Darius Ashley not with team in St. Pete

C.L. Brown | Courier-Journal:  

Cornerback Darius Ashley is not with the team in St. Petersburg. Ashley was arrested on Dec. 3 and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence under 21 years old.

Strong declined to comment.

"We can talk about a million things; I'm not going to talk about him," Strong said.

Ashley, a sophomore from Cincinnati, mainly appeared as the fifth defensive back in pass coverage this season. He had two interceptions, three sacks and 20 tackles.

Ironically for Ashley, if this had happened to Louisville's star running back, it would've been a much bigger story. If it were Powell, perhaps some of us would still be debating why he should or shouldn't play despite the embarrassing error in judgement off the field.

Instead, anyone who notices will agree it's the proper punishment while Ashley, the fifth defensive back on the depth chart, sits at home this week, likely wondering about his spot on next year's starting lineup.

While there's a million things to celebrate as a Louisville football fan in 2010, Ashley's year has been understandably toilsome. It'll be interesting to see if he can bounce back in 2011.