– “Annoying” Orange

The Louisville Cardinal football team’s quest for a perfect season came to an end yesterday as the “Annoying” Orange overwhelmed the Cards in a 45-26 rout.

Our Cards rolled into the Carrier Dome yesterday playing with house money. They had everything going their way. The Orange were playing with their backs against the wall, and needed a win to have a chance at playing in a Bowl game. It was also Senior day and Homecoming. These things proved to be all the motivation needed to pull this major upset. The Orange put 524 yards on a Louisville defense that looked unimpressive. And were lead by their senior QB Ryan Nassib who put on one last show for his home crowd throwing 15 of 23 for 246 yards and three touchdowns. Jerome Smith ran for 144 yards. And go figure! It was a guy for the Orange who’s last name is Lemon that roamed free through the Cardinals secondary all day, catching nine passes for 176 yards.

Coach Strong:“I am very embarrassed today for our program,” “We didn’t play well – the preparation and the execution weren’t there. We didn’t play well in all three phases – offense, defense and the kicking game. We have a lot to learn from this game.”

Coach Doug Marrone:“We were able to get the ball vertically down the field. We had a good balanced attack.”

It was a positive thing to see our offense continue its pace yesterday behind Teddy QB who completed 36-of-49 passes for 424 yards and three touchdowns. Eli Rodgers who had 10 catches for 97 yards and a touchdown.

Keep your heads up Cardinal football fans. I seem to remember this time last year when the Orange posted a 49-23 win over West Virginia in the Carrier Dome. That also happens to be the last time Syracuse beat the #11 team in the AP Poll. But we all know what happened then. Syracuse did not win another game and finished 5-7. Meanwhile the loss proved to be some type of reality check for WVU as they won out, became Big East champs, and went to the Orange Bowl. They say history repeats itself and in this case it will. It was “Annoying” to lose Saturday but the train is still rolling in the right direction. And our Cardinal football team will finish what they started.

It is an off weekend next Saturday as our Cards will have a week to reflect and lick their wounds before returning home to face UConn in the final home game of the season.