We'd like to start off by saying that we (Louisville fans) have a ginormous 11 day stretch ahead of us, and for anyone looking for an outlet to vent any thoughts or opinions on the biggest game in the history of Louisville football, we heartily invite you to create a diary as a way of having your voice heard. Sure when we say "heard" we're referring to just us and our cousin Mose, but we do drive a Cavalier and own a DVD player so basically you'll be having your diary read by a bad ass.
If it's the stigma attached to the word "diary" that's bugging you, well you need to get over it because this is football and there is nothing demasculating about sharing your feelings about football damnit. In fact, from now on we're going to start referring to them as "manaries," or in some cases "really cool womanries."
Now as far as that whole deal Saturday....
Kolby Smith has left the dog house, and is now privy to every piece of furniture we own. It's amazing how much better you play once you've come to the realization that if you don't step up, you're going to watch the biggest game of your life from the sidelines.
Baby Bush is still the guy inside the five.
Brohm still wasn't his usual self, but he did look noticeably better, which bodes well for the West Virginia game. Keep in mind that when Brian says that he's 90-95% as he did before the Syracuse game, it probably means that he's closer to 80-85%. This week and a half off is going to help us more than we ever could have imagined before the season started.
If you're under the age of 81 then this the first time Louisville has been 7-0 in your life. No matter how it came about this deserves to be celebrated.
Hooray for Trent Guy. Sure he muffed a punt, and his net yardage wasn't all that impressive, but he showed right away why he was described as the best return man on the team this Summer, and allowed us to put a merciful end to our previous punt return ritual of crying for 12-15 seconds. It should also be noted that Brendan Carney is probably the best punter in the country, and Guy will likely have more success against guys whose feet aren't quite as gifted. Pat Carter also made a nice catch on a comeback route late in the game, so maybe this is going to work out for all parties.
Seven sacks? Props to Nate Harris, Brandon Sharp and Peanut. Half-props to Jon Russell, Willie Williams and Earl Heyman. And two and a half props to team MVP Amobi Okoye. Have you guys heard that he's only 19? We know it's just the announcers doing their job, but the Amobi story has become the new "Larry O'Bannon went to the same high school as Darrell Griffith."
Speaking of sacks, there's no way Elvis Dumervil is big enough to play in the NFL.
The secondary also deserves a lot of credit. Although Patterson has drawn the ire of many a Syracuse fan, he's got a big arm and has the potential to put up big numbers when he's not being sacked seven times. Will Gay's interception was enormous, and the TD wasn't his fault, it was just a perfect throw and catch. Gavin Smart continues to play very well, and Jon Russell may be the most underrated player on the defensive side of the ball. He's been able to get to the quarterback or ball carrier on blitzes more effectively than any other player in the secondary.
We have serious punting issues. The Goettshe seems to have a good enough leg, but if he can't learn how to get enough hang time for his coverage team to get six yards down the field before the ball is caught, then it's going to get us in a lot of trouble sometime soon.
We changed from shorts to pants late in the second quarter and it turned the whole game around.
Not Danny Barlowe's best effort. Conversely, George Bussey played very well and had a fantastic block on Kolby's last touchdown. He also placed third in a national culinary competition his senior year of high school.
If we didn't think Petrino was holding back (he's admitted that he started getting ready for WVU last winter) then we would have been seriously pissed, because that was as conservative an offensive game as we've seen since the dark ages (Cooper years).
Stripling needs to touch the ball more. Perhaps this was punsihment for putting the ball on the turf yet again last week, but things always have the potential to get exciting when Strippy has the ball in his hands and game breaking speed like that has got to be utilized. The future is bright for Anthony Allen, but it's officially Smith and Stripling for the rest of the year.
We gotta have more Mario. If you check the box score the morning of Nov. 3 and see that #7 had under 100 yards receiving, it means we lost.
And finally we'd like to announce that we've settled on 25 being the number of hours our pants will remain off if we win in 11 days. The number skyrockets to 157 if we win by way of an Art Carmody field goal.
Peace, love, Cards.