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The Brohm Legacy Comes Full Circle: A College Gameday Story


It was another rough ending to the season for Cardinal Football fans. It was much of the same old same as Louisville football dropped its 4th straight in the Governor’s Cup. My son and I taking the walk of shame out of the stadium for a fourth straight season.

It was hard for me to find any optimism left after another letdown by Coach Satterfield and his staff in this game. You have to beat the in-state rival. But Satterfield always seemed apathetic about this game. The same type of apathy that was here with a guy named Kragthorpe. The type of apathy that took years to get out. I never thought it would go this way for Coach Satterfield. He had a good reputation and background from App State. We were on board.

This coaching experiment by former AD Vince Tyra didn’t work. But thanks to our friends to the north it’s no harm no foul. We are good. Now let’s go get a football coach who understands Louisville Football understands the tradition, and knows that it’s not ok to lose to Kentucky in anything.

Now picture if you will a family born and raised just miles from Cardinal Stadium with Louisville Football flowing thru their veins. A family legacy like no other in college sports. A story that has College Gameday written all over it.

If your last name is Brohm you are born a football fan. They are arguably the first family of football in this hoops-crazy state of Kentucky and in the city of Louisville they are football royalty. The Brohm family, including mother, Donna, and sister, Kim, were recently inducted into the Louisville Catholic Sports Hall of Fame for their contributions to the game.

It all started with the patriarch of the Brohm family Oscar. Oscar Brohm was a Football standout at Flaget High School in Louisville during the 1962-65 seasons. An all-state performer he led Flaget to a 10-1 record and the Louisville City Championship in 1965 setting a Louisville city school record with 23 touchdowns. He was a passing QB when passing wasn’t cool. Oscar played QB for the Cardinals during the 1968 and 69 seasons.

He would pass his offensive prowess down to his sons and they all helped create a football dynasty at Trinity High School in Louisville and for the hometown Cardinals. Four Brohm family members are letter winners at the University of Louisville, Oscar (quarterback 1966-69), Jeff (quarterback 1989-93), and brothers, Greg (wide receiver 1989-92) and Brian (quarterback 2004-07).

Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm had an outstanding career at Louisville from 1989 to 1993. He ranks among the Cardinals’ career leaders in touchdown passes. Jeff Brohm also served as an assistant coach at Louisville (quarterbacks coach in 2003-06, assistant head coach/passing game in 2007, and assistant head coach/offensive coordinator in 2008).

Greg Brohm is the executive director of administration and operations at Purdue. He was the starting wide receiver during the Cardinals’ 1991 appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, catching passes from his brother, Jeff. Greg served as the director of football operations at Louisville from 2004 to 2008. He also worked in local media and served as an analyst for the Louisville Cardinals’ radio broadcasts.

Brian Brohm is the Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach for Purdue… Before there was a Teddy and Lamar it was Brian who led the 2006-7 Cardinals to a 12-1 record, an Orange Bowl championship, and a #5 final ranking in the Associated Press poll. His 30 touchdown passes that season is tied for second in school history with 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, and one behind Minnesota Vikings’ 2014 first-round draft pick Teddy Bridgewater. Brian is the only Louisville QB to be so close to a National Championship. In my humble opinion, that team was a field goal away from playing for the Title. What could have been that season still haunts me.

During their three seasons together Jeff, Greg, and Brian helped lead the Louisville program to 32 wins, a Liberty Bowl win, Orange Bowl Championship, Conference USA, and Big East championship, and twice finished in the Associated Press top 10. And by popular opinion were a field goal away from a possible National Championship. There isn’t anyone who has had a bigger impact on the rise of the Louisville football program than the Brohms.

This family making their way back to the Louisville Football program would not only be the answer it would be the biggest sports story in 2022. I can hear Michael Rapaport narrating the story on College Gameday. If this blog post finds the right audience I hope they understand how big this could be.

The decision that Josh Heird and the administration make regarding the current state of Louisville Football could offer up two very different extremes. I know what extreme I choose.

Go try to convince the first family of Louisville Football to come back home. Have Cardinal Stadium busting at the seams and the College Football World is ready to watch how this great story plays out.

I read an article lately talking about how it’s not so much where Louisville Football is now but where it’s heading if things don’t change. It’s time to breathe new life into Louisville Football. The same new life that the athletic department and Basketball program got this past year. New energy is good especially if there is a great legacy behind it. Our new AD Josh Heird is a perfect example of that. I hope he can relate to what a Brohm hire could mean around here.

Of course, all of this is under the assumption that Jeff Brohm and his family would consider coming back to Louisville. I don’t know why they wouldn’t. I know that their hearts are still here. And they do have some unfinished business. If this program wins a National Title someday it would be much better to do it with family.

I’m ready for a change. A few years ago Cardinal Stadium came full circle. Now it’s time for the Brohm family legacy to come full circle.

This is my plea…

Go Cards!

Beak Gameday Preview: Just show me something



Yes in one week I have gone from showing me Louisville Football is back to just showing me something…

The one thing that Coach Strong established again quickly when he took over was confidence and a winning attitude. During his time at Louisville, he had his team believing they could play and beat anybody and anywhere. His teams were world beaters. We’ve got to get that confidence back.

I’ve seen the Cardinals finish just one season with that type of confidence/swagger since Coach Strong left. The 2015 group won 6 of the last seven games including that big win against A&M in the Bowl game. That group finished as world beaters. Hey Coach Satterfield stop giving me excuses and give me some of that.

I’m hoping that the game Friday night brings out more of a winning attitude and spirit from this team. I saw individual plays in the Syracuse game that showed some attitude but nothing as far as the team as a whole. We heard all offseason of a team refocused and a team committed to being better. They came out and did a belly flop. And not a very good one. It sure knocked the air out of me.

This game is another opportunity for this Louisville Football team to show me a winning attitude or any attitude at all. Just show me that you want to win more than I want you to win. Just show me something. Louisville Football fans are back in. We are talking the talk now it’s time for that dog to bark. Or at least yap a little.

By my count, there are 16 guys on the Louisville roster from Florida. Not as many as it used to be but still a lot of dudes from that area. Families are going to be at this game. Grandma is going to be at this game. They are going to know guys on the UCF roster and there are going to be some rivalries playing out on the field.

Games against the Florida schools usually evoke special energy as a result of these personal connections and rivalries. If this team doesn’t respond to this energy on Friday night this might become Chicken Littles Beak preview next week.

Instead of talking football this week, it was everyone telling their version of how this coaching staff and the team have put themselves behind the eight ball.

The Cardinals have lost 3 of their last 5 road games. Now they go on the road again to play a team that has won each of their last 8 at home and been one of the best home teams in the country over the last five years or so. UCF hasn’t lost at home since November 2020 and looks to be on a path to another solid season.

UCF has a big-time playmaker at quarterback in Rhys Plumlee. He is completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 308 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He also leads the team with 86 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. The Louisville defense had no answer for the Cuse QB on Saturday. Don’t know how they will contain this guy.

Monty Montgomery leads the Louisville defense coming in with 8 tackles along with Ashton Gillotte with 1.5 sacks. We are going to need to see other signs of life in this unit to contain Plumlee and the Gus Malzahn-led offense. You can bet he wants to score and score a lot.

Speaking of signs of life… Earth to Lance Taylor… Earth to Lance Taylor… 7 points brah? Coming into this season I had no worries about an offense that added two studs during the offseason. The Newcomers Tyler Hudson and Tiyon Evans each performed well in their UofL debut. Hudson caught eight passes for 102 yards, while Evans rushed 13 times for 89 yards, scoring the lone touchdown on a 36-yard rush in the first quarter.

While Malik was just over 150 yards passing with two interceptions and other contributors like Huggins-Bruce and Marshon Ford were a non-factor.

These guys can not be a nonfactor in this game. If we don’t hear our studs names called repeatedly Louisville football will be headed to an 0-2 home opener against Florida State.

This Louisville team might come out like men possessed and still fall short in this game. UCF is that tough at home. But if they give me any type of sign that they believe in themselves it will be a start. We are still waiting for them to start something.

Show me a sign of life Friday night Louisville Football. Go Cards!

GOCARDS.COM COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Beak Gameday Breakdown: Cards vs. Cuse


Louisville has one of the toughest schedules in college football this season and it doesn’t start easy either. The first game of the year can always be a challenge in its own right but when you have to play a conference game that can be tricky.

It is often the unknown that can be a problem in the first game of the season but with this Syracuse team, it’s what we know about them that says this will be an interesting game.

This Syracuse team has playmakers at all three levels of the offense. A great dual-threat QB in Garrett Shrader who led the Orange last year with 1,445 yards and 9 scores on just 53% passing while also rushing for 781 yards and 14 TDs.

They also have one of the best RBs in the country Sean Tucker who rushed for almost 1,500 yards with 12 touchdowns and 9 100-yard games last season. He is going to challenge the Louisville defense at every level.

Cuse has a set of very capable WRs. Courtney Jackson returns as Syracuse’s leading receiver after putting up 37 catches last season while Damien Alford reeled off 19 YPC last season.

The Cuse will also be sporting a formidable defense on Saturday. Led by a pair of great LB’s. Stefon Thompson and Marlowe Wax combined for 11 sacks while Mikel Johnson had a team-high 110 tackles and 4 sacks in his last season.

They also have a solid secondary that may see a former Cardinal make an appearance. Now on the Cuse roster, Bralyn Oliver is a 6-foot-2, 209-pound defensive back that had yet to play a down for Louisville. He was an early enrollee this past January and was named as the backup free safety behind Kenderick Duncan in Louisville’s pre-fall camp depth chart.

Louisville will have its hands full with this Cuse team in the season opener. But with a solid core of returning players and playmakers added the Cardinals must take care of business. With the renewed excitement around this program, you can’t start the season with a loss.

I mentioned that unknowns can play a big part in the first game of the season. One of the unknowns in this game is how all of the playmakers added to the Louisville defense and offense will perform on Saturday.

On offense, the biggest add in the off-season from the portal is former Tennessee RB Tiyon Evans. This dude ripped off 300 yards of offense and four touchdowns in back-to-back games last October and was averaging 6.5 yards a carry as the Vol’s leading rusher.

Evan’s numbers went down after an ankle injury that eventually shut down his season. If Evans can make the impact most expect it will bold well for the game on Saturday and the season.

Another big add at the skill positions is WR Tyler Hudson who had 1,229 yards, and 8 touchdowns with 19.8 yards per catch last season for Central Arkansas. He helps make up a receiving corps with a ton of potential.

Perhaps the biggest unknown in this game Saturday is the Louisville defense. It got shredded at the end of last season in back-to-back games and folded with its back against the wall all season.

As a result Coach, Satt and staff hit the transfer portal especially hard in the secondary, bringing in Jarvis Brownlee (30 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 passes defended in ‘21) from Florida State, MJ Griffin (47 tackles, 4 passes defended in ‘21) from Temple and Quincy Riley (24 tackles, 5 INT’s, 9 passes defended in ‘21) from Middle Tennessee.

There is not a defensive unit in the country that needs to get off to a good start more than this Louisville group. With the guys added and Yassir Abdullah (43 tackles, 10 sacks in ‘21) returning at linebacker, Ashton Gillette (19 tackles, 4 sacks in ‘21) returning as a solid pass-rushing defensive end, and Kei’Trel Clark (30 tackles, 3 INTs, 9 passes defended in ‘21) returning to the Louisville secondary I feel good about that.

I do think this game is decided by the unknown so haven’t even mentioned some of the known. I know that Louisville has a “cheat code” in Malik Cunningham. But think in this game he will be more decoy than detrimental to the outcome. There have been words between Malik and that Cuse Linebacking Corps… They will have their eyes all over him.

Jalen Mitchell will also be lurking in the Louisville backfield. Back after leading all of the Cardinals’ running backs with 722 rushing yards and 5 TDs last season. I expect a big game from this guy on Saturday. Already proved can put the team on his back.

Other knowns but not mentioned… Louisville has also emphasized improving special teams. I didn’t research this but do expect to see improvement on Saturday. In games like this, this unit could be the difference. And hope to see a solid day from talented WR Braden Smith who returns after an injury-plagued 2021 season. Think he could have a big play or two.

Hope we see a lot of big plays from the guys in the Red chrome helmets. Hope I’m wrong about Malik and he torches those Cuse linebackers for 400 yards and 8 touchdowns to start the Heisman hype. Maybe another leap!

Louisville has always had its way with Cuse. I think they will Saturday.

Go Cards!


GO CARDS COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Hey son meet Louisville Football


When my son was born in 2011 I couldn’t wait to take him to a Louisville Football game. We had made it thru the Kragthorpe debacle and Charlie Strong was in his second year.

That season you could tell that things were going to be better. A share of the Big East Title and after four long years of losing to them finally a win over the arch-rival Cayuts in Lexington.

That 2011 victory sparked the most dominant streak in this series with Louisville Football winning the next 5 straight and winning the next six out of seven against Kentucky.

For the first few years of my son’s life, the Louisville Football team was rolling. 10 win seasons, Conference Titles, Bowl wins, Sugar Bowl win and never lost to Kentucky. I took him to games and he was with me at open practices. But being so young I don’t think he remembers all the success and great times.

I’m afraid around the time his memory kicked in Louisville Football started getting its teeth kicked in. Literally and figuratively… Since the end of Bobby 2.0’s run, it’s been nothing but bad. A run that includes three embarrassing losses to Kentucky.

Coach Satterfield and his “Satturdays” started with a sputter but with a renewed spirit from him and his staff, the program has started to take some shape. After a few years of moving in no direction, last season at least had a direction.

A promising 2021 campaign ended with a 6-7 record, which included a 4-4 mark in ACC play before falling to Air Force in the First Responder Bowl. It was an appropriate Bowl game for a bruised and battered Louisville Football team. Health was that team’s biggest obstacle.

The clouds have parted over my old Kentucky home and Louisville will open its 2022 season with a lot of optimism and more promise than I’ve felt in a while. Maybe… just maybe this will be the year Brody gets to meet “Louisville Football”.

This team has the pieces to be competitive and fun again. It starts on offense with the epitome of a dual-threat quarterback, Malik Cunningham 3,000 passing yards and 19 TDs with just 6 INTs while also rushing for over 1,000 yards and 20 TDs. He is a human highlight reel.

No coach in the country improved their team more thru the transfer portal than Coach Satterfield did. On offense, Tiyon Evans (525 yards, 6 TD in ‘21) will start at RB. Averaging 6.5 yds a carry in the SEC last season. He was a big get for the Cards. While Dee Wiggins (6.3 yards per catch in ‘21) comes in from Miami and Tyler Hudson (1,229 yards, 8 TD’s with 19.8 yards per catch) transfers in from Central Arkansas to make up a receiving corps with a ton of potential.

On defense, Jermayne Lole (17 tackles, 1.5 sacks in ‘20) transfers in from Arizona State, and Momo Sanogo (12 tackles 1, 5 sacks in ‘21) enters from Ole Miss to help the cause. The Cardinals hit the transfer portal especially hard in the secondary, bringing in Jarvis Brownlee (30 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 passes defended in ‘21) from Florida State, MJ Griffin (47 tackles, 4 passes defended in ‘21) from Temple and Quincy Riley (24 tackles, 5 INT’s, 9 passes defended in ‘21) from Middle Tennessee.

Adding players who can have an immediate impact with the returning guys on offense and defense is a winning strategy.

The offense returns guys like RB Jalen Mitchell (722 rushing yards, 5 TDs in ‘21) and talented WR Braden Smith who returns after an injury-plagued 2021 season.

On the defensive side of the ball a front seven that has some solid pieces returning like Yassir Abdullah (43 tackles, 10 sacks in ‘21) at linebacker and Ashton Gillette (19 tackles, 4 sacks in ‘21) as a solid pass-rushing defensive end. Kei’Trel Clark (30 tackles, 3 INTs, 9 passes defended in ‘21) is back in the Louisville secondary after an injury-shortened season. DB Kenderick Duncan (53 tackles, 1 INT, 4 passes defended in ‘21) is also back. DB Chandler Jones (27 tackles, 7 passes defended in ‘21) is a solid veteran cover corner.

There is a reason why guys like Phil Steele and other reputable folks have predicted an upswing season for this Louisville Football program. This coaching staff went to work solidifying the current roster and it is loaded with potential.

The Cardinals have more continuity throughout the lineup than they’ve had in a long time. I think we have just as much big-play ability as anyone in the country. That is going to be the difference in the first game against Syracuse and several games this season.

My son turns 11 in November. I got that same feeling as the year he was born. Louisville Football is finally back in a good spot. I feel like the program is moving forward and have told Brody to prepare for lots of winning. And for things to be different this year in the Governor’s Cup. This is the year “Louisville Football” makes its return.

Hey son meet Louisville Football… Go Cards!

COACH SATTERFIELD PREVIEWS SEASON OPENER

House of Payne



It has been a while since I wrote on the website. Part of that has to do with me now spending my days running up and down the road with my son’s sports teams and the other is just lack of inspiration. If there is one thing I’ve learned doing this it’s that I have to be inspired to write.

There has been a lack of inspiration to write anything about Louisville Basketball but today I’ve been inspired and decided to dust off the keyboard and give this writing thing a whirl.

My inspiration comes today as bigtime sports names start dropping the news that Kenny Payne will be the next head basketball coach at the University of Louisville. This news comes during a time of despair for Louisville fans but tells me that the Athletic Department has decided to invest in us again. This is the hire that needed to happen and it appears that it has been done.

For year’s now the Louisville Basketball program has been trying to get back to its roots. Coach Mack will be known for a lot of things he did wrong but the one thing he did right was to start to connect that bridge to the past. We may not be here today without him making that effort.

Watching how far the program had drifted from those guys in the 80s it’s awesome that now one of them will shape the Louisville Basketball program for generations to come.

For it to be Kenny Payne makes it even cooler for me. He was one of my favorite Louisville players. At one point I looked up to and imitated him right down to my socks. He would wear those socks up to his knees. He was such a laid-back/cool player on the court but when he got the ball in the post he took care of his business.

He seems very much like that same guy today. All of his peers and anyone who knows him personally raves about his laid-back and cool demeanor. A quality that some have mentioned makes him a beast on the recruiting trail. We could count on Kenny Payne to deliver when he was a player and we can count on him to do it as a Coach.

With NIL and the transfer portal, the game of college basketball has changed forever. It’s more important than ever to have the right person representing your brand and I can’t think of a better person than Kenny Payne. Regardless of what your UK buddies tell you Kenny is one of us. He represents a time when our program was a giant. A time that we all long for.

The Louisville Basketball program had so much swag and so many characters back then. And they won. I want to see our program get all that back and believe that it will under Coach Payne. I have a renewed sense of pride and enthusiasm again that I haven’t had in a while. I’m going to get myself some tube socks and start wearing them to my knees, I’m going to hang my flag up and throw my L’s up. Can’t wait to watch my first game in the House of Pain with my son. It’s all happening! Enjoy it folks!

Go Cards!

This is the year. Beat Clemson.


This season has been a roller coaster ride for Louisville Football fans. Seems like forever ago that my son and I were in Mercedes Benz Stadium watching this team run onto the field for the first time. They haven’t quite lived up to my expectations but I can respect the fact that they are still playing hard. Just not playing smart at times and don’t think we are deep enough yet.

9… 9 penalties on this Louisville football team last weekend. Couple that with only 17 first downs and a 21 point fourth quarter by the Wolf Pack and it ruined trick or treat for the Cardinals. And it negated another great effort from Malik Cunningham. He had 219 yards and a touchdown in the losing effort. I loved the connection between him and Jordan Watkins last week. Watkins caught two balls for 83 yards and a score to lead the receivers.

The Cardinals are going to need this connection tonight along with a much more solid performance overall if they want to beat Clemson. And for the first time since that Saturday night in 2016, I think we have a chance to beat Clemson.

Still gonna be a tall task as this Clemson team put together a 13 point fourth quarter last week to beat Florida State. Tigers QB DJ Uiagalelei and RB Will Shipley led what looked to be an improving Clemson offense to a solid 377 yards in that matchup. Shipley is just finding his legs and could be a problem.

They are improving and still have tons of talent but are far from the well-oiled machine they usually are. Especially on offense. They went just 4-of-14 on third-down tries, coughed up three turnovers, and committed six penalties in their game against the Noles.

Regardless of their shortcomings on the offensive side of the ball this Clemson team still has a very solid defense especially their front four. Dabo hadn’t been happy with this group and called them out recently. They responded with a season-high five sacks last week. They were initially credited with a sixth sack, but the NCAA removed a sack from Xavier Thomas’ who forced a fumble behind the line of scrimmage.

I think this game will be a tale of the two defensive units involved. Louisville ranks 25th nationally with an average of 5.1 yards per carrying. Can Malik and company keep their defensive unit on the run today while sustaining drives and letting our defense rest?

This is where the Cardinal’s depth issue comes into play. Our defensive guys are worn out in the 4 quarter and haven’t been able to make enough plays to finish games. But they have been making plays. New guys stepping up each week. LB Dorian Jones in his first career start had nine stops and 1.5 tackles for loss last week.

This Louisville defense surpassed their 2020 total for sacks by picking up their 22nd of the season last week. Louisville has recorded a sack in all eight games in 2021. These guys are trying and are getting better. And help is on the way. Four-star DL Selah Brown committed yesterday. Shame he can’t suit up tonight.

I do believe this team puts it all together tonight. What they can put together. At this point, it’s about supporting them and accepting their shortcomings. There are going to be some. Let’s beat Clemson for the first time tonight and get closer to Bowl eligibility. That is the bar for this group. Go Cards!

GOCARDS GAMEDAY BREAKDOWN

Cards will need Tricks and Treats tonight…


Our Cardinals will try to build upon their win over Boston College last weekend on this Hallows Eve… It will take a few tricks from the offense and the defense will have to treat us to another solid performance for them to come out of this one with the win. It will be one of the most hostile environments of the season and this NC State team has a few tricks of their own.

Louisville QB1 Malik Cunningham has his bag of treats. How good has he been this season? Thrown for 1,684 yards good for 6 touchdowns on 63.4% passing while also leading the Cardinals in rushing with 480 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

Sadly his outstanding play has been ghosted this season by how poorly the defense has played at times along with some costly turnovers. Maybe he will break out of the shadows of darkness into a new light tonight by leading his team to a big primetime win.

This Louisville offense is not a skeleton crew and has some playmakers. Jalen Mitchell second on the team in rush yards behind Malik has 424 rushing yards of his own. While Hassan Hall and Trevion Cooley each have 200+ rushing yards on the campaign.

The ball has been flying thru the air like a witch on a broom for Marshon Ford. He leads the Cardinals in receiving with 30 catches for 313 yards. Four other Louisville receivers have joined the party and have at least 200 receiving yards this season.

Don’t think for a minute that this NC State team will be left bobbing for apples. Their offense has also been as hot as a witch’s brew. Devin Leary will be playing the role of gunslinger in this one. He has thrown for 1,844 yards, and 17 touchdowns on 65.6% passing.

He’s got some pretty solid guys catching those bullets. Emeka Emezie leads the Wolfpack’s receiving corps with 37 grabs for 452 yards while Thayer Thomas and Devin Carter each have 300+ receiving yards and another three NC State receivers have at least 100 receiving yards this season. They spread the ball around all over the field like a giant spider’s web.

The Treats… This Louisville defense started the season in quicksand. But has been a hoot to watch in the last few games. The Cardinals added to their interception total by picking off two more passes against BC to give them nine picks on the year.

The defense tallied three more sacks in Saturday’s win, upping its season total to 21 through seven games matching all of last season, and have at least three sacks in three of the last four games.

Trey Franklin picked off his second pass of the season and is just another guy on this defense along with C.J. Avery (46 tackles), Yasir Abdullah (6 sacks), and Kei’Trel Clark (3 interceptions) stepping up this season.

The Tricks…

For the second-straight game, the Cardinals’ offensive line failed to yield a sack, the first time not allowing a sack in back-to-back games since 2008. Leading to a season-high 331 yards on the ground.

Trevion Cooley, who recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game last week averaging 8.6 yards per carry adds a nice little touch to the backfield. Establishing a solid rush attack and being able to sustain drives gives the guys on the other side of the ball a chance to be better.

Hopefully by the end of this one Carter-Finley Stadium will look like a graveyard and the Cardinals will be doing the Thriller dance in the locker room. The biggest game of the season with implications for down the road. And hey it’s Hallows Eve. We need some Tricks and Treats so we can all have a good Halloween…
Go Cards!

GOCARDS GAMEDAY BREAKDOWN

Louisville Football has to move forward today


Going into this season I think we all knew this Louisville team was going to score and score a lot. And they have… posting 24 or more points in every game and 30 or more in each of their last five.

Louisville has moved into the top 25 nationally in total offense, averaging 452.0 yards per game. The Cards have totaled more than 500 yards of offense in three of the last four contests. If the story stopped here you’d think this team was rolling and fans were going into today’s game pretty confident about the outcome. But it doesn’t…

The troubLsss… has been on the other side of the ball. Louisville has given up 34 or more points in three of their last four, and the result is the Cardinals going 2-2 in that stretch. In the last quarter of football, this Louisville defense played they gave up 21 points.

Today is where the rubber meets the road for this Louisville Football team and the defense. Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown promised a much tougher brand of defense. At times you can see the light come on for his group. They have made some big plays.

Through the first six games of the season, the cardinals have surpassed their 2020 total of interceptions. The defense picked off two passes versus Virginia to give them seven interceptions on the season. And the big pick to beat UCF.

There is talent on the Louisville defense with young guys stepping up each week. I don’t think players are the issue. I think it’s about Coach Brown getting all of these guys in the right situation to win and finish ballgames. Maybe the 3 man rush, prevent defense should take a back seat.

Linebacker C.J. Avery is attempting to become the fifth player to lead the team in tackles, Linebacker Yasir Abdullah ranks 18th in the country and third in the ACC with 0.8 sacks per game, breakout freshman Ashton Gillotte is second with 3.0 sacks, Kei’Trel Clark leads the team in interceptions with three, and Jack Fagot leads the team in tackles with 42 after recording nine in the loss to Virginia.

Playmakers… Playmakers… Playmakers… too many for the Louisville Defense to be giving away games and that’s what they did two weeks ago. The defensive unit and staff will have all eyes on them today.

They’ve had an extra week to get ready for a Boston College team that hasn’t been an offensive juggernaut this season. They couldn’t do anything after halftime against NC State in their last time out. The Eagles ultimately collected just 291 total yards with 4.2 yards per play and 17 first downs.

No excuses for this Louisville Football team today. None! They must move forward, the defense must move forward and that starts with a win. I think they will. Go Cards!

GOCARDS GAMEDAY BREAKDOWN

TroubL’ssss


Ahhhhhhhhh…… Yesterday was a rough day for players and the fans of the University of Louisville football program. I’ve been a fan thru some great days and have been a fan thru some rough ones. I blame staff turnover and the inability to keep a coach here when he does start putting together a great program. Coach Strong and his staff should have been offered the moon to keep them here. Program hasn’t been the same since.

At Louisville, coaches come and they go too often to sustain any real success here. Now we find ourselves in another one of those situations. Sticking it out and letting the cake bake would seem like a sensible option. Give Coach Satterfield time to put this thing together as he wants and give him a chance to get it rolling.

Does he want to do that? That’s what I struggle with. Does this coach want to be here and does he want to build a successful program at the University of Louisville? Is he going to be able to establish that kind of trust with this fanbase and is he going to be able to win the support he needs to do that back? Can he do it?

It hurts watching a program like UC reach that next level as a program and see firsthand what the right kind of hire can do. I mention UC because they are a similar base and situation as us. It just proves that it can be done. Louisville Football has proven it can be done. But can UC sustain that success or will they lose their Coach like we always seem to when things are finally going in the right direction?

That’s the trouble with a program like UC and Louisville. Is being able to keep a coach to ensure the program keeps rolling. If you do lose them to a bigger place then the AD has to make the right hire to replace them. It’s critical at a program like Louisville.

Yesterday hurt. There is going to be a lot of talk surrounding Coach Satt and his staff now. If they can salvage this season, beat UK, and get into a decent bowl game I can live with that. Think most fans move on. If things continue to get worse and we lose again to our arch-rival without making it to a bowl game then I’m ready for a change.

Honestly, I don’t know that a bowl game makes any difference if we get beat by the cayuts again. How far can we let them get ahead? They are already taking recruits from Louisville’s backyard and are gaining control over recruiting in the state.

A great Louisville Coach once said time is the only variable. When he said that I think he had in mind that other Coaches would come along and continue to build towards that National Title and towards establishing a prominent program. We’ve had some great coaches continue us down that path but lately, we’ve been going in the wrong direction.

Will things get better? All we can do as fans are support and cheer for this team. The players have to be put in a situation to win games. I don’t think they were given that opportunity Saturday and that sucks. There is a lot of talent and speed on this team. Too much to blow a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter. It’s troubLing, to say the least. 😩