U of L reaches deal with Southern Miss.

by Mike Rutherford on Sep 9, 2008 6:30 AM EDT in Football Comment 5 comments

A familiar foe will grace the 2009 Louisville football schedule.

U of L announced Monday that it has come to an agreement with Southern Mississippi to play two games over the next four seasons. The Golden Eagles will come to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Oct. 10, 2009, and the Cards will return the favor in Hattiesburg on Sept. 29, 2012.

There was a time, of which we're not all that removed, when this was the rivalry in the world of Louisville football. While Miami '04 and Rutgers '06 certainly surpassed it in disappointment and depression, the "Mills Kills" game in '99 still stands alone as the most angry I've ever been after a U of L football game.

I understand and join fans like Tom Heiser in their worry that scheduling another C-USA team is taking a step back, but let's be real about this, the entire program is taking a step back, the only thing still to be decided is the size.

And now let's be even more real about this: the 2009 Louisville Cardinals are not going to be world beaters. An out-of-conference game at Utah is already on the schedule, and the conference slate features trips to Morgantown and Tampa. This program desperately needs the extra exposure and weeks of practice that come with a postseason, and the only way to obtain that is to win at least even or eight games.

Southern Miss. is still a fairly respectable name that the Cards will have a better chance of toppling than someone like, say, Texas Tech. And the whole history thing is a bonus.

Overall, this deal gets the Card Chronicle seal of approval. His name's Andre. Terrible movie.

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Archival Footage

So I’ve heard stories of the fake punt Southern Miss used against us, but I never saw it. Is there a video out there somewhere of it?

by Dais on Sep 9, 2008 10:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The clip used to be on YouTube

But apparently it’s been removed.

by Mike Rutherford on Sep 9, 2008 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I know it's painful

But it’s also legendary, and I came to the Cards too late to see it.

by Dais on Sep 10, 2008 9:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If there is...

it should be confiscated and destroyed.

by quiet cardinal on Sep 9, 2008 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Southern Miss

I completely disagree that this is a bad game to put on a schedule. I have long had a theory (which nobody seems to believe) that schools will hugely improve their strength of schedule by scheduling a slew of mediocre opponents as opposed to a schedule of several decent opponent and one terrible opponent (like Tn Tech or Murray St.).

The Missouri Valley Conference “got” this concept several years ago in basketball when virtually all of its teams scheduled reasonably-good, but beatable opponents and came out with a huge SOS rating.

In other words, I think UL’s football schedule should seek schools exactly like So Miss, Memphis, Indiana, Miami (OH), North Carolina, Baylor, Oregon St., Vanderbilt, Colorado St, etc. as opposed to big name schools with a token game against Murray St. The I-AA opponent only counts against you.

I’ve wondered the same thing in basketball — why doesn’t UofL just schedule a ton of MAC or MVC schools instead of just these Prairie View A&M-type games which do absolutely nothing for your strength of schedule.

While I have this forum and am on the subject of theories, I’m sick of hearing of all of these schools complain that it’s impossible to get someone on your schedule or to get a “home and home.” Why don’t the decision makers trying to get creative and meet halfway? I thought was UofL did vs. Middle Tennessee State was great: have one game at PJCS and then then “return” game at a neutral site near the opponent (at the Titans’ stadium in Nashville). For example, a team like Ball St. could play bball at Freedom Hall and then the next year the two teams could play in Indy. I just hate hearing about these “home and home” impasses that nobody seems to resolve.

by Quinn1979 on Sep 9, 2008 7:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs