The Pinkie Previews: Louisville at Connecticut

Date – October 17, 2009
Time – 12:00 pm
Site – Rentschler Field
Television – WHAS (Big East Network)
Radio – 840 AM WHAS

Rentschler Field, home of the Huskies

 After a thrilling victory over Southern Miss, the Cards return to action this Saturday against the hated Connecticut Huskies. Why are they hated? Welp, it all started in 2007, with Louisville leading 7-0 in the third quarter. As Louisville punted to UConn, punt returner Larry Taylor waved his hand above his head, which by rule is a fair catch signal, caught the ball, and then took off down the sideline for a touchdown.

Hatred, pure hatred for this man

Due to Big East officials doing what they do, which is make Conference USA referees look like a Super Bowl officiating squad, they ruled no infraction and Connecticut scored a touchdown on that play. Even worse, UConn coach Randy Edsall applauded the play and gave Taylor the game ball. I hate Taylor, I hate Edsall, and I hate Big East refs. The only thing to keep me from completely flipping out over this was the fact that Taylor tried the same thing shortly after that game against Cincinnati and got LIT UP.

While that play will have no direct influence on the game Saturday, it did raise the intensity level between these two teams. Prior to that game, Connecticut got routinely routed by the Cardinals and the game lacked any sort of intrigue. Now things have changed. UConn is better than they were and Louisville is better than….their 1997 squad that went 1-10. Bottom line, these teams are fairly even and need this game to stay in the Big East conference race.

The Huskies come into this game 3-2 and 0-1 in Big East play. Their wins came at Ohio, at Baylor, and Rhode Island at home. They dropped contests to North Carolina at home and to the mustache clad Pitt Panthers last week in the Steel City. UConn coach Randy Edsall has compiled a 61-62 record during is eleven year stretch in Hartford. Edsall guided the UConn program to three bowl games in the past five years, including two wins in those games.

The Huskies are known for their prowess on the defensive side of the ball, which is not a shock considering Randy Edsall is a defensive coach. UConn is 19th in the nation in rush defense (98.6 yards per game), 20th in total defense (283.6 yards per game), 24th in scoring defense (16.8 points per game), and 8th in sacks (3.2 sacks per game). Senior defensive end Lindsey Witten is second in the nation in sacks with eight on the year and will no doubt be a focus of the Louisville offensive line. Witten also has a forced fumble to go along with twenty two tackles so far in 2009.

Louisville's offensive line will need to know where no. 9 is at all times

On the offensive side, the Huskies are not very impressive. They rank 95th in total offense, 107th in passing offense, and 52nd in rushing offense. UConn is averaging 27 points per game, however if we take away their 52 point performance against Rhode Island, a 1-4 FCS squad, the Huskies average 21 points per game.

The Huskies strength on offense is their running game. Running backs Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman will get the vast majority of the carries and each has rushed for over 450 yards on the season. At the quarterback position, Cody Endres will be under center for UConn. Redshirt junior Zach Frazer won the job coming into the season, but due to injury has seen Endres take over the job.

In four games played, Cody Endres is 55-83 for 663 yards a 3 TDs. Connecticut does not throw the ball often, as Endres averages only 20. 8 passes per contest. The Huskies want to run the ball and only pass when necessary. It will be interesting to see if UConn passes more considering the injuries Louisville has in the secondary. But make no mistake, Connecticut will try to establish the run.

This is a gut-check game for the Cardinals. They are double digit underdogs to UConn, but this is a game they can win. UConn will not score enough points, at least given their track record, to put this game out of reach. Many things will be important for Louisville to come out with a victory, but the most important to me is Louisville’s ability to block effectively on the offensive line.

The running game is a strength for the Cardinals. Vic Anderson is a stud and Bilal Powell ran the ball very well against Southern Miss. Redshirt freshman Darius Ashley looks like he could back from a shoulder injury as well. If Louisville can run the ball, then it sets up the passing game. If the Cards establish the line of scrimmage, then the offensive playbook can really open up.

Hopefully we'll see a lot of this on Saturday

On defense, Louisville looks to get linebacker Brandon Heath back. Heath has made plays this year and the defense can use all the available bodies. If Louisville’s defense can hold UConn to around the 17-20 point mark, then I feel Louisville will have a pretty good shot to win this game. The Cards are 2-3, if they can leave Hartford at 3-3, then they will feel very good about themselves and have some momentum going to a touch game at Cincinnati.