(Photo cred @JodyDemling)
The old saying goes that when the bull throws you, you’ve got to get right back up on it. Last week the Cards got thrown, but today they took the Bull by the horns and got back to their winning ways. With the 34 to 3 win over South Florida Louisville now takes the all-time lead in the series 6 to 5 and have now won three straight in the series. Our Cardinals are now 7-1 with four games remaining on the schedule.
Coach Strong after the win over USF:
(Video courtesy Jody Demling)
Teddy Bridgewater after the USF game:
(Video courtesy Jody Demling)
Today’s game with the South Florida Bulls will be the last in this series for the foreseeable future and the Cardinals completely dominated from start to finish. Louisville had the ball for 41 minutes to their 18, 485 total yards to their 133, and 26 first downs to their 8. The Cards by the way lead the nation in 3rd down conversions. A lot of folks aren’t happy with the offensive play calling, but today it got the job done and that’s all that matters. The offensive players that stood out today were Teddy Ballgame (344 yards with 3 touchdowns), Dominique Brown (186 total yards with 1 touchdown), and Gerald Christian (83 yards with 1 touchdown). Dominique has really come into his own here towards the end of the season averaging 7.9 yards per carry over the last five games. He has emerged as the best running back on this team and one of the most reliable players. He had his shot in the starting role today and took advantage of it accounting for 38% of Louisville’s total offense. I’m looking forward to seeing what he does the rest of the way.
Today the chatter on social media and on local talk radio was about the offense not being where it needs to be. There are a lot of folks that feel like the play calling is too conservative at times. I agree with that but I know that there’s a method to the coaching staffs madness and I’m not in any position to really comment on their decisions. I support this team in good or bad. My biggest gripe of the day was being reminded of how horrible the AAC is. I am looking forward to this last season in a bush league. No more playing in front of 5000 fans in a road game. I am looking forward to the ACC and better football environments.
Enjoy another Cardinal football win folks and it looks like things are going back in the right direction. They shook of a heartbreaking loss, went on the road and dominated. The only thing we can control as fans is how we support our team. This season Cardinal Nation has done that better than ever. Let’s keep it going.