Cards at Cats – Positional Preview

The Cats and Cards square off tomorrow at noon at Commonwealth Stadium.  I realize it is an early start but if you live in Louisville, you need to find a place to crash in Lexington, wake up at 7:15 and have a beer in your hand by 7:25. If you live in Lexington, same applies except you can sleep in your own bed.

Here is a little positional preview for the Cats and the Cards. In the Chumps Vs. Yumps challenge, everyone’s takin’ the Cats with the exception of Miller and Rohrer….

SECONDARY – Advantage Kentucky

Louisville

The biggest question mark for the 2009 Louisville football Cardinals could very well be the defensive backfield. The Cardinals are very low on experience, but not low on talent. New cornerbacks coach Larry Slade will have his hands full. Slade came to the Cardinals after the 2008 season from Tennessee and is widely regarded as a great get for the Cardinals. He also has a good recruiting ties on the east coast and has produced results there already.

Even with talented players at the cornerback position, the Cardinals will be relying heavily on several guys who have never played one down of college football. The exception is junior cornerback Johnny Patrick. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

This year’s secondary is Kentucky’s deepest and most talented position on the team. Anyone who has followed Kentucky football for any length of time knows just how big of a statement that really is.

The Cats have five corners and six safeties that the coaching staff are comfortable with, including the best corner in the country, Trevard Lindley. (Click here to read more)

LINEBACKERS – Even

Louisville

The strength of the Louisville defense is no doubt the linebacking corps. Defensive coordinator Brent Guy doubles as linebackers coach and will have several proven playmakers at his disposal in the middle of the defense. Leading the linebackers is senior Jon Dempsey. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

At middle linebacker, it’s Micah Johnson all the way and everybody’s known that since the second the 6-2 260 lb senior announced he would return to the program. The man is a straight up beast, and for the first time last season, he began to live up to the billing he received out of high school. 6-3 250 pound senior Sam Maxwell is almost certainly going to be the starter at strong side linebacker. (Click here to read more)

DEFENSIVE LINE – Slight Advantage Kentucky

Louisville

The Louisville Cardinals defensive line this year will have to fill some big shoes. The Cards lost 3 starters from last year’s team in DT Adrian Grady, DT Earl Heyman, and DE Maurice Mitchell. To put in perspective what the Cardinals are replacing, the trio combined for 93 total tackles and nine sacks. Louisville only had 12 sacks total from the entire defensive line last year. These three were responsible for 75% of those. Louisville is definitely going to miss their experience and leadership.

But all hope is not lost for Cardinal fans. Louisville will be returning some guy’s with plenty of experience mixed in with some highly touted new bodies. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

Biggest question mark on the team is probably the defensive ends. Three names you will hear a lot on Saturday’s will be Dequin Evans, Chandler Burden and Collins Ukwu. Only Burden has any game experience.

At defensive tackle, Kentucky is kind of in the same situation as they are with the ends. There are three players who should be fine as starters, but looking for depth beyond those three is the question. (Click here to read more)

WIDE RECEIVERS – Slight Advantage Louisville

Louisville

If Cardinal Football fans are looking for some hope in a team with low expectations, this is it. The wide receiver position is by far the position with the most experience and most depth. Louisville returns all of its starters at wide out, and this veteran group will be looked upon as leaders of this Cardinal football team. Overall I would give this group a B, and they will need to play well and stay healthy if Louisville is to have any success. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

Rich Brooks offense works best when he can readily go to a three wide receiver set and have all three be legitimate threats. If UK can have three receivers step up to fulfill that, UK could have a very successful season. If only two receivers can be effective, the attack will be limited, but still improved from last year. If UK only has one threat at wideout, it’s going to be tough sledding just like last year. If UK gets no consistent presence from a wide receiver…well, let’s not even consider that possibility. (Click here to read more)

RUNNING BACKS – Slight Advantage Louisville

Louisville

Featuring the 2008 Big East Rookie of the Year Vic Anderson, the Cardinals have a stable of backs who posess great speed, good pass blocking ability, and fantastic hands which allows them to catch the ball out of the backfield.

The featured back will be Louisville St. Xavier alum Victor Anderson. In 2008, Anderson rushed for 1,047 yards, the first Louisville running back to do so since some guy named Michael Bush accomplished that in 2005. Anderson did not just pile up yards, he also found the endzone on eight occasions, including a highlight reel juke of a UCONN defender on a TD reception. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

At running back, the Cats will rely on a three-headed monster in Alphonso Smith, Derek Locke and Moncell Allen.  Look for these three to mix carries and keep defenses off balance. (Click here to read more)

QUARTERBACKS – Advantage Kentucky

Louisville

Louisville entered the 2009 season with something they are not used to, a quarterback competition. Chris Redman. Dave Ragone. Stefan LeFors. Brian Brohm. Hunter Cantwell. The depth of the University of Louisville quarterbacks over the last 13 seasons has arguably been the most consistent in all of college football.

Justin Burke, the junior transfer from North Carolina, got the job. He is from Lexington and was the Gatorade Player of the Year in the state as a senior at Lexington Catholic. He appeared in three contests for the Wolfpack in 2007, and knows the system after being forced to redshirt in 2008. (Click here to read more)

Kentucky

Hartline was the most talked about Cat on last year’s roster, and also the most maligned. In other words, he was Michael Porter during the 2008-2009 season before Michael Porter was. A lot of the flak that Hartline caught was undeserved and even more of it was unduely harsh, but that does not change the fact that Hartline has some holes in his game. (Click here to read more)