It was a beautiful November evening for the first night game in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 5 years. The Cards started off slow but got things going in the second half to beat the Cougars 20 to 13. With the win the Cardinals take possession of second place in the AAC and now move to 9-1 on the season. Louisville is 9-1 for the second straight season which is the first time that has happened and this is the 12th time in school history that they have reached the nine win mark. The Cardinals take the lead in this series with Houston 8-7, and they will renew it when they move to the ACC. This football program has now only lost one game in the last 358 days.

Usually when writing these articles after a game it is Teddy Bridgewater and the passing game getting most of the ink. And while they did put up some decent numbers it was the running game that ruled this night. Teddy threw for 203 yards and for the first time in 22 games he didn’t have a touchdown pass. The high receiver on the night was DeVante Parker who had four receptions for 72 yards. But again the big story of the night was the dominance on the ground by Dominique Brown. He was a beast with the ball in his hands tonight and ran for a career-high 137 yards with two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the third quarter. At times he was making it look easy and like he was running downhill. He had 27 carries on the night and the previous high this season for carries had been 18. You could just sense that Brown was going to eventually have a game like this and he has now emerged as the Cardinals go to back. This kid has really made a remarkable recovery to get where he is right now. He is running the ball with just as much power as he ever did. It seems like running the ball is going to be the name of the game at Louisville in the future and it seems like Charlie Strong wants it that way. Maybe he is preparing for life after Teddy. I would prefer to see a more high powered offense and throwing it up and down the field, but it looks like we are going to have to get used to a more methodical approach to the game. The Cardinals had the ball 37 minutes to Houston’s 22 minutes.

Lost in the shuffle of all the concern about the offensive production is the fact that Louisville has one of the more elite defenses in the country. They have been pretty dominating all year long and they haven’t allowed a 1st quarter touchdown this season. It is the #1 scoring defense and the #2 total defenses in the country with two of the nation’s sack leaders in Marcus Smith and Lorenzo Mauldin. Smith had 3 tackles tonight with one sack and Mauldin had 5 tackles with one sack. This group found their backs against the wall again tonight with Houston looking to drive the ball down the field and tie the game with 2:50 on the clock. Charlie asks the group to step up and deliver and they did. Marcus Smith and Roy Philon had back to back sacks on Houston QB John O’Korn that resulted in -18 yards. The defense would hold the Cougars to a 4 and out on their final possession. Brown was the man tonight but this defense deserves a lot of credit as well. It is one of the best ever for Louisville.

I know most like to complain about the offense being too slow and a lot of folks don’t feel like Shawn Watson is using the tools he has effectively in regards to Teddy and the group of receivers. I personally don’t care how the Cardinals win football games just as long as they win them. And as I mentioned earlier I think they are preparing this team and program for life without Teddy Bridgewater and I think that Charlie Strong prefers a rock em sock em type of offense to an air it out one. He has the horses to back it up especially with a guy like Dominique Brown emerging. I have a feeling we are just seeing the beginning of something very special with this kid.

Cards Take The Field For Houston:

Coach Strong After Houston Win:

Teddy After Houston Win:

Roy Philon After Houston Win:

Marcus Smith After Houston Win:

James Burgess After Houston Win:

Dominique Brown After Houston Win:

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The Cardinals got off to a quick start tonight but it was delayed by about 20 minutes due to the lights being out in the KFC Yum Center. They would eventually get the lights turned back on after a brief delay and our Cardinals would be off to the races. They jumped all over Cornell from the opening tip and turned their lights out beating the Big Red 99-54. The Cards are off to a 3-0 start to the season and have won 19 straight dating back to last year. They also won the 1700th game in the programs history tonight. These guys haven’t lost a basketball game in 280 days.

The Cardinals looked very dominate tonight on both sides of the ball. The offense looked crisp and although they turned the ball over 10 times they weren’t careless even with a huge lead. This was the first game in the last six dating back to last year where the Cards had a double digit turnover night. They shot the ball exceptionally well tonight and the 59% shot from the field was the best since 2010. Every guy on the bench tonight would score except one and 5 players were in double digits. All of the rotations looked good and it seems that the new guys are adjusting and learning where they need to be on the court. The defense was also very good tonight and they forced 19 turnovers with 12 steals scoring 29 points off of those turnovers. There was a lot of activity in the press and guys were closing out the passing lanes and getting deflections. This group was very active on the defense tonight.

Kevin Ware, Luke Hancock, and Chane Behanan all played more significant minutes tonight and each of them looked comfortable on the floor. Chane had the best night of the three getting a double-double with 12 rebounds and 13 points. He was a physical presence on the court and thats exactly what Louisville needs from him. I glad he’s back! Kevin had some very good moves to the basket and scored 5 points. Luke scored 12 points tonight and was the only Cardinal that looked good from the charity stripe going 6 for 7.
The player of the game (and I type this with a big smile on my face) was Wayne Blackshear. Could this really be the break-out year we have waited for out of this guy? He has been very good so far in the first couple of games and tonight he was a beast. He hit 4 three point shots, scored 20 points and had 2 blocks with 1 steal. The only thing he could have done better was rebound. He has said that during the off season he was in the gym everyday getting up shots and making himself a better basketball player. So far that hard work is paying off.
Montrezl Harrell was again very dominate on the floor. And while he didn’t really have an explosive offensive night he did grab 15 rebounds. We are going to need his dominance on the glass more than we do his points this season in my opinion.

I know it’s early and I know that we have only played one legitimate NCAA team in College of Charleston, but from what I’ve seen so far this is going to be a special group. Going to back-to-back Final Fours and winning a National Champion has given this group a swagger and they have an attitude that they aren’t going to lose. You can tell that each time they take the floor that they are trying to be better than they were the night before. Winning breads winners and these Cardinals are winners. Every time I see them I get excited about what is to come. Hope you are ready for another exciting ride Cardinal Nation.

U of L coach Rick Pitino after win over Cornell:

U of L’s Russ Smith on the win over Cornell:

(Photo By: Jeff Reinking | Louisville Athletics)

Tonight was another ceremonial one in the KFC Yum Center and it began with the unveiling of a banner adding coach Rick Pitino to the school’s list of Naismith Memorial Hall of Famers. The Cards would finish this night off winning their 18th game in a row beating Hofstra 97 to 69. The 18 game win streak ties for the longest ever. The Cards are now 2-0 in the early season and 2-0 in the series vs. Hofstra.

Despite some nervous moments early in the second half it was another easy victory tonight by the Cards and they seem to have things rolling right along. Now with all of their pieces back in place they can really start to focus on the little things to get better as they head into some tougher games. Two of those pieces Luke Hancock and Chane Behanan made their returns to the team tonight. The two of them didn’t have much impact on the game as they both still have to work on getting in game shape.
The story on this night would be the play of the Louisville guards and the hot shooting. Chris Jones and Russ 2.0 combined for 50 points, 12 assist and 6 steals. Russ was lights out shooting 12 of 22 from the field including 5 of 12 from beyond the arc. Russ now has 1286 points and passed Chuck Noble tonight moving him into 32nd all-time in scoring at UofL.
Chris Jones got his 20 points but most impressive was the fact he had 7 assist with no turnovers. In 55 minutes played this season he has 12 assist with no turnovers. He has really stepped in and filled that spot nicely. The team as a whole only has 8 turnovers in a two game stretch and that’s the fewest in Coach Pitino’s 13 seasons. This team makes good decisions and takes care of the basketball. That’s a very good thing especially this early.
The shooting was another area that I highlighted in my pre-game article and it was much improved from the last time out. The Cardinals finished 12 of 31 from deep and shot 35 of 68 overall (51.5 percent), a big improvement from the 38-percent last game. One guy who had a hot hand at the right time tonight was Wayne Blackshear who made three straight 3s for nine points to help Louisville break the game open with a 26-2 second-half run. Wayne has had two very solid games for this team and if he continues to produce it is going to be big for the Cards. He would finish with 9 points but most important were his hustle stats 2 blocks and 3 steals.
Montrezl Harrell was abusing the rims again tonight in the KFC Yum Center and was the 3rd leading scorer in the game with 19 points. But his most impressive stat of the night was going 5-5 at the free throw line. With the new foul rules he is going to be spending a lot of time at the charity stripe this season especially as we get into March. His free throw shooting will be critical. Coach Pitino had pointed out that he had started to line out on his improvement due to not having anyone to compete against in practice. With the return of Chane Behanan he will start to be challenged more and this will help him get better.
The area of concern coming out of the last two games and tonight is the rebounding. I look for that to improve as Chane gets more acclimated to the team but right now it is an area that is in need of some answers. I knew coming into this game that Hofstra had some good re-bounders on their team and I pointed that out in my pre-game article. They out-rebounded the Cards tonight 35 to 34. When we start to play more long and athletic teams this is an area that concerns me. One positive is that our guards especially the new guys aren’t afraid to bang and hit the boards. That will help. As a team the Cards did dominate the paint area on offense scoring 44 points to their 16.
Defensively this team is right on track and tonight they forced 22 turnovers leading to 30 points. They have forced 43 turnover in their last two games.

While writing this article I’m looking in on the Kansas vs. Duke game at the time Dick Vitale and the other guys are talking about teams who are real contenders this year. Dick said that “everyone should watch out” for this Louisville team and went on to say that he feels that they can be a team that does repeat this season. I agree with Dick. Now that everyone is back and all the ceremonies and fluff stuff is over its time for these guys to get focused on the task ahead. And there is no better coach in America to make sure that happens than Rick Pitino. This team can repeat but still have a lot of work to be done. They are on the right path and are looking great for a group that has only played two real games together. I like what I’m seeing and can’t wait for the next one. GO CARDS!

U of L coach Rick Pitino after win over Hofstra:

U of L’s Wayne Blackshear after win over Hofstra:

Today Cardinal fans and the Louisville Basketball team put the exclamation point on the National Championship Run by hanging the 2013 Banner in the Yum Center rafters. The Cards also kept their run from last year going winning their 17th straight game beating the College of Charleston 70-48 in the season opener. With the win the Cardinals start the new season 1-0 and now hold a 4-0 record against the Cougars. Opening at home for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, the Cardinals have won 10 straight season-openers and 19 of the last 21 overall. Saturday’s game was Louisville’s earliest season-opener in school history surpassing the Nov. 11 openers in each of the last two seasons.

I was there when they won it and today I was there when they hung it. Last season was very special to me and the other Cardinal fans who had never got to experience a National Championship of their own. Most of us were kids when the Cards hung the last banner. But now we have our own moment and today we all shared that moment one last time in the KFC yum Center. The pageantry was great with the dedication videos and the speech by coach Pitino. It was all done very well and the University should be commended. Every time we go to a game or attend other events at the Yum Center we can look up and see that 2013 banner and remember how special that season was.

With the celebration behind them the 2013-14 group had business to take care of today against a very formidable foe in the College of Charleston. I think the excitement of the day a perhaps first game jitters got the better of the Cards in the first half and they played sloppy basketball allowing the Cougars to hang around. They hit only 4 of their first 17 shots. They were out-shot, out-hustled and out-rebounded in the first half and only led by two points 29-27. If those locker room walls could talk they probably wouldn’t be able to say in public what Pitino told his team at the half. They came out in the second half and were able to turn the momentum of the game around. The Cougars did hang around until about the 6:55 mark but that’s when we seen what we did many times last year. Duke’s coach Mike Krzyzewski called it the “BOOM”. Today College of Charleston felt that “BOOM” late in the second half when the Cards went on one of their flurries outscoring the cougars 21 to 3 in the closing minutes. It really did feel like last year and it looks like this team could end up having that same trademark.

Six Cardinals made their career debut in the Louisville uniform today Chris Jones, Mangok Mathiang, Terry Rozier, Anton Gill, Akoy Agau and David Levitch. Chris and Mango made the biggest impact out of this group. Jones is gonna be really big for the Cardinals this year and I really love his game. He had 12 points and 6 rebounds with 5 assist. The “Mango” looked really promising in his debut as well. This kid has exceptional speed for his size and his vertical leaping ability is also very good. We needed somebody to step up in the front-court and this guy just may be the one. He had 7 points and 10 rebounds. Russ 2.0 hasn’t missed a beat and got to the basket when he wanted and pretty much took over the game scoring 21 points with 5 assist. I’m so glad I get to watch this kid play another entire year. It will be fun seeing other coaches try to stop him. I was also very impressed with Montrezl, Wayne and Stephan. These guys combined for 27 points and 21 rebounds. I had been critical of Wayne and Stephan earlier in the scrimmages but today they put together a great game. Both of them played very aggressive and assertive. If we can get this from them every week that will be a game changer.

I thought the team looked pretty good today considering all the new pieces and considering that some of the most important pieces are still not on the floor. Chane will be back in a few weeks, Luke starts to practice on the 15th and Ware will be good to go in a few weeks. This is going to be a very good basketball team folks. Barring injury or any other suspensions we could all be gathering in the Yum Center next year to hang number four. We should get a good feel to where we are at in a couple of weeks when the Cards play UNC. It was another great day to be a Cardinal Fan. Go Cards!

Rick Pitino on the banner ceremony before the game:

U of L coach Rick Pitino on beating Charleston in opener:

My video turned out terrible but The University’s video is incredible so here it is:

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