2014
Louisville Cardinals Football Preview
Today,
I return with the 2014 edition of the 12 part opponent video series. In part 1,
I’m going to talk a little about the Louisville Cardinals, our opponent on
Labor Day Night on ESPN at 8 p.m. from Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville, KY.
Lets
first look at their Talent:
You would think that Louisville
dominated in South Florida recruiting for years and for the most part, they
did, however, when you deeper here, especially the last five years, they pull a
recruiting class ranked in the middle of the road anywhere from the 30s through
the 50s But from 2009-2014, their classes were ranked an average of No. 43,
again at the middle of the road. You would think under former boss Charlie
Strong that it would be a hindrance, but it clearly wasn’t. In the Big East and
later in the American Conference, they were at the top in recruiting; however,
now being in the ACC, while their talent is 44th nationally, they
always seem to get the most out of their personnel. However, going into this
season, they had some losses on both sides of the ball. In 2014, they’ll return
just 53 percent of key offensive production stats and 56 percent of key
defensive production. Both numbers are well below average in the ACC, which, as
a conference, has the least returning total production of any power conference.
Next, I want to talk about the Coaching:
When you look at it, the timing for Strong to bolt for Austin was perfect. He did what he could winning consistently in the BE/American and going to the ACC might have taken some of the good things he did in building the Cardinals into a National power. Now, re-enter, in this case, In Bobby Petrino. This guy is a proven winner everywhere he’s gone. Look at what this man did at Arkansas in a top notch conference like the SEC and the opponents he faced every year in LSU, Bama, Auburn, etc. However, at WKU, he slipped a bit, in 2014, many people will give him a pass, however, and that won’t be the case next year.Now, to their 2014 Schedule:
Welcome to the ACC, Louisville. You only have the toughest schedule in the league, based on opposing talent and coaching. With six road games, which include 4 on the road in 5 weeks, they’ll understand very quickly that this isn’t the Big East/American conference anymore.They get us (CANES) as stated earlier on Labor Day night on ESPN. We have back 75 percent of our offense, while they will be adjusting to a new coach (Petrino) and the experience on defense isn’t all there.
As for the rest of the schedule, expect the Cards to bounce back and blast Murray in Week 2 off a short week, before having some tough road games. They should win most of them though.
In week 3, they go to Charlottesville to face Virginia. Mike London and his guys have been stockpiling the talent there for a few years now, some in Charlottesville are questioning the game day coaching there. This is a big game early for London and his crew, knowing he’s on the hot seat up there (which I’ll go more into in Part 11 of the series), I’ll go with the Cavs over the Cardinals in that one. It’s early and I’ll stick with UVa.
In week 4, they go to Miami, not to play the CANES, but play across town vs. FIU. This is a game Louisville should win handily and to boot, it’s a payback game for the Cards as well.
In week 5 at Wake Forest, they are 72nd nationally in talent and they have a new coach to boot. This is a game Louisville should win easily.
In Week 7, the trip to Death Valley will be no fun for Petrino and Co., Clemson takes advantage of the fact that the Cards are finishing up a tough stretch of 4 games in 5 weeks, and Clemson should win handily in this one.
In Week 8, with NC State coming to Papa John’s stadium, the question will be how they mentally off a tough stretch of games on the road are. Petrino will have them ready to play and the crowd on their side as a 12th man, Louisville gets it done vs. the Wolfpack.
After the bye in Week 9, in Week 10, they only host the defending National Champions in FSU. If Teddy Bridgewater had come back for his senior year, this is a blockbuster matchup. But with Bridgewater and some key pieces from the 2013 team gone, this is a game FSU wins going away.
The Cardinals come out of the bye in week 14 with another road game, this time, against a top-10 recruiter in Notre Dame in South Bend. If there’s a game Louisville could realistically steal, this game is it. However, at the end of the day, have to go with the Irish at home in a close one.
The final game of the 2014 regular season is against Kentucky at Papa John’s Stadium. Usually, this game had been played early in the year, but this year, they close with the Wildcats. Louisville is too strong for the ‘Cats, which is about another 2-3 years away from being really good. Cards win handily here to finish 7-5 in Petrino’s first season back in Louisville.
My prediction on the Game vs. CANES:
I like us to win this game and get Al that signature road win we’ve been missing in his tenure in Coral Gables.
In Part 2 of the 2014 series, I will talk about the
FAMU Rattlers, our opponent in the Home Opener on Sept 6th at Sun
Life Stadium.
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