Louisville Snaps Three Game Skid, Clip Eagles 25-23

Well it’s about time that I get to recap a Louisville win.  The Cardinals defeated their first Division 1A opponent last night with a 25-23 escape over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.   This win was about as pretty as a fat chick in a bikini, but nonetheless I’ll take it.  Southern Miss is a decent conference USA team with a record of 3-3.  They almost defeated Kansas a few weeks back on the road and did come up with a victory against the ACC’s Virginia Cavaliers.  Louisville showed signs of progress for the first time in three weeks, and for once, Cardinal fans can smile.  If you missed the action, here is how it went down.

Recap

 Louisville received the opening kickoff, but was unable to do anything with it.  The Cardinals went three and out, gaining only nine yards before punting.  Southern Miss punt return man Tracey Lampley returned the Cory Goettsche punt 39 yards, all the way down to the Louisville 31 yard line.  Just when it looked like it was going to be a disastrous start, the Louisville defense buckled down.  The Eagles ran five plays before settling for a Justin Estes 36 yard field goal, giving USM a 3-0 lead. 

The Louisville offense immediately answered back.  With a drive that started on their own 12 yard line, the Cards marched 88 yards in nine plays for the go ahead score.  It was a good mix of the run and pass as Louisville threw four passes, all completed, and ran the ball five times with the last rush being a Victor Anderson 12 yard touchdown.  The extra point was good from Ryan Payne and the Cards had a 7-3 lead. 

Southern Miss got off the mat and came back swinging.  Their next drive started at their own 22 yard line and in one play, they were in Louisville territory.  Martevious Young threw a 32 yard completion to Deandre Brown, placing the ball at the Cardinal 46 yard line.  Two plays later, the Young Brown duo combined on a 36 yard completion, setting the Golden Eagles up with a first and goal on the Louisville six.  Once again, the Cardinals applied the bend but don’t break strategy as they buckled down inside their own 10 and held the Eagles to another field goal.  The score was now 7-6 Cards.

The Southern Miss defense held Louisville to a three and out on the next possession, putting the ball back into their offense’s hands to start the second quarter.  This Southern Miss drive started at their own 37 yard line and they marched straight down the field in seven plays for the go ahead touchdown.  The big play on this drive came when Southern Miss was faced with a third and three from their own 44 and the Young/Brown connection struck with a six yard completion for a first down at the 50.  The next play was a 29 yard completion from Young to Leroy Banks setting USM up with another first down at the Cardinal 21.  Three plays later Damion Fletcher ran it in from the one, giving the Eagles a 13-7 lead. 

Louisville had a drive midway through the third quarter that looked as if they would take it in for the go ahead score, but disaster struck.  The Cards started in good field position at their own 47 and drove it all the way down to the USM 26.  Faced with a third and five, Adam Froman threw a strike to Scott Long that went right through the receiver’s hands at the 14 yard line and into the arms of Southern Miss defender Andre Watson. 

Southern Miss took their ensuing drive 60 yards and kicked a field goal with 16 seconds left in the half to give the Eagles a 16-7 lead.  It looked as if the Cardinals would go down in defeat again if serious halftime adjustments weren’t made. 

Whatever the message was at halftime must of really sunk in for the Cards.  They came out of the half and lit the stadium on fire.  They Cardinal defense forced Southern Miss to punt on the opening drive, giving the offense a chance to get things going.  Louisville started their first drive of the half at their own 15 yard line, and took it the length of the field on nine plays in 4;52.  Louisville did not face a third down on the drive, and the big play came when Anderson rumbled 26 yards to set up Louisville with a first and goal from the USM 8.  After a five yard penalty for a false start, Bilal Powell lowered the pads and exploded his way into the end zone for a 13 yard touchdown.  It was one of the first times this season that I have seen Bilal Powell lower the shoulder and power his way for some tough yards.  The result cut the Louisville deficit to 16-14. 

The Louisville kick coverage continued to struggle after the touchdown as they allowed Lampley to have another big return.  Lampley took the kickoff 44 yards, and the Southern Miss drive started inside Louisville territory at the 49 yard line.  The Louisville defense knew they needed to step up and make some big plays, and that’s exactly what they did.  Southern Miss was held to -2 yards and was forced to punt on a three and out.  The USM punter did his job as he pinned Louisville back deep at their own 10 yard line. 

With the ball at their own 10 the Cards needed a big drive in order to take the lead.  The first play was a Froman incompletion.  Then on second down, Anderson was stopped for a loss of two.  The Cards were faced with a 3rd and 12 from their own 8 when the play of the game happened.  Froman dropped back to pass and unloaded a bomb down the left sideline intended for Long.  The pass was under-thrown, into double coverage, and looked as if it were going to be picked off.  Long made a great adjustment to come back and get the ball right in front of both Southern Miss defenders and rumbled 92 yards untouched to pay dirt.  The touchdown was the third longest pass play in Louisville history and gave the Cards a 20-16 lead.  The logical thing would be to go for the extra point and make it a five point game right?  Wrong!  For some unexplained reason, Steve Kragthorpe decided to go for two.  Luckily for the Cards, they converted and made it a 22-16 game. 

22-16 would be the score as the teams played into the middle of the fourth quarter.  With 8:29 left on the clock, Southern Miss started a drive at their own 11 yard line.  In five plays, they were looking at a 4th and 1 from their own 33.  They decided to go for it.  They make, the drive stays alive.  They miss, Louisville takes over deep in USM territory and most likely would win the game.  Tory Harrison powered his way for a two yard run and a first down.  Southern Miss capitalized on their new life and drove the rest of the way for a touchdown, caped off with Harrison punching it in from 13 yards out.  Things were not looking good for the Cards down one with just 2:13 left in the game.  The PJCS crowd began to file out thinking defeat. 

Fortunately for Louisville, they have a kickoff return weapon in Trent Guy.  Guy took the ensuing kickoff up the right sideline for 64 yards before being pushed out at the Southern Miss 30.  Louisville ran four plays and was faced with a 4th and 7 from the USM 15 yard line with 35 seconds left.  It was time for the barefooted Payne to come on and make the biggest kick of his Cardinal career.  If you follow Louisville at all, you know that this kick is terrible.  The vibe in the stadium was that there is no way this kid can come through in the clutch from 32 yards out.  Well, miracles do happen as Payne booted a perfect ball through the upright’s, giving Louisville a 25-23 lead with 30 seconds left in the game. 

The Louisville kickoff coverage and defense did its job as the last 30 seconds ran out without USM getting past the 29 yard line.  Louisville had escaped with a 25-23 victory.

Stat Leaders

Passing: 
Froman (LOU)- 14/26 248yds 1TD 1INT
Young (USM)- 22/30 229yds 0TD 0INT

Rushing:
Anderson (LOU)- 14 carries, 90yds, 1TD, long of 26
Powell (LOU)- 10 carries, 58yds, 1TD, long of 14
Fletcher (USM)- 19 carries, 86yds, 1TD, long of 17
Harrison (USM)- 14 carries, 75yds, 1TD, long of 13

Receiving:
Long (LOU)- 5rec, 146yds, 1TD, long of 92
Anderson (LOU)- 4rec, 47yds, 0TD, long of 15
Brown (USM)- 5rec, 85yds, 0TD, long of 36
Banks (USM)- 3rec, 53yds, 0TD, long of 29

USM/ LOU

First Downs                    24              19
Total Yards                   410            439
Passing                         229            259
Rushing                         181             180
Penalties                      4-31            5-45
3rd Down                     5-15            3-10
4th Down                      2-2              0-0
Turnovers                     0                   1
Possession                  34:19          25:41

My Thoughts

 1)  I liked the way the Louisville defense stepped up when it counted.  They gave up a ton of yards and let Southern Miss establish several long drives, but when USM penetrated the red zone, the Louisville defense stepped up.  The Cardinal D held the Golden Eagles to three field goals instead of giving up touchdowns.  If one of those field goals becomes a touchdown, then we are talking about a UofL loss.  They had the bend and not break approach and it paid off.  They did what they needed to do in order to earn a victory. 

2) Adam Froman got the job done.  His performance further solidified him as the permanent starter.  He is much better than Justin Burke and it shows.  He is much more accurate, calm, a better leader, and has the ability to escape trouble with his legs.  He is a duel threat quarterback and that is a major weapon to have.  I hope Burke enjoys riding the pine pony the rest of his Louisville career.   

3) I love Trent Guy.  Sure, three weeks ago I wanted to murder him for dropping the punt against Kentucky which cost us the game.  But having him return kickoffs for us is such a weapon to have.  He is a game changer as we saw last night, and we are extremely lucky to have him healthy and returning our kickoffs. 

4)  It was great to see Scott Long have an outstanding game.  Long’s five catches for 146 yards was a career high for him.  He is a major talent that has come back from knee surgery and it was awesome to see him doing his thing.  Hopefully we will see more of the Froman/Long connection as the season moves on. 

5) I guess for one day I can give credit to Ryan Payne.  I bash him a lot, but today I must give him credit.  He kicked a perfect ball under tremendous pressure to give Louisville the win.  For a kid that hasn’t been in a situation like that before, he really came through.  So congratulations goes to Ryan Payne and his barefoot.

6) How about Andrew Robinson?  Robinson is a senior wide reciever who grew up locally and attended Maual High School.  He is the 5th receiver on the team and hasn seen much playing time in his last season.  So what does he do?  He goes to the coaches this week and asks to be put on defense as a defensive back so he can contribute to the team in some way.  And contribute he did as he was out there for several plays on D.  This just shows the great character, heart, and passion this kid has.  He was willing to go to an unfamiliar position just to help the team.  So hats off to Andrew Robinson and hopefully he will see the field a lot more.  For those of you looking for Mr. Robinson, not only did he change positions, he also changed jersey numbers.  He switched from his usual #88 and wore #26 last night.

7) The only negative thought of the game goes to Steve Kragthorpe.  What in the hell were you doing going for two in the third quarter.  Your team goes up by four, meaning USM must score a touchdown to take the lead.  If you kick the extra point, you go up by five meaning USM must still score a touchdown to take the lead.  If you convert the two points, your team goes up by six which also means a USM must score a touchdown to gain the lead.  So by going for the extra point or the two-point conversion, it wouldn’t matter because USM must score a touchdown.  Now think about this… if Louisville does not convert the two-point conversion they are up by only four.  Therefore, that Southern Miss touchdown late in the game would have put them up by three and the field goal by Payne would only tie the game.  Luckily for Kragthorpe and Louisville, the two-point conversion was completed so this argument is a moot point.  There is no logical reason why in coach K should have gone for two.  His stupidity didn’t cost us this time, but it could very well happen in the future.  This just further proves that he has no business coaching this team and why he will be out at the end of the season.

Looking Ahead

The Cards now embark on a two game road trip against Big East foes UCONN and Cincinnati.  The UCONN game is slated for next Saturday, October 17th at noon.  At least for one week Cardinal fans can smile.  Hopefully, this win will give the team some momentum as they hit the road and try to earn some league victories.  So wear your Cardinal gear proudly this week and let’s continue to try to turn this thing around.  At least now we have a starting point.