One week. That's all I wanted. One week to feel nothing but positive about the current state of Louisville football and about the overall direction things were heading.
Louisville junior wide receiver Scott Long tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in practice on Tuesday night and is out for the season, school spokesman Rocco Gasparro said Wednesday morning.Considered the team's No. 1 wideout, he had his first breakout game on Saturday in a 24-20 win over South Florida, catching five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in the fourth quarter. Those were the first two scores of his collegiate career and his first 100-yard day.
"I'm very disappointed for Scott," Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "He's worked so hard this year to get into shape. [The injury] occurred during a non-contact drill in practice. We have to move on from this situation and get ready to play a good Syracuse football team."
SYRACUSE IS NOT F#$%ING GOOD.
Wow. I'm sorry about that. That wasn't about you, it wasn't about Syracuse, it was about Scott. But seriously, Syracuse is not a good football team, and I think it would be in your best interest to stop saying otherwise.
No way around it: this blows. It blows for us, it blows for the team, and it really blows for 84.
I guess the positive here is that the receiving corps has already been acclimated to life without Scott Long. It's time for Doug Beaumont, Josh Chichester and (whenever he comes back) Trent Guy to again raise their games accordingly. This won't be a valid excuse for finishing the rest of the season under .500.
Also, let's go ahead and put a moratorium on all non-contact drills, because they haven't seemed to be doing anyone any good for the last two years.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Long. The opportunity for a special senior season is still very much on the table.