Cats Win Defensive Struggle, Pull Away for 27-2 Win
While the college football landscape moves to a wide-open, spread offense approach from BCS schools to I-AA upstarts, the Louisville Cardinals and Kentucky Wildcats returned to a “3 yards and a cloud of dust” approach in Sunday’s 15th annual Governor’s Cup meeting. Both teams struggled to find offense of any kind on a sweltering Labor Day eve, but Kentucky turned five Louisville turnovers into three touchdowns and pulled away late for a 27-2 rout. Tony Dixon scored the lone offensive touchdown for either team in a game marred by ugly play all around.
“We didn’t get anything going on offense today,” said Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe, who fell to 0-2 in the rivalry game. “We struggled running the football and got ourselves in several third and long situations and it wasn’t very favorable for us. Turnovers, you can’t turn the ball over. We turned the ball over twice and we gave up points. You can’t do that because then the second time they run it down there inside the five yardline. We gave up 21 points on turnovers and you can’t do that.”
Notes and Observations
* Just an ugly game all around for any fan of modern offense or touchdowns scored in conventional means. Turnovers ruled the day and shaped the outcome, as Kentucky forced five while giving up just one. All of Kentucky’s touchdowns were either the direct result of a Cardinal giveaway (fumble recoveries by Ashton Cobb and Myron Pryor) or the indirect result of one (Dixon’s 7-yard run just one play after Hunter Cantwell’s 4th-quarter interception).
Kentucky does take away its second straight win in the series and can feel good about what will go down as quite a dominating defensive performance, but if folks on either side were being honest they would both admit that these offenses have a long way to go.
* It was a minor moment in view of the final score, but how big was the botched call of return interference when Dicky Lyons appeared to fumble a punt return early in the 4th quarter while the Cats still clung to a 10-2 lead? Replays appeared to show the UofL players back off from Lyons as the ball hit his foot, but officials still ruled that intereference had occurred and rewarded Kentucky with the ball at their own 22.
* Is it just this writer, or did Jeff Brohm’s wide-open playbook from last year’s Rutgers finale disappear sometime between November 29, 2007 and August 31, 2008? Memories tend to get fuzzy the closer we approach 30, I suppose, but mine seems to recall a lot of deep passes by Brian Brohm and effective run plays for Bilal Powell in leading the comeback charge in the 4th quarter of last year’s game. By my count, there were only three deep passes ATTEMPTED by Louisville through the first three quarters and ONE run play (Doug Beaumont’s reverse) that was anything but vanilla. Between Brohm and UK’s Joker Phillips, it was almost like watching two coordinators in a play-calling staring contest waiting for the other to blink and force the game-changing error.
* Speaking of run plays, did Bilal Powell look tentative or what? After his 2nd quarter fumble was returned for the first Kentucky touchdown on the afternoon, the sophomore seemed to lose confidence and a step both behind the line and on kick returns. The wiggle and shiftiness he displayed in ample doses against the Knights and through the first quarter of today’s game seemed to quickly be replaced by what could only be described as a light jog. The danger of tossing young guys into big-time roles is shaking their confidence if things don’t go well. Here’s hoping the kid can just shake it off and get focused on next week.
* Kudos to the Cardinal defense in game one, which gets a lot of props for showing a far better effort in game one of 2008 than it did in almost all of 2007. While Kentucky QB Mike Hartline did his part by missing a few wide receivers and UK’s receivers did their part to botch a couple of easy catches, the Cards by and large looked like a solid unit in the opener. Tackling was much more sure than it appeared under Mike Cassity and the new linebacking corps was rather impressive at stuffing Kentucky’s run game for little to no gain most of the day. Antwon Canady and Jon Dempsey looked like studs in their debuts while Dexter Heyman was solid in his debut and offered up a highlight by chasing down Derrick Locke for no gain on a stretch play early in the third quarter.
* More accolades go to Cardinal WR Doug Beaumont, who was the lone bright spot on offense Sunday. The sophomore was one of very few Cards who made plays for the offense, bringing in 9 passes for 77 yards in his unofficial official debut (he spent most of his time in 2007 on special teams). Beaumont’s fight and effort despite his modest frame give some glimmer for hope as the season progresses.
* The good news for the Cards is that they should get better in a hurry, even if they aren’t really improving. After welcoming in I-AA foe Tennessee Tech next Saturday, the Cards get winnable game against Memphis and Middle Tennessee State before the meat of the conference schedule kicks in. Kansas State and Connecticut would appear to be tough W’s to come by after the performances each put up against lesser competition and the individual efforts from UConn’s Donald Brown (146 yards rushing, 4 TD’s) and KSU’s Josh Freeman (232 yards passing, 3 TD’s), but a 3-3 record (if not better) should be easily reachable before South Florida comes to town on October 25. Hey, small feats and such.
Recapping 11 Questions
You may recall our article a couple weeks back asking 11 important questions about how Louisville’s 2008 season would develop and turn out. We’re just one game in, but let’s take a look at how things stand.
11) Hunter CANwell?
Not today. The senior QB looked like the new starter that – honestly – he is. When passes weren’t being batted down by the UK defensive line, they were rocketing out of his arm at one speed: mach 5. Discussion is certainly open for how much he was reeled in (why not air it out with a QB whose strength is the deep pass?) and how much that added pressure to his debut, but through one game Cantwell looked like anything but the future NFL pick folks have built up in three reserve seasons.
10) AFROS Activate!
Outside of Doug Beaumont and a couple of glimpses of Josh Chichester, the wide receivers were plain flat Sunday. Chris Vaughn continues to look lost (how many times can a skill player trip on his own feet?) and Trent Guy is going to need more time to return to 100%. Andrew Robinson pulled down a couple of grabs late, but no one had fans forgetting about Harry Douglas after one game.
9) Going Green?
Dexter Heyman’s Louisville debut had its moments, but overall was a quiet one. The Male product produced two tackles, but was overshadowed by the play of Antwon Canady Jon Dempsey. K Chris Phillpott has his lone field goal attempt on the day blocked.
8) Back on Top?
Maybe the biggest disappointment of the opener, Louisville’s running backs showed no progress on last year’s pedestrian 4.4 yards per carry average and vanilla approach to the position. Bilal Powell was elusively shifty early on, but his 2nd quarter fumble appeared to take the wind out of his sails. Victor Anderson showed some flashes here and there, but is almost always going to be taken down by the first defender he encounters. Brock Bolen is good for three yards and a cloud of dust, but that’s about it.
7) Linebacking corps
High marks all around for this unit, which impressed with the ability to support the front four against the run and offer decent coverage in the mid-range passing game. Canady was a rock in the middle, failing to bite on many fakes would-be Kentucky runners offered up the middle. Dempsey was active all over the place in pacing the Cardinal D with 9 total tackles.
6) STRENGTH of Schedule?
With one game in the books, the heavy home schedule isn’t helping the Cards on their path to bowl eligibility. The Tour of Tennessee should help in the next two months, but offensive playcalling like this is not going to create a 12th Man Advantage in PJCS.
5) (Not So) Special Teams
Another year, another shaky start for Corey Goettsche and the Louisville special teams. Facing bad field position most of the afternoon, the Cards did little to help themselves in the kicking game. Goettsche shanked another punt (although he did end the day averaging nearly 40 yards per attempt) and freshman K Chris Phillpott missed his only field goal try. Bilal Powell looked plain lackadaisical returning kickoffs – getting stuffed twice inside the 20.
4) Hold the Line
Surprisingly, both lines fared well if not outstanding Sunday. While the offensive line did what it was expected to do – protect Cantwell and give the QB time to throw – it struggled to create many holes for the running backs to run through. The defensive line was stout most of the day against the run, but failed to put much pressure on Hartline.
3) Follow the Leader
To be determined. We will learn a lot about this in the coming weeks, particularly if the going gets tough against Kansas State or UConn.
2) Fans of “One”?
For one afternoon, you have to tip your hats to the fan base in attendance. A crowd of 42,696 showed up to support their team and stayed right up until Tony Dixon’s TD scamper made it 20-2. Booing was reserved entirely for the UK players and fans, which has to be a promising sign for the coaches and players who heard plenty of them throughout 2007. Whether it was just a matter of a fan base becoming indifferent (a bad thing for the program overall) is another matter altogether. Will it keep up if another home L is added to the column in the coming weeks?
1) Coaching
A solid C- here overall, with higher marks for the defensive unit. I could go on a mini rant here on how Coach English was one of the few in visors and polos fired up at the good and bad play by his unit and how the defense was the only group who appeared to progress from 2007, but will reserve my comments to reiterate the above about how surprisingly blasé the entire offensive approach was in this game. At some point Coach Brohm and Coach Kragthorpe will need to open that playbook if they want to beat a I-A opponent this season.
