andour football team. I don’t want you to everthink that any question you asked me isever taken personal. I’m going to answerthe question, and I don’t want to ever wantyou to think it’s an attack on you at all.

“But it was so hard for me to stomach that loss. Still hard. I’ve been involved in alot of games, and it’s just so hard to stom-ach because we just didn’t prepare ourfootball team. We did a poor job coaching,our players did a poor job of playing. Every-one has a job to do, and I expect it to bedone every Saturday. There’s only so manyopportunities, and when you’ve been givenan opportunity -- there’s 12 -- you cannotwaste an opportunity.

“I tell our players all the time, you think about all the weightlifting you go through,all the meetings, all the practices ... and forus not to go out and play with energy, forus not to go out and play with emotion, forus to not to go out and play fast, play as ateam, play for one another, is unacceptable,and it can never happen again. It was justa poor, poor performance by our coachingstaff and our players.”

Strong said his team didn’t show tough-ness, intelligence or discipline in the loss, asevidenced by losing the battle at the line ofscrimmage on both sides of the ball, lackof a running attack, missed assignmentsand the penalties. He noted there were 24blown assignments on defense alone.

Strong also bemoaned the continuing lack of senior leadership, with the excep-tion of middle linebacker Dexter Heyman,who he said is doing a good job in that de-partment.

“Dexter is trying his best to be a leader, but you’re still missing leadership,” Strongsaid. “Not only him, but you need three orfour guys to step up and say, ‘This is ourfootball team.’ For our seniors, this is theirlast round, so you would think you woulddo everything possible to get this footballteam headed in the right direction.”

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

Louisvile coach Charlie Strong was extremely pleased with the turnout at CardMarch Saturday, but his happiness turned to anger during pregame warmups when he observed his team’s unfocused behavior. - photo by Chuck Feist


CARDINAL FOOTBALL

YOUNG PLAYERS EXUDE TALENT, BUT THERE WILL BE GROWING PAINS

By Mark EnnisIn his fi rst season at the helm, University

of Louisville football coach Charlie Strong quickly assessed the team he inherited and decided that the biggest asset he had was a large, experienced senior class that could provide leadership through the transition season. His assessment was correct, and the Cardinals improved by three games in the victory column in 2010.

That large, experienced group has grad-uated and left UofL in need of new lead-ers and new players who need to step up. With two heralded recruiting classes on campus, Strong is relying on a group of freshmen and sophomores to become fu-ture stars and carry the Cards through the present while building for what should be a bright future.

New, talented faces have been pressed into early action all over the Louisville of-fense. Whereas the team had four senior starters along the offensive line in 2010, this season redshirt freshman Jake Smith and true freshman John Miller started the fi rst three games at guard. Sophomore Kamran Joyer is the fi rst backup at guard and got his fi rst start against Marshall be-cause Miller was unable to play because of an injury sustained against Kentucky. At running back, more than 60 percent of the Cardinals’ rushing yards have come from sophomores Jeremy Wright and Dominique Brown, who also doubles as a quarterback in WildCard formations. Wright and Brown combined to rush for 142 yards in the win over Kentucky two weeks ago. A large part of those yards came on tough, inside runs behind Miller and Smith.

The greatest impact of the talented un-derclassmen has come in the passing game. True freshman Teddy Bridgewater saw lim-ited duty against Murray State and Florida International. Against Kentucky, however, he entered the game early in the second quarter after Will Stein was forced to leave with a shoulder injury and completed 10 of 18 throws and threw two crucial TD passes. Both TDs extended Louisville’s lead to 14 points at the time. One of those TD passes was to true freshman DeVante Parker. Park-er has impressed coaches since his arrival on campus over the summer and earned a starting position by Week 2. He has be-come the team’s top deep threat, catching nine passes overall, with three of those catches going for touchdowns of 25 yards or longer. Lining up across from Parker, redshirt freshman Michaelee Harris also has shined early, catching a TD pass against FIU and with a team-leading 13 catches overall. Sophomore Jarrett Davis had a career-high three catches against Marshall last Satur-day and had his fi rst TD catch negated by a penalty, true freshman Eli Rogers had fi ve catches against FIU and has been returning punts, and sophomore Damian Copeland is expected back soon from an injury. Bridge-

water got the start against Marshall.On defense, the Cardinals lean on a

large group of sophomores who got their feet wet as freshmen last season. At defen-sive end, BJ Butler made his fi rst appear-ance of the season against Kentucky and recorded a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Marcus Smith grew into a defensive end in the spring and has played in all four games this season. At defensive tackle, the Car-dinals have only one upperclassman in Randy Salmon. The rest of the snaps go to sophomores Brandon Dunn and Roy Philon and redshirt freshman Jamaine Brooks. At linebacker, sophomore Preston Brown has assumed a starting role and is currently fourth on the team in tackles. In the sec-ondary, strong safety Hakeem Smith is a third-year sophomore who was the Big East Newcomer of the Year in 2010. He had a team-high 10 tackles against Mar-shall. With a lack of bodies, true freshmen Andrew Johnson, Terell Floyd, Calvin Pryor and Stephan Robinson all have seen play-ing time. Robinson moved to cornerback in fall camp and forced the fumble that stalled Kentucky’s fi nal drive.

What will playing so many underclass-men mean for the 2011 season? Under-standably, it means there will be growing pains as new players adjust to the speed and intensity of the college game, and vet-eran players learn to play alongside them. Some of those growing pains were appar-ent in coverage mistakes against FIU and Marshall. It also means that by year’s end the team will look a lot different than it does right now. Players just getting their feet wet in the fi rst four games will soon be grizzled veterans. There will be some fi ts and starts, but the team should show marked improvement as the younger play-ers develop and become comfortable with the system. It also means that the coaches won’t be afraid to send a message to the upperclassmen and put them behind a freshman or sophomore who is practicing better. We’ve already seen DeVante Parker take over Andrell Smith’s starting position at wide receiver.

What does it mean for the future? First, playing such a large number of freshmen and sophomores now means there will be less need to do so in the future. The team is in the midst of a youth movement that will cause some havoc at times in the short term but will pay dividends when fewer young players are thrust into starting roles in 2012 and beyond. With just 12 seniors on the roster, the team will return virtually intact next year. College players typically make their biggest leaps both in terms of physical growth and value on the fi eld be-tween their freshman and sophomore sea-sons. If that holds, there’s every reason to believe that the youth movement in 2011 will lead to a championship-caliber team in 2012 and beyond.

Freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater jumped into the end zone over a Marshall defender. - photo by Howie Lindsey


CARDINAL FOOTBALL

N O R T H C A R O L I N A , T H E N C I N C I N N A T I A W A I T

CARDS HIT THE ROAD LOOKING FOR BETTER SUCCESS THAN AT HOMEBy Russ Brown

Before Louisville’s game with Marshall last Saturday, UofL coach Charlie Strong emphasized the importance of playing well in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, which hadn’t exactly been home sweet home for the Cardinals this season, or last year either for that matter.

The Cardinals were unimpressive in an opening win over Murray State, then the following week were upset by Florida In-ternational, thus earning the ignominious distinction of being the only team from

a BCS conference the Panthers had defeated in 22 tries. FIU, by the way, hasn’t won since, losing to Louisiana Tech and Duke.

“We have to play bet-ter at home,” Strong said. “We haven’t played very well in this

stadium.”But despite Strong’s urging, things

only got worse for UofL (2-2) against the Thundering Herd. Playing in front of an announced crowd of 53,267, the Cards laid another home egg as Marshall (2-3)

took advantage of two interceptions to rally for a 17-13 win in the fi nal minutes. It was Marshall’s fi rst win over a team from a BCS conference since 2003 (an upset of No. 6 Kansas State), snapping an 18-game losing streak to BCS teams.

So what’s going on? Nobody seems quite sure, but the trend so far under second-year coach Strong clearly indicates that UofL plays better on the road than at PJCS.

Which is good in one sense -- because the Cards’ next two games will be on the road, at North Carolina (4-1) Saturday and at Cincinnati (4-1) on Oct. 15. They don’t return home until facing Rutgers (3-1) on Oct. 22.

Under Strong, UofL is 2-6 at home against FBS teams (two more wins at PJCS came against Eastern Kentucky and Murray of the FCS) and 4-2 on the road. Further-more, the Cards have been unable to win the close ones at home -- they’re 0-6 when the fi nal margin is eight points or less.

“You have to defend your home sur-face,” Strong said. “Take the two losses this year and you look at last year, South Florida, West Virginia, Cincinnati and Ken-tucky, that’s six losses at home. That cannot happen in your home stadium. You have to defend your house.”

Things certainly have changed be-cause UofL was practically unbeatable at home during most of the Bobby Petrino

era, when the Cards were not only win-ning, but winning big, rolling up scores like 59-7 (East Carolina), 70-7 (Cincinna-ti), 55-5 (Rutgers), 55-7 (TCU) and 69-14 (North Carolina). From late in the 2003 sea-son under Petrino to the fi rst two games of 2007 under Steve Kragthorpe, UofL won 20 straight games in PJCS. Since then the Cards are 12-14 at home against FBS teams.

Last year’s home vs. road record is actu-ally pretty easy to explain: UofL happened to face two of its strongest Big East Confer-ence opponents at home in USF and West Virginia and two of the league’s weakest teams -- Syracuse and Rutgers -- on the road.

This year’s struggles at home are harder to explain, with the losses coming against teams from the Sun Belt and Conference USA.

At least where Marshall was concerned, center Mario Benavides suspects the Cards might have taken them for granted, given the Thundering Herd’s 1-3 record and non-BCS conference status.

“Funny you mentioned that because we talked about it today,” Benavides said after the loss to Marshall. “I really don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you. We play well on the road. You look at our road record and you think, ‘Oh man, those guys must be play-ing for championships and all kinds of stuff.’

“It’s just something we’ve got to work on. I think guys might get too comfortable being at home, and it’s really the opposite; you’ve got to have the intensity like, ‘These guys aren’t going to come into our house and do whatever they want.’ And we’ve had trouble doing that the last couple of years for whatever reason. You can’t just show up and expect to win.”

Teddy Bridgewater, who became the fi rst true freshman to start at quarterbackfor Louisville since Stu Stram in 1976, saidStrong had talked to the team prior to theMarshall game about playing better inPJCS.

“The biggest thing is, we have to be a better team at home,” Bridgewater said.“It’s all about defending your home turf.The fans did their part, they were loud, andwe have to win the game for them.”

Said Benavides: “We had a great crowd, and I appreciate them a lot. The fans did agreat job, and we disappointed them.”

Saturday’s game marked UofL’s fi rst out-ing since its 24-17 victory at Kentucky onSept. 17, and Strong and defensive endGreg Scruggs both said last week that theywere glad the Cards had a weekend off tolessen the danger of a fl at performanceagainst Marshall resulting from the poten-tial of lingering euphoria over the UK win.

“Anytime you beat a rival it’s really good for your program and your players,” Strongsaid. “We needed to make a move in ourprogram and go into Commonwealth andbeat them there. It was big, and it shouldhave been big. I’m glad we didn’t play(Sept. 24), because I think they would stillhave been thinking about beating Kentuckyand would have forgotten about their op-ponent. Now we can put that behind usand move forward.”

Said Scruggs: “For the fi rst 24 hours I celebrated, but then it’s time to get back towork, so I’m kind of glad we had a chanceto not ride that emotional high and hearthe pats on the back about that. It feelsgreat to know what we accomplished, butwe’ve got a long season ahead of us and abunch of games to play, so the open datewas pretty good for us.”

That didn’t prove true, however. Against Marshall, the Cards defi nitely looked lethar-gic and uninspired for the fi rst time duringStrong’s tenure.

“The (win over UK) happened two weeks ago, and guys are still patting them-selves on the back and still talking aboutit,” Strong said. “There was no passion.We went out there and were fl at.”

Maybe that’s what happens, maybe it’s even inevitable when you call a narrow winover one of the worst teams in the SEC a“turning point” in your season -- as someof the UofL players did -- and a “statementgame” -- as Strong did.

As we saw against Marshall, the only statement the Cards made in Lexington wasthat they’re one touchdown better than apoor UK team. And that doesn’t guaranteeanything.

Senior Vic Anderson and junior Andrell Smith celebrated a touchdown by Anderson in the Marshall game. - photo by Gail Kamenish


For the past few weeks Cardinals fans have experienced a rise in their anxiety level as UofL traverses the mine fi eld of conference realignment. The defection of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the Atlantic Coast Conference began a fl urry of activity as the other Big East schools evaluated their future as to what conference could best serve their needs. Suddenly the remaining Big East football institutions found themselves in a precarious situation rela-tive to having a viable football conference with only seven members remaining and newest member TCU becoming queasy about its commitment to join the league in 2012.

I think I agree with Rick Pitino as to why the ACC heisted Pitt and Syracuse from the Big East -- NCAA Tournament envy. The ACC has always seen itself as the supreme basketball

conference in the land, and to have the Big East continually have more teams in the NCAA Tournament was more than Mike Krzyzewski and the other ACC egos could stand. Do you really think the ACC wanted Pitt and the Orangemen for their football supremacy? There were 11 Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament last year to the ACC’s four.

Back to conference realignment and the future of the Cards. As of this week’s printing there was no word about the future of University of Louisville athletics. The choice at this point seems to be a slim chance of Big 12 affi liation or continued membership in the Big East.

Changing conferences is nothing new for UofL. Over the past 100 years as the athletic program has grown and matured UofL has aligned with

numerous conferences and organizations to offer its sports teams the optimum chance for success.

The fi rst conference that included UofL was the Kentuckiana Intercollegiate Athletic Con-ference, of which the Cards were a charter member. It was a basketball-only conference that included Western Kentucky, Rose Poly of Terra Haute, Kentucky Wesleyan (then in Win-chester), Centre, Hanover and Evansville. Later the conference added Georgetown, Eastern Kentucky, Transylvania, Berea, Union and Murray. Today the KIAC includes Berea, IU South-east, Brescia and Midway College among others in the Kentucky-Southern Indiana area.

In 1916 and from 1923-41 UofL belonged to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic As-sociation, which was a loosely formed group of Southern schools that at one time includ-ed almost every college in the South playing sports, including all future SEC schools. It was formed to sponsor tournaments and encourage consistency in rules and facilities. Prior to the 1950s the NCAA was not the association of choice for many colleges and universities.

In 1948 Louisville was a charter member of the war-delayed Ohio Valley Conference along with Eastern, Western, Murray, Morehead and Evansville for basketball and football but stayed in the league for only one year. UofL then was independent until joining the Missouri Valley Conference in 1963, and it stayed in the MVC until 1974. It was the fi rst time UofL was tied to a conference with a football-playing schedule. UofL did not win its fi rst MVC football championship until 1970 in Lee Corso’s second season and repeated in 1972. The MVC included many natural rivals for UofL, such as Cincinnati, Memphis, Bradley, Wichita State and Tulsa, and some not so natural, such as North Texas State.

In an effort to cash in on the fast developing network of college basketball programming, Louisville joined Saint Louis, Georgia Tech, Tulane, Cincinnati and Memphis in forming the Metro Conference in 1975. The idea was to take advantage of the large TV markets of the member schools and boost revenue. It was a basketball-only conference that later added Florida State, South Carolina, Southern Miss and Virginia Tech. The Cards were in the Metro for 21 seasons and won 11 tournament championships. During this time Louisville played as an independent in football.

In the early 80s the NCAA attempted to control the television rights for every college in the organization, but after a lawsuit by Oklahoma University the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and the College Football Association was formed to negotiate television contracts for the major schools and conferences. The head of the CFA was Chuck Neinas, currently the interim head of the Big 12 Conference. Louisville, although an independent, petitioned the CFA and was accepted as a member in the mid-80s and continued to play as an independent until 1995. The CFA dissolved in the early 90s as major conferences began signing their own TV contracts.

In the late 80s Raycom Sports approached several football playing schools in the South and Northeast about forming a superconference for football only in order to broadcast the league’s games. Raycom is presently the broadcast partner of the ACC. All the schools ap-proached were independents in football and included UofL, Penn State, Pitt, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, Tulane, Memphis, WVU, Florida State and Virginia Tech. The idea never came to fruition when the SEC and ACC, sensing competition for their viewing audi-ence, added South Carolina, Florida State and Georgia Tech. Penn State joined the Big Ten about the same time, and Raycom’s plan fell through.

Still desiring a football conference, Louisville joined with 11 other schools to form Con-ference USA in 1995, a combination of schools from the Metro and the Great Midwest. The league initially had only six football playing schools, including old rivals Cincinnati, Memphis, Tulane and Southern Miss. Unfortunately, coach Howard Schnellenberger desired to remain an independent and left for Oklahoma and one of the shortest coaching tenures in history. In 2000 C-USA had eight football schools, and Louisville won its fi rst of three championships.

C-USA was not part of the Bowl Championship Series, however, a necessity for a school wanting a major college football program. That problem was solved when UofL was ac-cepted into the Big East Conference in 2005 and fi nished 5-2 in its fi rst season. In 2006 Louisville was 12-1 and Big East champions, earning a trip to the BCS’ Orange Bowl.

PAGE 8 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT OCTOBER 5, 2011

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By Russ BrownAfter three games as a spectator, University

of Louisville junior center Mario Benavides fi -nally got back on the fi eld last Saturday, but it wasn’t the kind of triumphant return he had envisioned.

Far from it.“Every loss is bad, but being my fi rst game

back, it’s tough. It stinks,” Benavides said fol-lowing UofL’s shocking 17-13 loss to a Mar-

shall team that came into Papa John’s Cardinal Sta-dium with a 1-3 record.

Going into fall prac-tice Benavides was an important piece of the Cardinals’ offense as the only returning starter on the offensive line. But he immediately suffered an ankle injury, which then became infected, and he

said he had been able to do virtually nothing before returning to practice last Tuesday, add-ing that he had hoped to return two weeks sooner -- for the Kentucky game on Sept. 17.

“UK week, it was being talked about but it was like the coaches said, ‘Let’s just plan on playing without him,’ which is what they should (have done),” Benavides said. “This week I felt good and they felt good about what I was doing in practice.

“Mentally, I have a grasp of the game, so it was just a matter of getting conditioned, and having three days to do that isn’t a whole lot of time. But I felt they did a good job with me the whole time I was going through my ordeal, so I hit the ground running a lot better than I expected.”

How diffi cult was it to sit out the fi rst month of the season?

“It was terrible,” he said. “I was really proud of the way they played when I wasn’t in there, but it was tough because you want to be a part of it.”

Benavides said he felt like he got back into the swing of things fairly quickly, considering how long he had been out of action.

“The fi rst couple of drives ... I mean, I haven’t played or done anything really for a couple of months,” he said. “But that’s no excuse; I’ve played in plenty of games around here. I just had to get my feet wet, but once we got going it all felt familiar to me.”

With Benavides back in the mix and guard John Miller still out with an ankle injury, Kam-ron Joyer made his fi rst start at left guard, Alex Kupper moved from center to left tackle, bumping Hector Hernandez, while Jake Smith remained at right guard and Ryan Kessling at right tackle. Later in the game, though, Kup-per replaced Joyer and Hernandez returned.

It was hoped -- and maybe expected -- that Benavides’ presence would provide a boost for UofL’s running game but, unfortunately, it didn’t, and the Cards continued to struggle on the ground.

UofL managed only 60 yards rushing, and its leading rusher, senior Victor Anderson, had just 26 yards on six tries. Other than 14 runs, both scripted and unscripted, by fresh-man quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the Cards attempted only 14 other rushes among its season-low 58 plays.

In all, UofL’s total offense was just 281 yards. This against a Marshall defense that had allowed an average of 150.8 yards rush-ing per game and had given up 419.5 yards per outing overall, ranking 103rd of 120 FBS teams in total defense. Furthermore,

the Thundering Herd was 98th in scoring defense, having surrendered 32 points per game, including 44 against Ohio University of the Mid-American Conference.

“We knew what they were going to do, we knew what was coming,” Benavides said. “One guy messes up, and that’s the whole play. We just didn’t execute it the way we were taught. Everybody was communicating fi ne, we just need to play better. It’s two to-tally different things -- knowing what to do and actually doing it.

“I’m not worried about whether we can do it or not. We need to focus in, do our job and not worry about the outside world. We’re still trying to feel our way around and what iden-tity this team has. I think we’ll get there.”

Said Bridgewater, who started and played the entire game in place of the injured Will Stein (shoulder): “We work hard in practice getting into the right run plays and getting out of the wrong run plays, and we weren’t getting the push up front and moving them downfi eld. It starts with the offensive line. Those guys fought though. They fought throughout the whole game, 60 minutes, and I take my hat off to those guys for fi ght-ing.”

In his irritated and high-volume postgame comments, UofL coach Charlie Strong blamed both the running backs and the line for the Cards’ lack of run production.

“It’s simple,” he said. “It’s blocking. As an offensive line, just go block people. We didn’t block people. We didn’t put a hat on everyone. We’ve got backs ... sometimes (a hole) may not always be there, but you have to run over people. We don’t get that, we just don’t run hard and we don’t block anyone.”

For Benavides, and probably the other of-fensive linemen, Strong’s critcism stung.

“It hurts,” he said. “Anytime anybody blames us for anything, it doesn’t feel too great. It’s something you work all year for, and nobody wants to go out there and play bad. I wouldn’t point any fi ngers at any spe-cifi c position. It’s a team loss, just like when we win it’s a team win. It sounds cliche’, but it’s very true.”

UofL also allowed fi ve sacks and now has given up 16 on the season, just one less than it surrendered in 13 games last year. Only three FBS teams have allowed more sacks per game than the Cards -- Akron (4.20), Ken-

tucky (4.20) and Pittsburgh (4.40).UofL now ranks 90th nationally in rush-

ing at 120.75 ypg. The Cards’ next chance to get their ground attack on track will come Saturday (noon kickoff) at North Carolina (4-1), an average defensive team. The Tar Heels, who beat East Carolina 35-20 Saturday, are 68th in the country in total defense (381 ypg) and 43rd in rushing defense. But the yards haven’t translated into a lot of points for UNC’s opponents -- the Heels have al-lowed just 21 ppg, 36th nationally.

Strong said he and his coaching staff sensed a lack of focus and intensity through-out practice last week on the heels of an open date following UofL’s 24-17 victory at Kentucky, and Benavides agreed.

“Those guys (the coaches) have a good view and he has a good feel for how the team’s going,” Benavides said. “For me, it was kind of like craziness trying to come back. I really wasn’t thinking about it, but he’s right. What are you gonna do? He’s our coach, he knows what’s going on, and we need to do a better job responding to it when he says stuff like that. We heard him, we just kind of got lulled to sleep a little bit.

“Bottom line is, Marshall had a great game plan in place and we weren’t as focused all week like we were a couple of weeks ago (for UK). It didn’t feel the same. We’ve got to be more intense on the sideline.”

Sophomore wide receiver Jarrett Davis admitted that the Cards, who were 11-point favorites, might not have taken Marshall se-riously enough. The Thundering Herd’s only win came against Southern Miss, and it was picked to fi nish fourth in its six-team division of Conference USA.

“We didn’t prepare as good as we should have,” Davis said. “Sometimes we weren’t as locked in vs. when we went against Ket-nucky. We took it more lightly with Mar-shall coming into our state, and we might have still been a little high off the Kentucky win.”

Said defensive end William Savoy: “We weren’t as focused as we could be. Maybe some of us were still hyped up after the Ken-tucky game because we hadn’t beaten them for so long. But we’ve got to get past that. It was a good win, but we’ve got a whole season left.”

Starting Saturday in Chapel Hill.


CARDINAL FOOTBALL

Despite having junior Mario Benavides back in the lineup, Louisville’s offensive line struggled against Marshall. The Thundering Herd sacked QB Teddy Bridgewater fi ve times and had nine quarterback hurries. - photo by Howie Lindsey

S T R O N G C R I T I C I Z E S O F F E N S I V E L I N E , R U N N I N G B A C K S

BENAVIDES’ RETURN SPOILED BY UPSET LOSS TO MARSHALL


RUSS BROWN’S RUNDOWN

MARSHALL 17, UOFL 13

The game was over when: Marshall free safety Omar Brown intercepted UofL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s pass at the visitors’ 37-yard line with 1:21 remaining. The ball had bounced off the helmet of a Marshall defensive lineman, then out of the hands of a defensive back. The theft came on the second play after the Cards had got-ten good fi eld position on their own 40 after a squib kickoff, followed by a 15-yard completion.

Turning point: Marshall linebacker Gale Tyson’s sideline interception of a Bridgewater pass with 4:32 left and Louisville leading 13-10. Tyson wrestled the ball away from intended receiver Josh Bellamy. That set up C.J. Crawford’s 3-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Rakeem Cato with 1:49 remaining.

UofL Offensive Player of the Game: None se-lected.

UofL Defensive Player of the Game: Sophomore strong safety Hakeem Smith had a game-high 10 tackles, including two for a loss.

Who’s Hot: UofL’s defense has played well, ranking 23rd nationally and second in the Big East to West Virginia while allowing just 306.75 yards per game. But that fi gure is somewhat misleading. The Cards have played only one decent offensive team (FIU). Two of their opponents, Kentucky (No. 118) and Marshall (No. 111), are among the worst offensive clubs in the FBS, and Murray State is an FCS school. Major tests remain: A North Carolina team averaging 31 ppg, Cincin-nati QB Zach Collaros, West Virginia QB Geno Smith and Pittsburgh running back Ray Gra-ham, among others.

Who’s Not: Louisville’s offense. The Cards rank near the bottom of the FBS in every major cat-egory -- 104th in scoring (18.75 ppg), 90th in rushing offense (120.75 ypg) and 86th in total offense (359.75). The Cards had a minus-9 yards in offense after the fi rst quarter against Marshall!

On the Rise: UofL’s penalties, an ongoing prob-lem. One game after coach Charlie Strong had called the nine against Kentucky “unaccept-able,” the Cards had 11 for 91 yards in the loss to Marshall, including three for lining up offsides on defense. They’re tied with Rutgers for 110th in the FBS with an average of 8.5 per game for 66 ypg. “It’s the little stuff that will always get you,” defensive end William Savoy said. “We’ve got to pay more attention to detail in practice.”

On the Decline: The performance of Louisville’s offensive line, which surrendered fi ve sacks to a Marshall defense that had managed just six in four previous games. Only three FBS teams have allowed more QB takedowns than the Cards.

Quotable: “After that win it was like Mardi Gras.” -- Savoy, talking about the Cardinals’ mood after their victory over Kentucky.


GAME THREE PREVIEW - KENTUCKY

We usually like to start with the GOOD news fi rst, but UGLY just seems more appropriate after Louisville’s 17-13 loss to Marshall Saturday. The Cardinals couldn’t score in the second

half and gave up one crucial drive in the fourth quarter on defense after turning the ball over on an interception. Louisville was 2-1 heading into the game and seemed poised to roll past the Thundering Herd and exit Saturday with enough wins to be halfway to bowl eligibility. Marshall, which lost to Ohio 44-7, was ranked in the 100s in both total offense and total defense coming into the game. It appeared it would be an easy win to most fans. Trouble is, apparently Louisville wasn’t focused. Coach Charlie Strong said that his team spent the previous two weeks getting their backs patted for beating Kentucky.

Before the season began, Strong told the media and fans that the season was likely going to be a roller coaster because the Cardinals are so young. With inexperience comes mistakes,

and Strong expected to see plenty of them as he worked new players into the lineup. Saturday, Louisville had three fi rst-year players start (true freshmen Teddy Bridgewater and Jake Smith and junior transfer Adrian Bushell), as well as redshirt freshmen Stephan Robinson and Michaelee Harris, and sophomores Kamran Joyer, B.J. Butler, Brandon Dunn and Hakeem Smith. That’s 9 of 22 young starters on offense and defense. Bridgewater became the fi rst Louisville true freshman since Stu Stram in 1976 to get the starting nod at quarterback. He still completed 20 of his 29 passes, the highest completion percentage (69.0) for a Louisville quarterback in his fi rst career start since Dave Ragone went 23 for 30 (76.7 percent) for 256 yards and three touchdowns in UofL’s overtime victory over Kentucky in the 2000 opener.

Louisville’s primary problem Saturday was in the running game. The Cards regained the services of All-Big East Conference candidate Mario Benavides at center, but the O-line looked confused and confounded throughout the game.

Louisville ended up with just 60 yards rushing on 29 tries for a paltry 2.1 yards per carry. Strong was asked what the issue was with the rushing game. “It’s simple, it’s blocking,” he said. “As an offensive line, just go block people. We didn’t block people. We didn’t put a helmet on everyone.... Sometimes (a hole) may not always be there, but you have to run over people. We don’t get that, we just don’t run hard and we don’t block anyone.”

It was GOOD, no GREAT, to have country music star Trace

Adkins sing the National Anthem at Saturday’s game. Adkins, who has family in the area, gave a rousing rendition of the

Anthem to honor four Medal of Honor recipients who were introduced before the game. Adkins made his country debut in 1996 on Capitol Records. Since then he has released seven more studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations. Adkins has charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard country music charts, including the No. 1 hits “This Ain’t No Thinkin’ Thing” in 1997, “Ladies Love Country Boys” in 2007 and “You’re Gonna Miss This” in 2008. He was greeted with a roar from fans prior to the Anthem, and he stepped to midfi eld and belted out a beauty. We would love to see this become a trend for renowned country artists to sing the Anthem at UofL games. Nashville isn’t too far away, and we can bet there’d be quite a few country singers who’d love to come to Louisville for a day of football and fan excitement. Where else could they play to an audience of 55,000, get free tickets and have entry into a luxury box for the afternoon?

It was GOOD to hear that Louisville fans sold out the Marshall game. On Thursday Strong posted a tweet that read: “Just informed by administration that there are about 150 single tickets remaining for Marshall. Great job

by our great city and fans!!” Those tickets were sold out by Friday morning. The official attendance Saturday was 53,267, which is the third-largest crowd in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium history (last season’s Kentucky and Cincinnati games are 1-2). We’d certainly

love to see more fans in their seats at kickoff, but it was much better this game than it has been the previous couple of games.

Prior to the Marshall game, Strong and his coaching staff had a strong week on the recruiting trail. Not only did they land the top junior prospect in Lexington, quarterback

Kyle Bolin, but they also landed a commitment from 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end Hunter Bowles from Glasgow, Ky. Bowles is an even bigger coups when you consider that his father played baseball at Kentucky and most people assumed he’d pick the Cats right away when they offered him. These two prospects picking Louisville are a feather in the cap for Strong and another brick in the wall that many Kentucky fans are building around second-year coach Joker Phillips.

Speaking of recruiting, it was GOOD to see a half-dozen recruits from Louisville Trinity High at the Marshall game. The Cardinals are recruiting a handful of Shamrocks,

including junior wide receiver James Quick, who is legitimately one of the best receivers in the nation. Friday night against archrival St. Xavier, another of the top teams in the state in any typical year, Quick was fantastic. He finished with eight catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a 32-yard TD pass during Trinity’s 41-6 victory. Fans can watch video of all of Quick’s amazing plays at CardinalSports.com.

If Missouri goes to the SEC, the league will go to a nine-game league schedule. SEC offi cials, including commissioner Mike Slive, have discussed the idea of Auburn then going to

the East Division. If this happens, how is UK ever going to a bowl again? Let’s check out a typical schedule for them starting in 2014: Louisville, Murray State, Eastern Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee. Let’s say the Cats beat MSU and Eastern Michigan, and let’s say they win against Vanderbilt. That means they’d have to fi nd three more wins from the remaining nine games. Not likely. The Wildcats haven’t had a winning SEC record since 1977, and an expanded SEC just means UK would slip another rung down the league ladder.

It’s good to see that former UofL stalwart Eric Wood, a first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2009 who suffered a severely broken leg that fall (a bone was sticking

out of his leg), has returned to the starting lineup and is playing “at a Pro-Bowl level,” according to Cincinnati Bengals color announcer Dave Lapham last Sunday. Wood now is playing center, his natural position, after playing guard as an NFL rookie. The Bengals beat the Bills 23-20 on a last-second field goal, Buffalo’s only loss this season.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino will stage two opportunities for a preseason look at the 2011-12 Cardinals in a pair of Red-White intrasquad scrimmages in the KFC Yum! Center

on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. The first scrimmage coincides with the first official day of practice for college basketball. The Oct. 22 scrimmage is in concert with UofL’s “Return to the Nest” Homecoming on Main festivities, which will include activities on the Norton Healthcare Plaza of the KFC Yum! Center prior to the game. Tickets, priced at $10 for lower arena seats and $5 for upper arena seats, went on sale Friday, Sept. 23 and will continue until both events are sold out at both UofL Ticket Offices, located near Gate 2 of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium off Floyd Street; and on the third floor of the Swain Student Activities Center. Both locations are open weekdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Cardinal fans may also purchase tickets by visiting Ticketmaster online, calling 1-800-745-3000 or by visiting any Ticketmaster Ticket Center, including statewide Kroger locations. Convenience fees are applied with Ticketmaster orders.

UGLY

GOOD

GOOD

BAD

GOOD

C O M M E N T A R Y B Y H O W I E L I N D S E Y A N D J A C K C O F F E E

BAD

GOOD

BAD

GOOD

F O L L O W H O W I E L I N D S E Y O N T W I T T E R @ H O W I E L I N D S E Y F O R D A I LY U P D AT E S O N L O U I S V I L L E AT H L E T I C S A N D C O N F E R E N C E R E A L I G N M E N T.

GOOD


BY RICK CUSHINGThe Tar Heels began the season

as a mystery. Embroiled in a scan-dal that led to the fi ring of head coach Butch Davis just weeks before the start of summer practice, North Carolina seemed to be in disarray. But the Tar Heels did have consider-able talent coming back, including several players who missed all or

part of last season because of penalties imposed by the NCAA. The questions were, How will the program be af-fected by the loss of its head coach, the same coach who had recruited most of the players on the current squad; and, How would they play for the new coach – interim head coach Everett Winters, who was a defensive assistant at Louisville from 1995-97 under Ron Cooper and had never previously been a head coach.

So far the questions have been answered in a positive manner. UNC is 4-1, its only setback a 35-28 loss at No. 21 Georgia Tech, which is undefeated. The Tar Heels opened the season with a 42-10 victory over James Madison, then beat Rutgers 24-22 and Virginia 28-17 before losing to the Rambling Wreck. They beat host East Carolina 35-20 last Saturday. The Cards will be UNC’s last out-of-conference game before it concludes its season with six ACC contests.

Davis (formerly a national title-winning coach at Miami and with the Cleveland Browns) was let go in the wake of the scandal over agent-related extra benefi ts for players and academic misconduct. “What started as a purely ath-letic issue,” UNC chancellor Holden Thorp said, “has begun to chip away at this university’s reputation.” The athletic director also resigned under pressure.

Before those moves, UNC had been a program on the rise. Davis was 28-23 in four seasons at the school, includ-ing winning seasons and bowl games the past three years. The Tar Heels were 2-1 in those bowls, including a 30-27 victory over Tennessee in last year’s Music City Bowl to cap an 8-5 season that included the suspension of several of the team’s top players.

This year’s team is being led by a pair of youngsters -- sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner, who is fi fth in the country in pass effi ciency, and redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard, who is 19th in the country in rushing – and a defense that is 36th in scoring (20.80 ppg) and 68th in yardage allowed (381.80 ypg).

OFFENSEWithers’ biggest challenge was to fi nd a replacement

for T.J. Yates, who had been the starting quarterback the previous four years. Renner (6-3, 215), who attempted only two passes last year, has risen to the challenge. In his fi rst start against James Madison all he did was complete 23 of 24 passes for 277 yards. His completion percentage of .957 is the highest in ACC single-game history for a passer with at least 20 attempts. He completed his fi nal 14 passes against JMU and fi rst fi ve against Rutgers to set a school record for consecutive completions at 19. For the season he is 87 of 115 (75.7 percent) for an average of 225.4 ypg and 11 TDs with six interceptions. His longest pass is for 75 yards. He has been sacked 11 times, which is tied for 51st in the country.

Renner, the No. 5 pro-style quarterback in the prep ranks in 2009, also played baseball for UNC last spring.

Renner’s principal target is senior Dwight Jones (6-4, 225), a fi rst-team All-ACC performer last year who has caught 33 passes this season for six TDs and is averag-ing 102.8 receiving yards per game, which is 23rd in the country. Junior Erik Highsmith (6-3, 190) has 14 catches for 210 yards and caught the 75-yard TD pass, while three other receivers have TD catches.

Bernard (5-10, 205) has established himself as one of the top freshman runners in the country. He is averaging 7.0 yards a carry and 109.7 ypg and has scored seven TDs, with a longest run of 60 yards. He is the fi rst UNC player to exceed 100 yards rushing in three consecutive games

(the last three) in the same season since Natrone Means in 1992. Bernard also has caught 16 passes and is averaging 6.8 yards per catch, 21.6 ypg.

Senior Ryan Houston (6-2, 245), a former UofL recruit who rushed for 713 yards and nine TDs in 2009 before sit-ting out last season due to the NCAA investigation, has rushed 40 times for a 3.3-yard average (26.8 ypg) and three TDs.

The O-line returned three starters and is huge, averaging 319 pounds. The leaders are sophomore James Hurst (6-7, 310) and junior Jonathan Cooper (6-3, 310), both touted as future NFL draft picks.

DEFENSE Senior Quinton Coples (6-6, 285), an All-ACC fi rst-team-

er last season at DT when he had 15.5 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks, has been moved back to DE, where he’s more comfortable. He has only 2.5 sacks so far this season but is seeing a lot of double-teams. Linebackers Kevin Reddick (6-3, 240, junior) and senior Zach Brown (6-2, 230), the team’s top two tacklers last season, again are 1-2 this year, with 33 and 31 respectively. Reddick has 4.5 tackles for a loss, Brown 5.0, including 2.5 sacks.

Sophomore DE Kareem Martin (6-6, 260) also has 2.5 sacks and is tied for sixth on the team with 21 tackles, and senior safety Matt Merletti (6-0, 205) is fourth on the team with 25 tackles and has two interceptions. UNC has four INTs in all.

UNC is allowing 123 rushing yards per game, 43rd in the country, but 258.8 passing ypg, which is 94th in the country.

PLAYERS TO WATCHRenner and Bernard both have been impressive

so far this season, as has Jones, who will require watching at all times, so the Cards will have to show up on defense or be shown up. UNC’s huge O-line fi gures to be a challenge. On defense, Coples has been described as a physical freak. With his size and arm-length he’s drawn comparisons to the original “Freak” -- Jevon Kearse -- who earned that nick-name while he played at Florida. TEAM STRENGTHSUNC’s running game is 43rd in the country, and Ber-

nard’s 7.0 yards per carry ranks among the best in the country. Some of the credit has to fall on the O-line. If UofL can’t stop the run, it will be a long day.

TEAM WEAKNESSESThe defensive backfi eld has four new starters, although

sophomore CB Jabari Price (6-0, 190) started as a fresh-man before sitting out last season because of NCAA sanc-tions. The Tar Heels are 94th in the country in passing yards allowed per game, even though they have not faced a su-perior passing team, so that is where the Cards fi gure to focus their attack.

COACHING RESUMEWithers is entering his fourth season at UNC and 24th

season of coaching on the professional and collegiate level, all as an assistant. After playing at Appalachian State he got his start as a three-year assistant at Austin Peay before spending a season at Tulane, two seasons at Southern Miss and one with the New Orleans Saints while working with the secondary. He was defensive coordinator at Louisville from 1995-97 before coaching defensive backs at Texas from 1998-2000. He spent six seasons as the DB coach for the Tennessee Titans and was a defensive coordinator at Min-nesota in 2007 before heading to North Carolina.

NO KENTUCKIANSUNC has no one from Kentucky on its roster. ALL-TIME SERIESUofL and UNC have met fi ve times previously, with the

Cards holding a 3-2 advantage. The last time the teams met UofL crushed the Tar Heels 69-14 in 2005.

HEAD COACHHEAD COACHEVERETT WITHERSEVERETT WITHERS

DE QUINTON COPLESDE QUINTON COPLES

2011 SCHEDULEDATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT

Sept. 3, 2011 James Madison W, 42-10

Sept. 10, 2011 Rutgers W, 24-22

Sept. 17, 2011 Virginia W, 28-17

Sept. 24, 2011 at Georgia Tech L, 35-28

Oct. 1, 2011 at East Carolina W, 35-20

Oct. 8, 2011 Louisville 12 NOON

Oct. 15, 2011 Miami-FL TBA

Oct. 22, 2011 at Clemson TBA

Oct. 29, 2011 Wake Forest TBA

Nov. 5, 2011 at NC State TBA

Nov. 17, 2011 at Virginia Tech 8:00 pm ET

Nov. 26, 2011 Duke TBA

NO

RT

H C

AR

OLI

NA

TA

R H

EE

LS

FAST FACTSFired coach Butch Davis, who maintains

his NCAA innocence, will get a $2.7 million setttlement from the school.

UNC boosters have fi led suit against the athletic department to regain donations they believe

were gathered under false pretenses.

SATURDAYOCTOBER 8, 2011

LOUISVILLEVS.

NORTH CAROLINACHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

12 NOON, ESPN2/U

2010 RESULTSDATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT

Sept. 4, 2010 LSU (ABC) L 30-24

Sept. 18, 2010 Georgia Tech L 30-24

Sept. 25, 2010 at Rutgers W 17-13

Oct. 2, 2010 East Carolina W 42-17

Oct. 9, 2010 Clemson W 21-16

Oct. 16, 2010 at Virginia W 44-10

Oct. 23, 2010 at Miami-FL L 33-10

Oct. 30, 2010 William & Mary W 21-17

Nov. 6, 2010 at Florida State W 37-35

Nov. 13, 2010 Virginia Tech L 26-10

Nov. 20, 2010 NC State L 29-25

Nov. 27, 2010 at Duke W 24-19

Dec. 30, 2010 vs. Tennessee W 30-27

UNC HAS STEPPED UP BEHIND A COUPLE OF YOUNGSTERS

BOTTOM LINEBased on how UofL looked last Saturday at home against Marshall, you have to fi gure that the Cards will lose at North Carolina. But they have bounced back after a poor home performance once this season (loss to FIU followed by victory at UK), and they seem to play better on the road, so I give the Cards a shot, and I think it will be a close game.


WOMEN’S BASKETBALLCARDINAL FOOTBALL PHOTO GALLERY VS. MARSHALL

Freshman Teddy Bridgewater sprinted away from a Marshall tackler during Louisville’s 17-13 loss Saturday. - photo by Chuck Feist

Louisville coach Charlie Strong said he was frustrated with his team’s lack

of passion for defending their home turf. The Cardinals are just 2-6 against FBS opponents during Strong’s tenure at Louisville. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Marshall had one of the largest (and rowdiest) visiting crowds of

any Louisvlle opponent outside of Kentucky. The Thundering

Herd was just 1-3 entering the game. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Sophomore back Jeremy Wright was stopped for a one-yard gain on this catch, which could have gone for a touchdown had he been able to elude this defender. - photo by Chuck Feist

Senior punter Chris Philpott got this punt off just moments before it was blocked by a Marshall defender. - photo by Chuck Feist


COFFEE BREAK2007 CARDINAL CARAVANRECRUITING NOTEBOOK


WOMEN’S BASKETBALLCARDINAL FOOTBALL PHOTO GALLERY VS. MARSHALL

Country music star Trace Adkins sang the National Anthem prior to the

Louisville-Marshall game. He posed for a picture with the Louisville LadyBirds

shortly before his performance. - photo by Howie Lindsey

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was

blasted out of bounds by a Marshall linebacker at the end

of one of his 14 carries.


COFFEE BREAK2007 CARDINAL CARAVANRECRUITING NOTEBOOK

By Jeff WaffordUniversity of Louisville football coach

Charlie Strong landed a verbal commit-ment last week from an in-state prospect who chose the Cardinals over the Kentucky Wildcats. At Glasgow H.S. last Wednes-day, tight end prospect Hunter Bowles an-nounced that he planned to sign with UofL in February.

Bowles (6-6, 245), who also had offers from Marshall and Murray State, put on a Louisville hat after making the announce-ment and celebrated with friends and fam-ily in attendance.

“Louisville is really needing tight ends,” Bowles told the Bowling Green Daily News.

“It’s nothing against Kentucky or anybody else, but I went to Lou-isville and felt like a fam-ily member there. It was almost like going to see your uncle, your cous-ins or your grandpa or something like that. It was a good home feel-ing.

“Since Day 1, it’s been Louisville and Ken-tucky. I followed my heart to Louisville.”

It was defi nitely a battle between the Cats and Cards for Bowles’ commitment. UK offered him in early September, and UofL followed with a scholarship offer less than a week later. An admitted Kentucky basketball fan growing up, Bowles spent a lot of time on or near Kentucky’s campus as a kid, particularly because his dad played baseball for the Cats. Now the Bowles fam-ily will start wearing red.

Bowles, who is rated as a two-star play-er, has caught 11 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown this season. He had 349 re-ceiving yards and six scores as a junior. He was in attendance for the Cards’ win over Kentucky in the Governor’s Cup, and he noted that Louisville went to tight end Josh Chichester often.

“Louisville really utilizes their tight ends,” he said. “I guess that’s something every re-cruit looks at. It was kind of obvious that I fi t better in that system.”

Bowles also noted that he has a positive relationship with Strong. “He’s an awesome guy,” Bowles said. “He’s very welcoming, and it’s easy to get along with him. He has a way to relate with everyone. That’s another big reason I went there. You can tell he’s a coach that has everything going up.”

Bowles is the 15th known commitment for the Cardinals in the class of 2012. They are expected to sign between 18-23 play-ers in February when recruits can sign bind-ing letters of intent.

CARDS HOST BIG GROUP OF VISITORSHow did Bowles celebrate his new com-

mitment? He attended the UofL-Marshall game at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on Saturday, joining an impressive group of players who already have given their verbal pledges to Strong and his staff.

Among the committed players in the 2012 class in attendance were OL Joe Man-ley (6-7, 307, Bowling Green, Ky.), OL De-andre Herron (6-5, 305, Avon, Ind.), OL Sid Anvoots (6-4, 285, Indianapolis), K Joshua

Appleby (6-3, 230, East Limestone, Ala.) and OL T.C. Klusman (6-4, 270, Cincinnati, Ohio). Quarterback Kyle Bolin (6-3, 200, Lexington, Ky.), a class of 2013 verbal com-mitment, also joined the group.

“It was fun,” Manley said of the visit. “It was nice meeting everybody. All of those guys were there, and the two Trinity kids were there - James Quick and Jason Hatch-er. We got to talk to each other and see how it would be playing with each other in the future.”

While Quick and Hatcher, both juniors,

haven’t committed anywhere yet, Louis-ville has both at the top of its wish list in the 2013 class. Quick (6-1, 180, WR) and Hatcher (6-3, 230, LB) are both listed as top-100 prospects nationally in the class of 2013. Both players have a plethora of offers.

Manley said he and the committed play-ers continue to work on guys like Quick and Hatcher to get them to join the Cardi-nals’ commitment list. But during the game Saturday it was all about getting to know the guys who have already committed.

“We had been doing all of the recruiting and stuff before the game, but that was the fi rst time we got to hang out and see each other, so we took advantage of that,” Manley said.

Although the Cardinals’ performance on the fi eld wasn’t what everyone expected, Manley didn’t seem disheartened by what he saw. “It’s a young team, but we’re going to be good in the coming years,” he said. “There are some good players out there. It’s not a bad team. There are just young guys out there making young plays and young mistakes.”

Manley said the group of recruits spoke to assistant coaches after the game. While the coaches were obviously disappointed in the outcome, they still managed to stay upbeat. Coming out of the visit, Manley seems as strong a commitment as he’s ever been, and he’ll make an offi cial visit later this year.

“Everything’s great; I’m going to be a

Cardinal,” he said.Manley has helped Bowling Green to a

7-0 record so far. The Purples will face big-time rival Warren Central H.S. this week-end in a game where they hope to exactsome revenge on a team that has beatenthem two years in a row.

Anvoots was another visitor who en-joyed the experience.

“It went great,” said the three-star line-man. “All of us recruits got down there andgot to hang out, got to crack some jokesand all that. It was a good game. Both teamsfought hard and played hard, and we justhappened to come up short in the end.”

Despite the Cardinals’ 17-13 loss, An-voots said there were some positives he wasable to take away.

“It seems like the line was able to drive-block a little bit more this week,” he said.“They were able to get a couple of sackson (Teddy) Bridgewater, but until the fourthquarter he had a pretty good game andmade some good decisions. It was a positivegame just to watch them grow and improve.We just couldn’t get the win.”

Anvoots, who will make an offi cial visit later this year, said this trip and the time withhis future teammates just makes him “wantto get down there all the more faster.”

Anvoots has helped his team to a 5-2 re-cord this season, and he said he’s focusingon drive blocking, pass blocking and hope-fully helping his team win a state title. Afterthis season he plans to sign with Louisvillein February.

“There’s honestly nobody else I feel more comfortable with than Louisville,” he said.“I don’t think there is anything that couldmake me even think about leaving and go-ing somewhere else.”

LOUISVILLE COMMIT VISITS WKUDaqual Randall (6-0, 225), a three-star

linebacker from Palmetto H.S. (Fla.) whohas been committed to Louisville since thissummer, took a visit to Bowling Green re-cently to tour Western Kentucky’s campus.

The No. 29 inside linebacker in the class of 2012, Randall has ties to WKU becausehis former coach, Raymond Woodie, is nowcoaching for the Hilltoppers. While Randallsaid he enjoyed the trip to check out theTops, he said he still plans to sign with theCards.

“It was all right,” he told Rivals.com. “I just went there for the experience of it, ofbeing a recruit. But I’m all Louisville rightnow. There’s no one else as of right now.”

Others schools recently have attempted to court Randall away from the Cardinals,including Pittsburgh and Indiana. But hesaid Louisville is still what he considers hisbest fi t.

“They were the fi rst one to offer me,” he said. “No one else really cared to offer meuntil they did. I just like the coach, Coach(Kenny) Carter, and the rest of the coaches.I already have a former teammate up there(Damian Copeland, Jamaine Brooks andAndrell Smith are all from Miami Palmetto),and it just feels like the perfect spot for me.And it’s early playing time also.

“I have a solid commitment to them. I don’t think I’m going anywhere else, I thinkI’m just pretty much Louisville.”

CARDS LAND BIG TIGHT END PROSPECT FROM GLASGOW

JEFF WAFFORDJEFF WAFFORD

2012 FOOTBALL COMMITSPROSPECT POS HOMETOWN HIGH SCHOOL HT. WT.Sid Anvoots OL Indianapolis, IN Bishop Chatard 6-4 285Big, tough offensive lineman from a strong program in Indianapolis.

Joshua Appleby K Harvest, AL East Limestone 6-3 230Rated one of the top kickers in the Southeast. Appleby fi gures to replace senior Chris Philpott.

Hunter Bowles TE Glasgow, Ky. Glasgow 6-6 245Strong tight end with a big frame could easily develop into an offensive lineman. Bowles’ Dad played baseball for Kentucky.

Demetrius Frazier ATH Brunswick, GA Brunswick 5-10 174Extremely quick athlete could play any number of positions at the collegiate level.

Will Gardner QB Douglas, GA Coffee County 6-5 190Louisville’s top choice at quarterback in the 2011 class. Also had offers from Alabama and Mississippi State.

DeAndre Herron OL Avon, IN Avon 6-5 325Big, heavy and mean offensive lineman just set a school record with seven pancakes in one game.

Gerod Holliman DB Miami, Fla. Milford Academy 6-0 185Four-star defensive back is ranked the No. 2 overall prep school athlete in the class of 2011. Elite safety prospect.

Kevin Houchins DB South Euclid, OH Brush 5-11 175Fast with speed to burn. Likely a cornerback, but could also return kicks.

Patrick Jean LB Port St. Lucie, FL Treasure Coast 6-3 200Three-star linebacker with great size and speed from a program that produced UofL players Deon Rogers and Mike Romano.

Larry Jefferson DE College Park, GA Banneker 6-5 218Reminds fans of BJ Dubose or Aaron Epps. Tall, athletic lineman who will gain weight, strength.

T.C. Klusman OL Cincinnati, OH Elder 6-4 270Clone of Eric Wood? Maybe. Same height, same weight and same high school.

Joe Manley OL Bowling Green, KY Bowling Green 6-7 307Has a long way to go to live up to his massive potential. Raw but huge frame.

Devontre Parnell DB Winnsboro, SC Fairfi eld Central 5-11 163Four-star defensive back is among the best cover men in the nation for 2011.

Daqual Randall LB Palmetto, FL Palmetto 6-0 225Short but strong linebacker with speed to play outside at Louisville.

Brandon Snell WR Miami Gardens, FL Carol City 5-11 160Could he be the fastest wide receiver in Florida for 2011? Maybe. Scouts really like him.

HUNTER BOWLES


GOVERNOR’S CUP PHOTO GALLERYCARDINAL FOOTBALL

NO NAME HT Wt EXP HT/WT HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) 1 Josh Bellamy 6-0 206 WR SR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte CC)2 Michaelee Harris 6-2 198 WR RS FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)2 Preston Brown 6-0 258 LB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Northwest)3 Charles Gaines 5-11 176 CB FR Miami, Fla. (Central)4 Will Stein 5-10 185 QB JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)5 Teddy Bridgewater 6-3 205 QB FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)6 Greg Scruggs 6-4 285 DT SR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)7 Damian Copeland 6-1 186 WR SO Bradenton, Fla. (Palmetto)8 Darius Ashley 5-8 186 CB JR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)9 DeVante Parker 6-3 196 WR FR Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)10 Dominique Brown 6-2 221 QB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods)11 Josh Chichester 6-8 240 TE SR West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West)12 Chris Philpott 6-0 198 K SR Atlanta, Ga. (St. Pius X Catholic)13 Preston Pace 6-1 199 CB SR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte)14 Andrell Smith 6-3 210 WR JR Miami, Fla. (Palmetto)15 Andrew Johnson 5-9 174 CB FR Miami, Fla. (Southridge)17 Marcus Smith 6-3 251 DE SO Columbus, Ga. (Hardaway)18 Matthew Nakatani 5-8 160 K RS FR Shelbyville, Ky. (Shelby County)18 Titus Teague 5-11 170 CB SO Pomona, Calif. (Pomona)19 Terell Floyd 5-10 170 CB FR Port Pierce, Fla. (Port St. Lucie)19 Joe Castaneda 5-10 186 DB FR Covington, Ky. (Covington Catholic)19 Jerry Arlinghaus 6-4 197 QB FR Louisville, Ky. (Holy Cross)20 Victor Anderson 5-9 188 RB SR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)21 Adrian Bushell 5-11 190 CB JR DeSoto, Texas (Cedar Valley CC) 22 Jordon Paschal 5-8 180 CB RS FR Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)22 Corvin Lamb 5-9 203 RB FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)23 Terence Simien 6-3 218 S SR Sacramento, Calif. (San Mateo)24 Daniel Brown 6-1 221 LB JR Atlanta, Ga. (Douglass)25 Calvin Pryor 6-2 200 S FR Port St. Joe, Fla. (Port St. Joe)26 Zed Evans 5-11 173 CB SO Seagoville, Texas (Seagoville)27 Mike Addesa 5-11 200 LB FR Bradenburg, Ky. (Meade County)27 Jermaine Reve 6-0 180 S FR Miami, Fla. (Northwest)28 Jeremy Wright 5-11 199 RB SO Clermont, Fla. (East Ridge)29 Stephen Goodwin 6-0 190 WR SO Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)29 Hakeem Smith 6-1 183 S SO Jonesboro, Ga. (Riverdale)30 Kamal Hogan 6-0 209 RB RS FR Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)31 DeMarcus Topp 5-10 180 WR JR Paducah, Ky. (Paducah-Tilghman)32 Senorise Perry 6-0 192 RB SO Summerville, Ga. (Chattooga)33 Grant Donovan 6-1 213 LS RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Male)33 Mike Evans 5-10 187 S SR Los Angeles, Calif. (Nevada)34 George Durant 6-0 231 LB SO St. Petersburg, Fla. (Boca Ciega)35 Andrew Fletcher 5-8 162 K RS FR Nashville, Tenn. (Montgomery Bell)35 Anthony Conner 5-11 190 CB SR Houston, Texas (Butte CC)36 Shenard Holton 6-1 190 S JR Bowling Green, Ky. (Warren East)37 Lincoln Carr 5-9 158 WR JR Crestwood, Ky. (Oldham County)37 Tyon Dixon 5-11 208 LB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (Colerain)38 Rashad Stewart 6-0 183 DB SO Marietta, Ga. (Drake)38 Ryan Johnson 5-11 175 P RS FR Louisville, Ky. (DeSales)39 Kenneth Jaboin 6-1 203 DB SR Miami, Fla. (NIACC)39 Chris Zelli 5-11 201 LB FR Jeffersonville, Ind. (Jeffersonville)40 Agyei Williams 5-11 184 S JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)40 Josh Bleser 6-1 213 P SR Park Hills, Ky. (Covington Catholic)41 Stephan Robinson 5-10 170 CB RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Central)42 Champ Lee 6-0 204 LB SO Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson)42 Jalen Harrington 6-2 205 LB FR Fern Creek, Ky. (Fern Creek)43 Deon Rogers 6-2 200 LB SO Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Treasure Coast)44 B.J. Butler 6-2 276 DE SO Kissimmee, Fla. (Osceola)45 John Wallace 6-0 180 P/K FR Cecilia, Ky. (Central Hardin)46 Dexter Heyman 6-3 238 LB SR Louisville, Ky. (Male)47 Malcolm Mitchell 6-2 230 DE SO Stone Mountain, Ga. (Dunwoody)48 Deiontrez Mount 6-5 219 DE FR Fort Walton Beach, Fla. (Fort Walton Beach)49 Patrick Grant 6-4 236 DL JR Sunrise, Fla. (Boyd Anderson)49 Jarel McGriff-Culver 5-11 190 RB RS FR Downers Grove, Ill. (Downers Grove North)51 Mike Privott 6-0 224 LB SO Norfolk, Va. (Lake Taylor)53 Jake Smith 6-4 315 OL RS FR Jacksonville, Ala. (Jacksonville)54 Mike Romano 6-4 275 C FR Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Treasure Coast)55 Mario Benavides 6-4 300 C JR Los Fresnos, Texas (Los Fresnos)56 Tarik Rollins 6-2 223 LB SO Hollywood, Fla. (Clemson)57 Nick Heuser 6-0 229 LB JR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)59 Zach Perkins 6-4 290 OL SO Shepherdsville, Ky. (North Bullitt)62 John Clark 6-2 305 OL SR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)65 Dylan Kupper 6-5 265 OL FR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)66 Alex Kupper 6-3 285 OL JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)68 Kamran Joyer 6-3 292 OL SO Tampa, Fla. (Wesley Chapel)69 Chris Walker 6-3 306 OL SO Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)70 John Miller 6-2 304 OL FR Miami, Fla. (Central)71 Chris Acosta 6-3 279 OL RS FR Miami, Fla. (Hileah)72 Hunter Stout 6-4 291 OL SO Tampa, Fla. (Wharton)73 Hector Hernandez 6-5 294 OL SR Naples, Fla. (Naples)74 Ryan Mack 6-5 316 OL FR Memphis, Tenn. (Wooddale)75 Ryan Kessling 6-5 314 OT SR Tallahassee, Fla. (Chiles)76 Chase Petersen 6-4 291 OL FR Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville)78 Aaron Epps 6-7 250 OT FR Tucker, Ga. (Tucker)80 Stephon Ball 6-4 228 TE JR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)81 Chris White 6-4 243 TE SO Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)82 Eli Rogers 5-10 185 WR FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)83 Jerrell Moore 5-10 169 WR FR Fern Creek, Ky. (Fern Creek)84 Aaron Nance 6-3 197 WR SO Louisville, Ky. (Seneca)85 Nate Nord 6-5 230 TE JR Boca Raton, Fla. (West Boca Raton)87 Kai Dominguez 6-0 172 WR SO Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)88 Jarrett Davis 5-9 171 WR SO Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek)89 Scott Radcliff 5-10 183 WR JR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)90 B.J. Dubose 6-5 238 DE FR Oakland Park, Fla. (Northeast)91 William Savoy 6-1 246 DE SR Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)92 Brandon Dunn 6-3 308 DT SO Louisville, Ky. (Pleasure Ridge Park)93 Roy Philon 6-3 272 DT SO Lexington, Ky. (Bryan Station)94 Lorenzo Mauldin 6-4 225 DE FR Atlanta, Ga. (Maynard Jackson)95 Randy Salmon 6-3 291 DT JR Atlanta, Ga. (Hutchinson CC)96 Jamon Brown 6-6 325 DT FR Fern Creek, Ky. (Fern Creek)99 Jamaine Brooks 6-4 329 DL RS FR Miami, Fla. (Palmetto)

2011 FOOTBALL ROSTEROFFENSELeft Tackle68 - James Hurst (6-7, 310, So.)69 - Nick Appel (6-6, 305, Fr.*)

Left Guard64 - Jonathan Cooper (6-3, 305, Jr.)63 - Peyton Jenest (6-5, 300, Jr.)

Center65 - Cam Holland (6-2, 320, Sr.)60 - Russell Bodine (6-4, 305, Fr.*)

Right Guard76 - Travis Bond (6-7, 345, Jr.)78 - Landon Turner (6-4, 335, Fr.)

Right Tackle73 - Brennan Williams (6-7, 315, Jr.)71 - Carl Gaskins (6-5, 315, Sr.)

Tight End89 - Nelson Hurst (6-4, 260, Jr.)33 - Christian Wilson (6-3, 250, Sr.)

Quarterback2 - Bryn Renner (6-3, 215, So.)14 - Braden Hanson (6-6, 215, Jr.)

Fullback38 - Curtis Byrd (6-1, 255, Sr.)

Tailback26 - Giovani Bernard (5-10, 205, Fr.*)32 - Ryan Houston (6-2, 245, Sr.)

Wide Receiver83 - Dwight Jones (6-4, 225, Sr.)5 - T.J. Thorpe (6-0, 190, Fr.)

Wide Receiver88 - Erik Highsmith (6-3, 190, Jr.)87 - Jheranie Boyd (6-2, 190, Jr.)

DEFENSELeft Defensive End90 - Quinton Coples (6-6, 290, Sr.)93 - Tim Jackson (6-5, 265, So.)

Left Defensive Tackle92 - Sylvester Williams (6-3, 315, Jr.)97 - Shawn Underwood (6-1, 300, Fr.)

Right Defensive Tackle91 - Tydreke Powell (6-3, 305, Sr.)78 - Jordan Nix (6-3, 290, Sr.)

Right Defensive End95 - Kareem Martin (6-6, 260, So.)98 - Donte Paige-Moss (6-4, 260, Jr.)

Will Linebacker47 - Zach Brown (6-2, 230, Sr.)9 - Travis Hughes (6-2, 225, Fr.)

Mike Linebacker48 - Kevin Reddick (6-3, 240, Jr.)49 - Fabby Desir (6-0, 225, Jr.)

Sam Linebacker41 - Ebele Okakpu (6-2, 225, Sr.) OR23 - Darius Lipford (6-3, 230, So.)

Left Cornerback12 - Charles Brown (5-10, 205, Sr.)4 - Jabari Price (6-0, 190, So.)

Strong Safety28 - Jonathan Smith (6-2, 210, Sr.)

29 - Brian Gupton (6-3, 200, Sr.)

Free Safety25 - Matt Merletti (5-11, 200, Sr.)1 - Gene Robinson (5-11, 190, Jr.)

Right Cornerback10 - Tre Boston (6-1, 190, So.)7 - Tim Scott (5-11, 180, Fr.)

SPECIAL TEAMSPlace-kicker14 - Thomas Moore-# (5-10, 190, Fr.*)11 - Casey Barth (5-11, 185, Sr.)

Kickoff19 - Trase Jones (6-0, 195, Sr.)14 - Thomas Moore-# (5-10, 190, Fr.*)

Punter37 - Thomas Hibbard-# (5-10, 185, Fr.)30 - C.J. Feagles (6-0, 210, So.)

Deep Snapper61 - Mark House (6-1, 205, Sr.)

Holder19 - Trase Jones (6-0, 195, Sr.)

Kickoff Return5 - T.J. Thorpe (6-0, 190, Fr.)6 - Sean Tapley (6-1, 185, Fr.*)

Punt Return12 - Charles Brown (5-10, 205, Sr.)13 - Todd Harrelson (6-2, 195, Jr.)

# - denotes walk-on,

* - redshirt freshman

NORTH CAROLINA DEPTH CHART

Three things you may have missed By Rick Cushing

CAREER DAY SPOILEDJarret Davis had a Charles Dickens-type game – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

– Saturday against Marshall. The sophomore from College Park, Ga., had a career-high three catches for 32 yards (he had just four career catches coming in), and he actually had a fourth catch, a nifty, leaping 10-yard grab in the back right corner of the end zone that would have been his fi rst collegiate TD, except that it was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty – on HIM. Davis went in motion from the left side of the formation to the right, then appeared not to be set when the ball was snapped. He said he “went in front of the (outside) receiver instead of going behind him.” Regardless, his own penalty wiped out his touchdown. Mollifying that mistake, the Cards did get a TD on that drive when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater scrambled for a 9-yard TD run, vaulting over the fi nal defender at the goal line. “I’m just glad we kept that drive alive and Teddy scored,” said Davis. To cap Davis’ day, he was chosen as one of the four UofL players who addressed the media after the game. The soft-spoken Davis was subdued as he answered the sometimes pointed questions. “We just didn’t execute,” he said.

BLITZ BURNEDThe Cards continued their practice

of using blitzes to bring pressure and disrupt the opponent’s offense, but Marshall was able to use UofL’s blitz to its advantage. Perhaps the reason for Marshall’s ability to counter UofL’s blitz package dates to the three years that Charlie Strong and Marshall coach Doc Holliday spent together on the Florida staff of Urban Meyer. Perhaps Holliday was able to predict what Strong would do. Whatever the reason, the Thundering Herd seemed prepared for the blitz. On several occasions when the Cards blitzed off the edge, freshman quarterback Rakeem Cato immediately completed a pass to the vacated zone, and the receiver was able to run free for a considerable gain. The Cards recorded only two sacks, and Cato had an outstanding game – 18 of 30 for 236 yards and two TDS with no interceptions.

HURRY-UP OFFENSE JUMP-STARTS CARDS

UofL’s offense, which didn’t produce a fi rst down until six minutes into the second quarter, came alive when the Cards went to a no-huddle, hurry-up attack. It immediately led to a 15-play, 93-yard drive that resulted in the Cards’ fi rst touchdown with 3:38 left in the fi rst half. During the drive, Bridgewater could be seen waving his arm in a downward motion as if measuring the beat in a fast-paced song as he awaiting the incoming play call from the sideline, eager to get it and get going. The hurry-up offense resulted in continued success when UofL took over at its 31 following a missed Marshall fi eld goal and scored 54 seconds later on a 41-yard TD pass to Vic Anderson with 33 seconds left in the half. He caught a short pass over the middle moving right to left, then made a knee-buckling move on the Marshall defender, changed directions and sprinted to the right corner of the end zone untouched to give UofL a 13-7 lead. Alas, the hurry-up offense did not produce similar results in the second half as the Cards sputtered to an embarrassing loss, unable to score in the half against a team that ranked 102nd in the country in total defense and tied for 98th in scoring defense coming in.

By Howie LindseyDepending on whom you ask, the Big East is ei-

ther moving forward with the possibility of a stron-ger football league, splitting apart at the seams, los-ing members left and right or returning to normalcy after another ACC raid.

Could it be that all of the above statements con-tain some truth?

Since the fairly shocking conference switch an-nouncement by Syracuse and Pittsburgh last month, the league has taken abuse from critics from coast to coast.

Every current Big East football-playing member has been rumored to be interested in one league or another, making the league appear to be ripe for continued picking by the ACC or Big Ten or Big 12.

But Sunday the Big East presidents met on the campus of Georgetown University and voted unani-mously to pursue “aggressive discussions with other institutions that have substantial interest in joining,” according to Commissioner John Marinatto. The meeting marked the fi rst time the league had met formally since the Pitt and Syracuse announcement.

Marinatto declined to name which schools the conference is considering but said the presidents openly discussed specifi c institutions. Most believe service academies Navy and Air Force will be offered football-only membership in the league.

The Big East presidents, joined by Chancellor Vic-tor J. Boschini of future member Texas Christian, “all made the commitment that they do want us to move forward as they had earlier with the premise that they want to have a vital and strong conference to have their programs housed in.”

Pitt and Syracuse can’t leave the league until 2014 by Big East rule (a 27-month waiting period and a $5 million exit fee), but the league presidents felt the need to begin negotiations with new members as a measure to guard against further raids by other leagues. The Big East would need to add at least one more school to meet BCS requirements of an eight-team league.

A move to add two of the three service acadmies (Army may or may not be a candidate as well) would be a boost to the Big East’s Sagarin strength rating because Air Force and Navy have out-performed Pitt and Syracuse in recent years.

According to the Washington Post, keeping BCS bowl eligibility is of primary concern for the Big East in large part because of the leverage it provides in the next round of negotiations for lucrative television contracts.

“Overall, I thought that the tone of the meeting was very positive,” Marinatto said. “Our schools for the fi rst time were able to come together. The shock has worn off in terms of what happened two weeks ago today, and people are in a better frame of mind of looking forward as opposed to obviously dealing with the situation we dealt with two Sundays ago.”

The Big East had a lucrative TV contract on the table from ESPN and at least one other bidder ear-lier this year, but they turned it down on the recom-mendation, in part, of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, who was actually in secret negotiations with the ACC at the time.

While some see the Big East’s Sunday move as un-important given a possible expansion by the Big 12 that could include Big East members Louisville, TCU, West Virginia and others, The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy believes the league will survive, just like it did in 2005 when it endured the loss of Virginia

Tech, Boston College and Miami.DeCourcy wrote: “A source close to the Big East

told Sporting News that Louisville, known to be strongly committed to the conference even though it may have better options than any other member, pushed Rutgers’ and UConn’s representatives to be more committed to the conference’s future.

“Louisville recognizes what the others have re-fused to see: That no one in the league—and no one departing, for that matter—has a better athletic future in any other league. The Big East association works for every football-playing member, and it works for the BCS because the league covers a large chunk of the nation’s population at a minimal cost — one measly bid to the least consequential major bowl.”

For the Big East to survive, it likely will need to keep a close eye on what is happening across the Mississippi River in Big 12 country.

That league, led by interim commissioner Chuck Neinas, agreed in principle Sunday to share all Tier I and Tier II television rights with the league for the next six seasons.

The Big 12, which had previously left TV rights to its individual members, will require each member to contribute its TV rights to the league during that six-year span even if the member decides to leave the conference. The measure, meant to instill confi dence in the league’s stability, could mean the end of Pac-12 poaching and an end to the SEC’s courtship of Missouri as a 14th member.

“In an objective view, this should be a positive sign for Missouri,” Neinas said during a teleconference with reporters Sunday. “It’s one thing to talk about the Southeastern Conference, but how many people are going to be able to afford to travel to Gainesville, Florida, or Columbia, South Carolina, or Tuscaloosa, Alabama? You know, John Q. Fan, he can get in the car and drive to Big 12 games. Besides, Missouri is Midwestern, not Southern.”

The Missouri Board of Curators met Tuesday after this week’s Louisville SportsReport went to press.

Should Missouri stay, the league would have nine members after Texas A&M heads to the SEC next season. Speculation varies wildly as to whether the Big 12 would expand to 10, 12, 14 or even 16 teams to secure its future.

While Louisville appears to be the top target for the Big 12 of any current Big East school, UofL of-fi cials continue to call for Louisville to focus on re-building the Big East.


BIG EAST CONFERENCE

By Jack CoffeeThere is a general consensus among the premium members

of our message board, CardinalSports.com, that the University of Louisville should make every effort to leave the Big East Conference and that failure to do so would be a tremendous blunder by the school’s athletic administration.

Like most Cards fans, I can see the benefi t of joining a conference such as the Big 12 and especially the SEC if that unlikely event should present itself. But I also can see the advantages of staying in the Big East, especially for the next few years. One thing is certain, and that is the uncertainty of future conference alignments.

The willingness of schools to give up decades-long and natural geographic rivalries to make a few more dollars assures continual change in the college athletic landscape.

It’s interesting that fans are so anxious to join the Big 12 when just a couple of weeks ago the Big 12 was in greater turmoil than the Big East. With several top members apparently headed to the Pac-10 or 12 or whatever, the league seemed on the verge of col-lapse. Things now seem to have settled down, but there is still much unhappiness with Texas’ LONGHORN NETWORK. So why the rush to join when things are so unsettled? Why not stick with a rebuilt Big East? When Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College left the Big East in 2005, the end of the league was predicted. Instead, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida were added, with the former two having since played in a BCS game, something that would not have happened if the others had not left.

Why become irrational simply because Syracuse and Pitt left for the ACC? It will hurt basketball somewhat, but the Big East will still be the toughest conference in terms of schools in the NCAA Tournament. Even if the aforementioned schools had been in the ACC last season, the Big East would have had nine in and the ACC six. Neither football team has ever won a BCS game (in fact, of ex-isting members only Louisville and West Virginia have won a BCS game); neither has been to a BCS game since Louisville and Cin-cinnati entered in 2005; and Miami and Boston College haven’t been to a BCS game since leaving the Big East and have continued to be fodder for the original ACC schools in basketball.

So why not stick together and rebuild the Big East? The chal-lenge is to keep the existing schools from fl eeing to another con-ference, and it appears that those who have tried to fl ee (WVU, UConn and Rutgers) have been rebuffed by other leagues. Maybe with the Pitt Chancellor leaving the room some honesty can re-turn to the conversation about what to do in the future.

The Big East still has BCS status, and in spite of heightened anx-iety levels it is in no danger of losing that status. Remember the Oklahoma lawsuit against the NCAA in the early 80s that started this whole conference chaos? The Sooners won that suit as the Supreme Court said that one entity could not control the ability of every college to pursue economic gain through TV rights. The same is true of the BCS. There is no way that the BCS is going to take away any league’s BCS opportunity. If anything, after 2014 conferences will be added. You saw what happened with a little pressure concerning the Mountain West and other highly ranked teams not in a BCS conference. Since 2007 four non-BCS schools have played in six BCS bowl games -- TCU, Boise State, Utah and Hawaii.

For Big East expansion I recommend Temple, Navy and Air Force. All three have full athletic programs that closely match Big East sports and have good football teams. As a matter of fact, Air Force and Navy have higher Sagarin Ratings than Syracuse and Pitt the last few seasons. Temple’s football team is on the rise, having recently lost to Penn State only 14-10 and thump-ing the ACC’s Maryland 38-7. The Owls average 33,000 fans per game in football. But the most attractive thing about these three schools is their ability to bring huge TV markets. Air Force and Navy (and Army) bring national followings in football, and Tem-ple is in the fourth-largest media market in the country.

Whether UofL stays in the Big East, heads to the Big 12 or joins another conference, I believe the future is bright, and let me quote our hyperbolic former coach, Lee Corso, Louisville is a “sleeping giant” in college athletics.

ONE FAN’S TAKE ON CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT – STAY PUT

JACK COFFEEJACK COFFEE

New Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas believes the league will retain Missouri as a member. Neinas has a long working relationship with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich.

BIG EAST MAKING MOVES TO STRENGTHEN LEAGUE

B I G 1 2 A G R E E S T O S I X - Y E A R T V D E A L


CARDINAL STARSCHRISTINE EXETER - WOMEN’S SOCCERThe sophomore forward from Pickerington, Ontario, connected on a header in the 96th minute to lift Louisville to a 2-1 overtime victory against visiting USF on Sunday afternoon at Cardinal Park. The Cardinals improved to 5-5-3 overall and 3-1-2 in Big East games, while the Bulls dropped to 5-4-4, 1-2-3. The game-winning goal was set up when freshman Devyn Ciotti sent a corner kick in from the right side to Exeter, who headed it into the upper right corner from 8 yards away for her team-leading fi fth goal of the season and the 12th of her career. It was the second game-winning goal of 2011 for Exeter, while the assist for Ciotti was her second of the season.

LOLA ARSLANBEKOVA - VOLLEYBALLThe junior from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, had 28 kills and 14 digs with an ace and four blocks to lead the Cards to a 3-1 victory over Notre Dame on Sunday in South Bend, Ind. The 5-foot-11 outside hitter helped Louisville improve to 12-4 overall, 4-0 in Big East play with the 17-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 victory. Notre Dame fell to 8-6, 1-3. “It was a huge win, not just because Notre Dame is a good team but because it is a rivalry game and a road win,” said UofL coach Anne Kordes. “...Lola was unstoppable from the left side.” Arslanbekova was named Big East Volleyball Player of the Week for the second straight week on Monday.

TAYLOR BRAUNEIS - VOLLEYBALLThe sophomore from Crystal Lake, Ill., had a phenomenal match against Notre Dame on Sunday. She had 56 of Louisville’s 57 assists along with seven digs and two block assists. “I thought Taylor Brauneis did a great job of running a very unpredictable offense that was hard for them to defend,” Kordes said. “...We need to work on eliminating our errors as we continue to go deep into our conference schedule.” Brauneis was selected for the USA National A2 team last summer after being named to the All-Big East second team as a freshman.

MICHAEL LIPPENS - MEN’S TENNISSUMIT GUPTA - MEN’S TENNISSenior Gupta and freshman Lippens captured the Ball State Invitational Flight ‘A’ doubles title, and Lippens fi nished runner-up in the ‘A’ singles division. “Sumit and Michael completed their goal of winning the doubles title,” UofL coach Rex Ecarma said. “They dominated the (title) match 7-2, then Marquette surged back to 7-7. They made several smart play-calls and shots and closed them out. Gupta played like a man possessed. It was impressive that this tournament was their fi rst time to play together.” Gupta, a native of Etawah, India, who transferred from St. Mary’s International College, and Lippens, a prep phenom from Long Branch, N.J., defeated Marquette’s Otavio Perim and James Stark 9-7 for the Flight ‘A’ championship with their fourth straight victory over the weekend. In Flight ‘A’ singles, Lippens defeated Duquesne’s Pete Carpenter 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fi nal, where he fell 6-2, 6-0 to Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Paul Swanson. “I am proud of Michael’s effort,” said Ecarma. “He was playing in his 23rd match in three weekends, and Swanson wore him down. He tried to get some things going but could not put it together.”

MANUELA VELASQUEZ - WOMEN’S TENNISThe freshman from Kew Gardens, N.Y., defeated Wake Forest’s Ryann Cutillo to win the ‘B’ singles fl ight at the Wake Forest Invitational on Sunday. Velasquez took the fi rst set 6-0 before Cutillo retired to give Velasquez her fi rst tournament championship. She paired with Amelia Harris to win the doubles championship as well. “Another good weekend for the Louisville women’s team,” coach Mark Beckham said. “This is the third weekend of tournaments, and we have our third different winner. When we have our top two players not with us and are still able to win a high-level event, it shows what we are building with this program. When you win singles and doubles, it shows that you are a complete player. This is a great breakthrough for Manuela. She is just a freshman, and winning a tournament like this really shows her potential. I am really proud of Amelia Harris as well. She has had some ups and downs in her time here, and for her to win a tournament like this is huge. It proves to her that working hard does pay.”

TYLER BYRNE - MEN’S CROSS COUNTRYThe sophomore from Georgetown, Ind., became just the second Cardinal to capture the Greater Louisville Classic individual title. Byrne won the event Saturday at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in eastern Jefferson County, completing the 8K course in 23:47.12 for his second career win. Despite jostling with the 240-man fi eld throughout the race, Byrne broke free around the fi nal 100m to fi nish two seconds ahead of the runner-up. He joined UofL legend Wesley Korir (who won the event in 2004 and 2005) as the only individual UofL winners of the event. “I knew there was a bunch of really good runners here today, so I had to progressively get faster throughout the race and still maintain position to get the win,” Byrne said. “I think with it being the home course always helps - knowing all the little turns and twists and where I want to be is an advantage in my mind.”

BRAUNEISBRAUNEIS

ARSLANBEKOVAARSLANBEKOVA

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KEEP UP ON ALL THE LATEST CARDINAL NEWS!AMERICA’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON UofL ATHLETICS

BYRNEBYRNE

DATE OPPONENT / EVENT TIMEDATE OPPONENT / EVENT TIME

Thu., Sept. 1 Murray State W, 21-9

Fri., Sept. 9 Florida International L, 24-17

Sat., Sept. 17 at Kentucky W, 24-17

Sat., Oct. 1 Marshall L, 17-13

Sat., Oct. 8 at North Carolina (ESPN2/ESPNU) Noon

Sat., Oct. 15 at Cincinnati TBA

Fri., Oct. 21 Rutgers (ESPN) 8 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 29 Syracuse TBA

Sat., Nov. 5 at West Virginia TBA

Sat., Nov. 12 Pittsburgh TBA

Sat., Nov. 19 at Connecticut TBA

Fri., Nov. 25 at USF (ABC/ESPN/ESPN2) TBA

2011 LOUISVILLE 2011 LOUISVILLE FOOTBALL SCHEDULEFOOTBALL SCHEDULE

VISIT CARDINALSPORTS.COM FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE CARDINAL INFORMATION


By Russ BrownWith the so-called “Fab Four” hav-

ing moved on after leaving their indelible marks on the University of Louisville tennis program, 2011-12 fi gures to be a payback season for the Cardinals’ opponents.

Or does it?It’s true that Alejandro Calligari, Austen

Childs, Simon Childs and Viktor Maksim-cuk -- undeniably the most successful class in UofL tennis history -- are gone, replaced by a roster dominated by unproven fresh-men and sophomores.

But don’t call it a rebuilding year. Coach Rex Ecarma doesn’t. He prefers “reload-ing.” He loves the potential of his young players, and he is hopeful that a trio of seniors, Andrew Carter, Robert Hall and Adam Donaldson, is ready to step out of the shadow of the Fab Four and stake their own claim to fame by the time the all-im-portant spring season rolls around.

“Now is their time to lead and assert themselves,” Ecarma said. “It’s time to do more than what they’ve been doing. I’m hoping they embrace that.”

And Ecarma believes he has an out-standing freshman class in Van Damrong-sri of Ellicot City, Md.; Michael Lippens of Long Branch, N.J.; Chris Simich from Auck-land, New Zealand; Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Vienna, Austria; and Albert Wagner of Amberg, Germany.

Those fi ve, along with redshirt freshmen

Bradley Merchant, Ross Nigro and Jonathan Kuhn, give No. 24 UofL eight players who have never been tested on the collegiate level before.

“The way I’m approaching it is, there are 12 spots to be taken,” Ecarma said. “When the Fab Four graduated, they had gobbled up eight starting spots for four years. Now you have all these spots open. I’ve never had a team this young in 22 years at Lou-isville and never had this many spots ready for the taking. Coaches ask me if I’m ner-vous. I tell them no, I’m excited; I want to see who comes out on top.”

All the newcomers and veterans have performed well at various times so far this fall, and Ecarma said that Stiefelmeyer, in particular, has already started to turn some heads by winning four matches in invita-tionals at Duke and Virginia. Ecarma said Stiefelmeyer will challenge for the Cards’ No. 1 singles spot and could be nationally ranked by the end of his rookie season next spring.

“I’m ecstatic to see that these guys have really embraced the level of training they have to have here and that they’re not in-timidated by older college players,” Ecarma said. “Our freshman class is already making themselves known around the country.”

Stiefelmeyer, Damrongsri, Simich and Wagner were well-known in tennis recruit-ing circles, but Ecarma thinks he may have landed a wild card in Lippens, who was a

virtual unknown and was one of Louisville’s last signees. Lippens won the Louisville Fall Invitational A Division singles title, becom-ing only the second freshman to do so in 20 years (Calligari was the other).

He followed that with an upset of Vir-ginia’s Julian Uriguen, a top-60 player who was a starter for the Cavaliers’ national fi -nalist team last season.

“Lippens was a little bit unheralded, but I always knew he had a tremendous amount of potential,” Ecarma said. “I just didn’t know it would show up this soon. I think he’s one of the surprises in the country.”

Ecarma has not only been pleased with the results on the court so far, but also by the character and work ethic of the fresh-men, who he says have put in a lot of vol-unteer time in workouts.

“I’ve never had a team work this hard,” he said. “These guys are wearing out my strength and speed coach; they’re always doing the extra things. Obviously, you want to have the Fab Four forever, but these guys really want to be pushed all the time.”

Ecarma is aware that because of their success the last few years the Cards will have targets on their backs throughout the 2011-12 season, and he’s urging his play-ers to work toward being the surprise team in the country.

“I can see all the teams that lost to us the last four years licking chops and circling dates because they don’t have to deal with

the Fab Four any more and they want toput an absolute beatdown on us,” he said.“But I’ve got some cards in my back pock-et they don’t know about. I’m going intothose tennis centers really relaxed, becausethe pressure is on them, it’s no longer onus, and this team is a lot more preparedthan most coaches around the countrythink.”

The UofL tennis program has a new look in more ways than one. The 14 courts atthe Bass-Rudd Tennis Center have beenresurfaced and the color scheme has beenchanged from forest green on the outsideand light green on the inside to gray/silveron the outside and brick red on the inside.The courts now more closely resemble Uo-fL’s colors.

“It’s part of the whole transformation,” Ecarma said. “I tell the team they can’t becontent with what we accomplished thelast four years. We have high goals to doeven more the next four years. My line forthis season is new faces, new courts, newera and a new generation.”

Ecarma added that Calligari, Austen and Simon Childs and Maksimcuk are still inLouisville and still assisting the tennis pro-gram in any way they can.

“None of these guys want to leave,” Ecarma said. “They talk to the players,practice with them ... they’re mentors andbig brothers, and I’m really happy aboutthat.”

NEW GENERATION READY TO MAKE OWN MARK FOR CARDSLOUISVILLE TENNIS


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK

BIG EAST TAKES MORE HITS; BIG EAST TAKES MORE HITS; PITT’S GRAHAM RUNS OVER USFPITT’S GRAHAM RUNS OVER USF

By Russ BrownAnother weekend of college football,

another sorry performance by the Big East Conference, which seems intent on proving that it is every bit as bad as its critics con-tend.

Take, for instance, Rutgers and Syra-cuse. Please. In as poor an exhibition as you could ever witness, the Scarlet Knights

and the Orange com-bined for nine turnovers, fi ve missed fi eld goals, a botched extra point and 13 penalties. Oh yeah, Rutgers won 19-16 in double overtime.

But the brutal week-end doesn’t end there.

Louisville fans don’t need to be reminded that Marshall snapped an 18-game losing streak against teams from BCS conferences by upsetting the homestanding Cardinals 17-13.

Then there was defending BCS represen-tative Connecticut’s 38-31 loss at home to one of those directional schools, Western Michigan.

Even former national power TCU seems to have been affected by Big East incompe-tence since joining the league. The Horned Frogs (3-2), who will begin league play in 2012, were upset by SMU 40-33 in over-time and have dropped out of the top 25.

Even the Big East’s marquee game of the week, a Thursday night nationally televised affair between Pittsburgh and unbeaten No. 16 USF, was a bust as the Panthers crushed the Bulls 44-17. That knocked USF out of the rankings, leaving West Virginia (4-1) as the league’s only top-25 team at No. 16/19.

The Mountaineers were the preseason pick to win the conference, and they’re looking more and more like a good choice, although Pitt and Cincinnati appear capable of a strong challenge.

PANTHERS PLAY COMPLETE GAME

Pitt (3-2) put it all together in its rout of visiting USF (4-1), with junior Ray Graham rushing for 226 yards and two touchdowns, junior quarterback Tino Sunseri playing well and the defense keeping USF quarterback B.J. Daniels under control most of the eve-ning.

“I can’t tell you how excited I was to stand on the sideline and see those guys go and play a complete game,” said Pitt

fi rst-year coach Todd Graham, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak (to Iowa and Notre Dame). “Our guys rallied around each other and really played a physical foot-ball game, took care of the football, execut-ed the system. I feel like we’re close. It’s just one game, but all of us are really coming together.”

The Panthers dominated USF from start to fi nish, getting 91 offensive plays and to-taling 523 yards. They were humming along so smoothly that they converted nine of their 15 third downs and didn’t punt until late in the third quarter.

Sunseri, the target of fan criticism this season, completed 22 of 33 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 9-yard run. He had been heckled while walking to class and was considered the weak link in Pitt’s offense, soft-armed and slow-footed. But he said he doesn’t let the criticism get to him.

“No one’s a tougher critic than my fa-ther,” said Sunseri, referring to former Pitt All-American linebacker Sal Sunseri, “so it’s not like being able to get any kind of break by calling home. But honestly, I’ve felt bet-ter every week. I really felt like this offense was right there.”

Graham averaged 8.7 yards per carry and also caught four passes for 42 yards. He en-tered the game leading the Big East in rush-ing with 127 yards per game.

“Ray has been phenomenal, and he is even better than he has played,” Todd Graham said. “He is a complete back and he continues to be a student, learning and studying, and he corrected a lot of things

we wanted him to correct. The kid’s com-petitiveness is off the charts.”

Said USF coach Skip Holtz: “Once he gets in space, he makes you miss. He’s quick. He’s quicker than he is fast, and he’s very elusive. He’s got sideways, lateral move-ment and great vision. If he can get on the perimeter, he’s going to hurt you.”

Defensively, Pitt’s star was redshirt junior safety Jarred Holley, who had 10 tackles (two for losses), a sack, a forced fumble and a touchdown-saving stop.

Holtz called the loss “an old-fashioned tail-whupping,” adding, “We couldn’t get off the fi eld against a very good football team.”

The Bulls couldn’t take advantage of a Pitt offensive line that had yielded 19 sacks going into the game -- second-worst in the nation.

“Physically, I don’t know that we were ready to accept the challenge we were dealt, especially from a defensive stand-point,” Holtz said. “We knew what we were going to get. I told them all week it was going to be a fi stfi ght, a heavyweight fi ght, physical, a war. That’s the way Pitt has always played, and it was.”

USF dropped to 0-7 in Thursday night games since joining the Big East and has lost four straight to Pitt. Now the Bulls get a bye week before traveling to UConn on Oct. 15.

“This is one game,” Holtz said. “I hate to lose a conference game, but sitting here 4-1 going into an open date, we’ve got to keep our heads up. We’ve got to get back to work, we’ve got to fi nd out what the

problems were and we’ve got to get themcorrected.”

Said Daniels: “At the end of the day, this could be a blessing in disguise. This couldbe an extra motivating factor for the rest ofthe season.”

Then again, it could be just the fi rst in a string of losses after a fast start, similarto the way USF’s seasons have panned outsince it joined the Big East.

UofL will play host to Pitt on Nov. 12 and go to USF to close the regular season onNov. 25. That Friday night game will be na-tionally televised (ESPN).

WVU OFF AND RUNNINGIt came against a caliber of competition

that left something to be desired, but WestVirginia fi nally found a running game in its55-10 rout of Bowling Green (3-2). Fresh-man running back Dustin Garrison led theway with 291 yards and two touchdownson 32 carries.

The Mountaineers entered the game as one of the worst rushing teams in the na-tion, but they racked up more yards on theground than in their previous four gamescombined.

Coach Dana Holgorsen said WVU has to run the ball effectively rather than continu-ing with its unbalanced offense featuringGeno Smith’s passing.

“It’s big,” Holgorsen said. “We have to get (the opposition) to play more honest.When you can run the ball they put morepeople in the box and you get one-on-onematchups on the outside.”

Holgorsen said his fi rst WVU team is still a work in progress.

“A lot of people get aggravated to keep hearing that, but it just takes snaps,” hesaid. “Five games into it, we’re happy withwhere we’re at.”

West Virginia will open its Big East season Saturday against UConn in Morgantown.

UC ROLLS IN TUNEUP FOR CARDS

Cincinnati (4-1) completed the non-conference portion of its schedule with a27-0 victory at rival Miami of Ohio (0-4)and now has two weeks to prepare for itsleague opener against UofL on Oct. 15 inPaul Brown Stadium.

The Bearcats shut out Miami for the fi rst time since 1976 and the fi rst time in Oxfordsince 1898. The shutout was their fi rst sincethey beat Eastern Kentucky 31-0 in 2006.

Miami did a good job of containing UC


Rutgers coach Greg Schiano ‘s team outlasted Syracuse 19-16 in overtime Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are 3-1 with a 12-point win over Ohio, a team

that beat Marshall 44-7 in Week 3.


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK 2011 BIG EAST FOOTBALL SCHEDULES

CINCINNATIThu., Sept. 1 Austin Peay W, 72-10Sat., Sept. 10 at Tennessee L, 45-23Sat., Sept. 17 Akron W, 59-14Thu., Sept. 22 North Carolina State W, 44-14Sat., Oct. 1 at Miami (Ohio) W, 27-0Sat., Oct. 15 LOUISVILLESat., Oct. 22 at USFSat., Nov. 5 at PITTSBURGHSat., Nov. 12 WEST VIRGINIASat., Nov. 19 at RUTGERSSat., Nov. 26 at SYRACUSESat., Dec. 3 CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUTThu., Sept. 1 Fordham W, 35-3Sat., Sept. 10 at Vanderbilt L, 24-21Fri., Sept. 16 Iowa State L, 24-20Sat., Sept. 24 at Buffalo W, 17-3Sat., Oct. 1 Western Michigan L, 38-31Sat., Oct. 8 at WEST VIRGINIASat., Oct. 15 USFWed., Oct. 26 at PITTSBURGHSat., Nov. 5 SYRACUSESat., Nov. 19 LOUISVILLESat., Nov. 26 RUTGERSSat., Dec. 3 at CINCINNATI

LOUISVILLEThu., Sept. 1 Murray State W, 21-9Fri., Sept. 9 Florida International L, 24-17Sat., Sept. 17 at Kentucky W, 24-17Sat., Oct. 1 Marshall L, 17-13Sat., Oct. 8 at North CarolinaSat., Oct. 15 at CINCINNATIFri., Oct. 21 RUTGERSSat., Oct. 29 SYRACUSESat., Nov. 5 at WEST VIRGINIASat., Nov. 12 PITTSBURGHSat., Nov. 19 at CONNECTICUTFri., Nov. 25 at USF

PITTSBURGHSat., Sept. 3 Buffalo W, 35-16Sat., Sept. 10 Maine W, 35-29Sat., Sept. 17 at Iowa L, 31-27Sat., Sept. 24 Notre Dame L, 15-12Thu., Sept. 29 USF W, 44-17 Sat., Oct. 8 at RUTGERSSat., Oct. 15 UtahWed., Oct. 26 CONNECTICUTSat., Nov. 5 CINCINNATISat., Nov. 12 at LOUISVILLEFri., Nov. 25 at WEST VIRGINIASat., Dec. 3 SYRACUSE

RUTGERSThu., Sept. 1 North Carolina Central W, 48-0Sat., Sept. 10 at North Carolina L, 24-22Sat., Sept. 24 Ohio W, 38-26 Sat., Oct. 1 at SYRACUSE W, 19-16 2OTSat., Oct. 8 PITTSBURGHSat., Oct. 15 NavyFri., Oct. 21 at LOUISVILLESat., Oct. 29 WEST VIRGINIASat., Nov. 5 USFSat., Nov. 12 at ArmySat., Nov. 19 CINCINNATISat., Nov. 26 at CONNECTICUT

USFSat., Sept. 3 at Notre Dame W, 23-20Sat., Sept. 10 Ball State W, 37-7Sat., Sept. 17 Florida A&M W, 70-17Sat., Sept. 24 UTEP W, 52-24Thu., Sept. 29 at PITTSBURGH L, 44-17Sat., Oct. 15 at CONNECTICUTSat., Oct. 22 CINCINNATISat., Nov. 5 at RUTGERSFri., Nov. 11 at SYRACUSESat., Nov. 19 Miami (Fla.)Fri., Nov. 25 LOUISVILLEThu., Dec. 1 WEST VIRGINIA

SYRACUSESat., Sept. 3 Wake Forest W, 36-29 OTSat., Sept. 10 Rhode Island W, 21-14Sat., Sept. 17 at Southern California L, 38-17Sat., Sept. 24 Toledo W, 33-30 OTSat., Oct. 1 RUTGERS L, 19-16 2OTSat., Oct. 8 at TulaneSat., Oct. 22 WEST VIRGINIASat., Oct. 29 at LOUISVILLESat., Nov. 5 at CONNECTICUTFri., Nov. 11 USF Sat., Nov. 26 CINCINNATISat., Dec. 3 at PITTSBURGH

WEST VIRGINIASat., Sept. 3 Marshall W, 34-13Sat., Sept. 10 Norfolk State W, 55-12Sat., Sept. 17 at Maryland W, 37-31Sat., Sept. 24 LSU L, 47-21Sat., Oct. 1 Bowling Green W, 55-10Sat., Oct. 8 CONNECTICUTSat., Oct. 22 at SYRACUSESat., Oct. 29 at RUTGERSSat., Nov. 5 LOUISVILLESat., Nov. 12 at CINCINNATIFri., Nov. 25 PITTSBURGHThu., Dec. 1 at USF

running back Isaiah Pead but couldn’t con-trol UC quarterback Zach Collaros, who passed for 251 yards and one TD and rushed for 89 yards on 15 carries, but also account-ed for three turnovers on two interceptions and a fumble. UC entered the game lead-ing the nation in turnover margin.

Pead was averaging 7.9 yards per carry but was held to 49 yards on 18 tries. He still scored two TDs.

RUTGERS QB UP IN AIRRutgers coach Greg Schiano is holding

off announcing a decision on his starting quarterback for Saturday’s home game against Pittsburgh. True freshman Gary Nova relieved struggling starter Chris Dodd and rallied the Scarlet Knights from a 10-point fourth-quarter defi cit to their win over Syracuse.

“I’m going to have to watch more of it and sit down with Frank (offensive coordi-nator Frank Cignetti),” Schiano said. “I’m not ready to make a commitment. This isn’t going to be a knee-jerk reaction. It’s some-thing we’re going to have to look at and make sure we’re calculated in what we’re doing. We’re going to talk it through and do what we think is best.”

Nova completed 14 of 24 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown. He also had some good runs while avoiding a pass rush that sacked him four times. Dodd was 14 of 31 for 166 yards with an interception before being benched early in the third quarter.

“We struggled under Dodd,” Schiano said. “We had some things there that we didn’t hit.”

Meanwhile, Syracuse offensive coordi-nator Nathaniel Hackett summed up the Orange’s offensive performance this way: “We were horrible. You don’t need to su-

garcoat it. We were horrible.”That could have described the game,

too.

HUSKIES BURNED BY PASS

UConn (2-3) had 451 yards of total of-fense but still lost to Western Michigan despite the Broncos’ 15 penalties for 119 yards. The Huskies made WMU’s Alex Card-er look like an All-American as he threw for a personal-best 479 yards and fi ve touch-downs while completing 23 of 36 with no interceptions.

“We weren’t able to get to him and ha-rass him enough, and he was able to get the ball to open receivers,” UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “There were some en-couraging things out there, but we need to start playing complementary football. We can be a good team, but we’ve got to get better in all phases.”

LAVIN TO INCREASE TREATMENT

St. John’s basketball coach Steve Lavin revealed that he is entering a new, more serious phase of treatment for his prostate cancer, one that will require either surgery or radiation treatments.

Lavin -- in consultation with his doctors -- had elected to monitor the disease with-out taking more proactive steps to combat it. But now he expects to commence more aggressive treatment before Oct. 14, when practice opens.

“After the most recent consultation, my doctors feel at this point that the active sur-veillance approach is off the table,” he said. “So that narrows the treatment options to surgery or radiation. The advantage of early detection is that we have these options that

can assist in leading to a cancer-free life.”Lavin plans on continuing to coach

and insists that the treatments won’t affect his ability to do his job.

UC PUT ON PROBATIONThe University of Cincinnati has been

placed on two years probation by the NCAA for a major violation that occurred in the women’s basketball program involving impermissible phone calls.

There also were secondary violations in-volving the women’s basketball program and the football program.

The university said the NCAA accepted its self-imposed sanctions. They include restrictions on making calls to recruits dur-ing certain periods and on the size of the women’s basketball staff and its recruiters this season.

The NCAA said a former women’s bas-ketball assistant coach made 176 improper calls to prospective players, their relatives or legal guardians, and that other staff mem-bers made 24 improper calls. Football staff-ers made 20 improper calls. Cincinnati said the major violation case came in a period spanning from June 2009 to November 2010.

Cincinnati said it discovered the major violation in late November 2010 during an audit of all sports and reported the improp-er calls to the NCAA at the beginning of 2011. The NCAA said the case was resolved through a cooperative process called a sum-mary disposition.

Cincinnati said in a statement that it co-operated fully and that the former women’s basketball assistant was fi red after the improper calls were discovered. Coaches weren’t identifi ed.

New Connecicut coach Paul Pasqualoni is 2-3 with losses to Vanderbilt, Iowa State and Western Michigan. The Huskies were the league’s BCS representative last season.


MEN’S SOCCER

By Howie LindseyNo. 8 Louisville suffered its fi rst back-

to-back losses in more than two years and had its 27-match unbeaten streak at home snapped Saturday night in a 1-0 double overtime loss to No. 1 Connecticut at Car-dinal Park.

The Cardinals (6-3, 0-2 Big East) fell 1-0 at No. 14 Notre Dame on Sept. 24 before los-ing to UConn (10-0, 2-0). The last time they lost back-to-back games was the fi nal two games of the 2008 season when they lost to Notre Dame 1-0 in the Big East Tournament and Jacksonville 4-3 in overtime in the fi rst round of the NCAA Tournament.

For many teams, the postgame interviews after such a loss would be a dirge of sadness and frustration. Not Louisville. There was no moping on the sidelines for coach Ken Lolla, whose team outshot the Huskies 23-11, in-cluding a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal.

“I think the No. 1 team came in here and, in many ways, we dominated this game,” he said. “That’s not enough, we still have to score goals and, in the end, we have to be better about that.”

Lolla, who is known for his affi rming and positive nature, is consistently focused on moving his team forward toward a success-ful post-season regardless of the outcome of a single regular-season game.

“I know that we had the better of the chances, we had more chances and we played good soccer tonight,” he said. “But we didn’t get the result. In the end, once the playoffs start we have to get the result. That is what matters. We have to grow in that

area.”His focus on improvement over outcome

made an impression on team leaders Ken-ney Walker and Andre Boudreaux. They have confi dence because they aren’t playing bad soccer.

“It is disappointing that we didn’t get the win, but we played really well,” Walker said. “We had been working all week to get better, and we improved a lot from the last game. We just have to let this one go and get ready for the next one.”

Said Boudreaux: “I feel good about the soccer we are playing, yeah, but not the re-sults. That is the struggle with us right now. Do you play pretty and lose? Or do you play

ugly and win? We try to do both. We don’t want to settle for one or the other. I think we played well, we just have to make it count.”

The loss was toughest on Walker, who had fi ve shots on goal during regulation, in-cluding a penalty kick that sailed above the goal in the 81st minute.

“I went for power, I didn’t really go for placement,” he said. “I probably should have just placed it to one side or the other, but I went for power and didn’t keep it low. It lifted up off of me and took it over the net.”

Said Lolla: “There are certain guys that have taken them in the past, and Kenney was one of those guys. We felt like he was the best guy to take it. He just struck it, got under it a bit and it went high. He didn’t force the keeper to have to make a save.”

The teams ended regulation time in a scoreless tie. After a 10-minute, golden-goal overtime period ended without a goal, the teams reset for another 10-minute period. Just over a minute into the second overtime, UConn’s Stephane Diop snaked through the Cardinals’ defense and slipped a shot into the right corner of the goal.

“He ended up getting into the box and beat our guy with his fi rst touch,” Lolla said. “Our other guy stepped up, and another touch beat him. He hit a good shot to the far post, and it was one of the few times all evening that they got deep into our end and had a good look.”

Lolla said he told his team they should have won it in regulation.

“It was disappointing that we lose this

one,” he said. “We feel we should havewon it in regulation, but there are a lot oflessons in this one. We still have areas thatwe need to continue to get better and grow,but there is a lot to build on from this game.I thought we played well tonight.”

Louisville’s 6-3 record isn’t what most fans expected of the preseason No. 1 team, butUofL has some strong wins this season, mostnotably a season-opening win against then-No. 2 UCLA. The Cardinals also beat No. 21Ohio State 1-0 in Columbus on Sept. 21 andthen-No. 24 Wake Forest 2-0 in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Sept. 2.

UofL will have another chance to prove itself Wednesday night at No. 6 Indiana.

“Indiana is undefeated and ranked high in the polls, it’ll be tough going to their place,”Lolla said. “It always is tough at Indiana.”

Said Boudreaux: “This is a crucial game. Crucial. They are a good team, and the gameis on the road. We need this game to help usfurther in the season. This is also our biggestgame because it is our next one. We need tostart putting a run together, and it starts onWednesday.”

STREAK SNAPPEDThe loss snapped UofL’s 27-match home

unbeaten streak, which dated to a Nov. 21,2008, loss to Jacksonville in the NCAA Tour-nament fi rst round. The streak ends as theninth-longest in NCAA Division I history, sur-passed by only fi ve schools: Indiana (homeunbeaten streaks of 30, 30, 36 and 38),UCLA (30), Saint Louis (30), Tulsa (39) andAkron, whose active 43-game home unbeat-en streak is the all-time Division I record.

CARDS KEEP SPIRIT DESPITE BACK-TO-BACK LOSSES

Senior Kenney Walker had fi ve shots on goal against UConn but couldn’t get one past the Huskies goalkeeper. - photo by Howie Lindsey


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN L

OUIS

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ORTS

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POST

AGE

PAID

LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT’S CARDINAL KIDS

DO YOUKNOW A

CARDINALKID?

SUBMIT A PICTURE OF YOUR CARDINAL KID BY

SENDING AN EMAIL TO:

[email protected]

Lillie, Clara and Eve Kurczak posed in front of their house in Lacey, Wash. Their dad is a Major in the Army. Their grandparents

report that wherever the family is, their Cardinal colors go, too!

Ty Puffer is a 5-year old

Cardinals fan who loves

football.

Eight-week-old Cardinal fan Thomas McDowell.

Reagen Caskey is ready for football!

The Deeley and Schaefer families headed to Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean this summer but didn’t leave behind their

Cardinals gear. (Both dads are graduates of the University of Louisville and have passed on the Cardinal pride to their children!)

Cardinal Kids Carson & Addison Randol had fun at a UofL

women’s basketball game last November.

oct. 5, 2011 issue: can cards make carolina blue?

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