The Louisville Cardinals football team traveled about 100 miles up Interstate 71 and received an old fashioned whoopin at the hands of the Cincinnati Bearcats 41-10 in front of a record crowd at Nippert Stadium of 35,099.  The Bearcats, ranked #5 in the nation, clearly looked like the superior team all game long, and just laid the wood to this Cardinal squad.  Louisville looked slow on defense, terrible on offense, and the special teams even struggled.  The Cards had won 8 out of the last 10 against Cincy coming in, but the Bearcats take home the keg of nails for the second consecutive season.  If you missed this miserable performance, here is how it went down:

Recap

Things didn’t start well at all for the Cards.  Cincy won the coin toss and elected to put their high powered offense on the field first.  Led by back up quarterback Zach Collaros, the Cincy offense wasted no time in taking control of the game.  The Bearcats took their first drive of the game and went 78 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown.  The scoring play came on a one yard run from Isaiah Pead to put the Cats up 7-0.  Collaros looked calm and confident on his first drive as the starter, completing 5-6 passes in setting up his team for the score. 

Things didn’t get much better for the Cards after being down 7-0.  Louisville went three and out on their first two drives and Cincinnati took advantage.  The Bearcats scored touchdowns on three of their first four drives and built their lead to 21-0 early in the second quarter.  The scoring plays came on a 24 yard reception by Armon Binns and a 15 yard reception from Isaiah Pead.  Pead’s second touchdown of the game gave the Bearcats a 21-0 advantage. 

Down 21-0 and facing humiliation, the Cards offense finally got things going.  Victor Anderson and Darius Ashley realized that the Cincy rush defense had some flaws.  Behind the legs of Anderson and Ashley, the Cards marched 64 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown drive that lasted eight minutes.  The scoring play came with 1:01 left to play in the first half when Adam Froman found Josh Chichester on a quick slant for a four yard touchdown completion.  The Cards went into the half with a little momentum trailing 21-7. 

The Cards came out of the locker room in the second half and the offense picked up where they left off.  It was once again the ground attack of Ashley and Anderson that led the Cards down the field.  The Cards moved the ball into the Bearcat red zone and had it 1st and 10 on the 16 yard line, but the drive stalled and Ryan Payne booted a 36 yard field goal to make the score 21-10.  The Cardinal offense seemed to figure things out, now if the defense could get some stops, Louisville could have a chance. 

Any momentum that the Cards had from cutting the gap to 11 was short lived.  Marshawn Gilyard took the ensuing kickoff all the way back to the Louisville 14 yard line to give the Cincy offense a short field.  The Bearcats had to settle for a field goal on the drive to make it a 24-10 score. 

The Louisville offense suddenly couldn’t do anything anymore as they were held scoreless the rest of the way.   Cincinnati on the other hand just kicked things into another gear and manhandled the Cards over the last 2 quarters.  Cincinnati scored on three straight possessions in the third quarter and built their lead to 38-10.  Gilyard slipped to the corner of the end zone for a touchdown reception of 31 yards, and Pead scored his third touchdown of the game when he rumbled 67 yards right past every Cardinal defender.  The Bearcats added a field goal in the fourth period to give the game its final of 41-10.   

Both teams had their third stringers in for most of the fourth quarter and Louisville still could not score.  The Cards did move the ball with some efficiency late in the game with Will Stein at the helm, but could not put points on the board.

This was an embarrassing performance once again for Louisville.  They were  out played and out coached and looked like a pee wee team compared to the Bearcats. 

Inside the Numbers

Passing Leaders:
Will Stein (LOU)- 6/9 98yds 0TD 0INT
Adam Froman (LOU)- 6/10 42yds 1TD 0INT
Justin Burke (LOU)- 2/5 5yds 0TD 1INT
Zach Collaros (CIN)- 15/17 253yds 3TD 0INT
Chazz Anderson(CIN)- 3/4 25yds 0TD 0INT
Brendon Kay (CIN)- 1/1 8yds 0TD 0INT

Rushing Leaders
Darius Ashley (LOU)- 13car 67yds 0TD Long of 15
Victor Anderson (LOU)- 12car 56yds 0TD Long of 20
Isaiah Pead (CIN)- 6car 88yds 2TD Long of 67
Zach Collaros (CIN)- 11car 52yds 0TD Long of 12

Receiving Leaders
Cameron Graham (LOU)- 3rec 35yds 0TD Long of 27
Douglas Beaumont (LOU)- 3rec 29yds 0TD Long of 12
Josh Chichester (LOU)- 2rec 20yds 1TD Long of 16
Marshawn Gilyard (CIN)- 4rec 82yds 1TD Long of 31
Armon Binns (CIN)- 3rec 75yds 1TD Long of 29
D.J. Woods (CIN)- 3rec 54yds 0TD Long of 31

 Louisville
Total Yards       275
Passing               145
Rushing             130
First Downs       16
Third Downs      8-17
Fourth Down     0-1
Penalties            3-21yds
Turnovers           2

Cincinnati
Total Yards 468
Passing Yards 286
Rushing Yards 182
First Downs 21
Third Downs 2-8
Fourth Down 0-1
Penalties 5-50yds
Turnovers 0

My Thoughts

1) Cincinnati is really good. In the midst of this loss, we have to realize who we played. Cincinnati is a legitimate contender on the national stage. They are the Louisville of 2006-2007 when we went to the Orange Bowl. This team is not getting much respect but will make a lot of noise down the stretch. They are the best team in the Big East by far.

2) Louisville looked completely lost on defense. The pass rush was basically non existent and the front four were manhandled by the Cincy offensive line. Collaros had all day to pick apart our secondary and he did just that. The running backs had holes to run through that semi trucks could fit into. Our defensive backs, particularly Johnny Patrick were to slow and just confused all game long. Cincy receivers were just blowing by our corners and when the ball was in the air, our DB’s couldn’t find it. They looked like clowns out there and it was shameful to watch. Cincinnati was using their back-up quarterback because Heisman hopeful Tony Pike was out with an injury. Louisville’s defense made Collaros look like the Heisman candidate. Cincinnati also didn’t punt until late in the fourth quarter when the third string was in. No excuse for this unit’s performance.

3) Injuries will hurt us even more. Two of Louisville’s top offensive weapons left the game with injuries. Adam Froman had to be replaced in the third quarter as he left with a shoulder injury. Victor Anderson also had to be replaced in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. All together, eight Louisville players were escorted off the field with injuries. Froman and Anderson are two of the few bright spots for this team. Without them, things can and will go from bad to worse. Hopefully they can get healthy before next Saturday.

4) Darius Ashley looked really good. Ashley, a red shirt freshman running back, grew up and played high school football in the Cincinnati area. He was a highly touted recruit that just hasn’t gotten many opportunities. He had his opportunity against his hometown team and made the best of it. Ashley led the Cards in rushing and showed a tremendous combination of speed and power. This kid looks like he will be a beast in the future for the Cards.

5) Stein shines as Burke struggles once again. Will Stein, the undersized quarterback from Louisville Trinity High School, got an opportunity to play most of the fourth quarter. He played really well and ended up leading the Cards in passing. He did everything correctly. He avoided pressure, made the right reads, delivered his throws on target, and moved the Louisville offense effectively. It was against Cincy’s third string defense, but it proved to me and Cardinal fans that he should be the #2 behind Froman. As for Justin Burke, what a joke. He gets an opportunity with Froman out to prove that he should still be the starter and he failed. He made the same mistakes by overthrowing open receivers and throwing bullet passes from 5 yards away. The offense looked even worse with him in the game, and I think it’s time he became the #3 quarterback on this team. In typical Burke fashion, he threw Louisville’s only pick of the game.

6) If there is anything positive that you can take from the game it is this. The penalties had decreased dramatically. Louisville was only penalized three times over the course of the game. It’s about time this team learned some discipline. Some of the stupid mistakes they had been making looked to be corrected. Now if they could only learn how to play football, we will be ok.

Looking Ahead

The Cards will get back at it next Saturday against the Arkansas State Red Wolves. The game is at PJCS and is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The Red Wolves come into next week’s contest with a record of 2-4 with wins over Mississippi Valley State and Florida International. This team is no stranger to tough competion as they played Nebraska on the road this year and lost to BCS contender Iowa by only 3 points earlier this month. Their most recent loss came to Louisiana Monroe, who was just defeated by Kentucky. Louisville should win this game and win it in somewhat convincing fashion. However, if the Cards take Ark St. too lightly, it could cost them. Keep supporting this team Cardinal fans and show up on Halloween to help get this team their third victory of the year.