Cards Upset Bulls, 24-20
The Louisville Cardinals knew they had it in them. Now, perhaps, so do their fans. Scott Long pulled down two pretty touchdown passes and the Cardinal defense shut down Matt Grothe’s scrambling and all would-be runners, giving Louisville a huge 24-20 victory over South Florida Saturday afternoon. The Cards made every last second count, though, missing a potentially critical field goal with just over a minute remaining. But an unusual holding call by the Bulls’ special teams gave Louisville the game-clinching first down and their biggest win of Coach Steve Kragthorpe’s tumultuous tenure.
“This is a big win for the program, a big win for the city, and a big win for Coach K,” said QB Hunter Cantwell, who finished with 212 yards and the two TD strikes to Long. “He’s had a lot of opposition, but we’ve always believed in him.”
Long returning to form certainly didn’t hurt, either. The junior wideout finally made good on the sizable promise folks had heard about from spring practices and training center talk, posting his first career 100 yard game as well as his first touchdown reception as a Cardinal.
“It felt like a long time coming with all the time (Hunter & I) put in this summer,” said Long. “It was great to come out here and make big plays for my team.”
Complete AP Recap with Quotes, Notes, & Stats
News, Notes, Quotes, & Observation
*Huge, HUGE win for the program this afternoon. Louisville’s victory over the Bulls maintains the odd home and home victory streaks for both teams, but more importantly all but ends USF’s Big East title hopes. Coupled with losses today by Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, Louisville suddenly finds itself harboring legitimate chances of winning the conference and heading back to a BCS bowl. I’m not sure they are quite prepared to stand up to the challenge of facing one of the Big XII’s best or a Top 10 team like Florida, but I am suddenly very excited to find out.
* Interesting tidbit courtesy of Hunter Cantwell in today’s post-game presser. While discussing Louisville’s multiple successful attempts to draw the USF front four offsides, Cantwell intimated that he was given full reign by offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm to decide which cadence to bring to the line of scrimmage. Based on the six times the Bulls were whistled for the infraction, it sounds like a successful game decision by Brohm and a job well done by Hunter.
* Of the many big afternoons turned in by the defense, a special nod is needed in the direction of LB Jon Dempsey. The junior was very impressive in Louisville’s blitz package, twice delivering punishing hits on South Florida QB Matt Grothe and finally getting to the shifty junior for a sack on the first of those two big stands late in the game. Kragthorpe was equally pleased with the effort up the middle, noting, “We wanted to pick and choose our spots to pressure (Grothe) and put blitzes in that could get to the quarterback. They really did a great job inside. He’s only about 5-10, so we were able to get some footing inside and make him pull the ball down a couple of times and got some sacks with our inside guys. With the inside pressure, he couldn’t spin out and make some plays outside.”
* A few interesting quotables from the press conference:
Eric Wood on the defensive stands late in the game: “That’s the Ron English coming out in them.”
Earl Heyman on the final play by USF that ended in Grothe’s INT: “I hit him, I thought I had him, but he ran out of there. Johnny Patrick got the pick and I was happy.”
Coach Kragthorpe on the holding call on Louisville’s field goal attempt: “No doubt #27 (Tyrone McKenzie) pulled him.”
Krag on this being the best game of his tenure: “From an execution standpoint, we found a way to win. From a statistical point of view, we didn’t roll up 700 yards or a ton of points. But we did an excellent job of making timely plays and getting it done.”
Hunter Cantwell on Long’s second TD: “It was the same play (as the first TD). The corner played outside leverage and Scott didn’t try to force it outside. He just cut in and made a great catch.”
Scott Long talking about the moments following his dropped pass that led to Cantwell’s INT: “Hunter came to me and said, ‘You’re still my guy. I’m gonna come back to you.’ That was big for me and gave me a lot of confidence to come back and make a play to make up for it.”
* I’ve done more than my share of criticizing of P Cory Goettsche, so it seems only fair I point out what a solid afternoon he had kicking the ball. Including some very important boomers when the Cards were pinned deep in their own territory early, Goettsche just killed the ball on most of his six attempts Saturday afternoon. Taking away the wobbly 34-yarder he hit just after his big fake punt and scramble was called back for holding (I’ll give him leeway since his legs were probably confused from the scamper) and the 36-yarder that sailed in to the end zone for a touchback, Goettsche averaged better than 45 yards per attempt against the Bulls. I haven’t checked the box score archives, but I’m willing to bet that’s a personal best day for the junior special teamer. Well done, Cory.
* A lot of credit also needs to start filtering in the direction of the secondary, led by Woodny Turenne and Johnny Patrick. Including the interceptions by the starting cornerback duo, several guys made big plays on an afternoon that USF attempted 40 passes and often sent five wide to force Louisville into nickel coverage. Sergio Spencer made a big hit on a would-be receiver, breaking up a first down catch during a critical 3rd quarter possession with the Cards still clinging to a 14-6 lead. Turenne also made a really pretty move on his interception in the third, sliding underneath his receiver and right into the passing lane for the pick. NFL quality stuff there. The Cards still have a ways to go to become a lock-down unit in the secondary (see: Spencer’s do-si-do act on the wounded duck Grothe tossed up; WR Taurus Johnson ended up pulling it down for a 1st down inside the UofL 10 and the Bulls scored two plays later), but have made considerable strides this season to join their counterparts in the front seven.
* If I haven’t said it yet this season, can I go ahead and say it now? HELLO deep go route!! It’s very interesting that the Cards ran this play exactly two times today and both end up in Scott Long TD catches. I still contend that Cantwell throws a perfect deep pass and Louisville needs to test opposing secondaries more regularly with it. With Louisville’s receiver corps rounding in to full health, there is no reason they shouldn’t send a guy deep at least 4-5 times every single game. If nothing else it gives Cantwell a chance to loosen up his arm and show opposing defenses that Louisville isn’t afraid to stretch the field. Might also give Bolen, Anderson, and Powell more running room up front.
* Finally, can we all agree to follow the team’s lead for the next 24 hours and simply enjoy this win? No matter which side of the ongoing Kragthorpe debate you fall, this is a really, really big win for the program and (even from a skeptic) a first positive sign that the program is putting the wheels back on the track. Let’s soak this one up and get back to deep analysis when we prepare for Syracuse in a few days. Until then, GO CARDS!!
