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The Cardinal Countdown: 10 days until kickoff

By CardinalStrong
Andy Lyons

#10 Tyler Bruggman

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Class: RS Freshman

Ht/Wt: 6-1/200

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: Phoenix, AZ

Twitter: @TBruggman10

Thoughts: Bruggman joined the Cardinal program about four weeks ago, and to be honest, I was a little surprised. Bruggman was a Top 20 QB coming out of high school and enrolled at Washington State where he seemed to be the next man in line upon Connor Halliday’s departure. After taking a redshirt last season Bruggman struggled in the Spring game this year and appeared to be losing the battle for the #2 spot. Fast forward a couple months and Bruggman decides to transfer into a program where he'll be fighting for time on a team that now has eight quarterbacks on the roster. Bruggman also considered Arkansas, Duke and Indiana when he left WSU. Coach Klenakis and Petrino both recruited Bruggman heavily at Arkansas, which is why they showed up on his list, and Duke and IU have questionable QB situations for the future, but the relationships with Klenakis and Petrino ultimately won out.

Bruggman knows the situation he’s in, and he knows that he’s got work to do to try and unseat Gardner/Bonnafon/Thomas and others next year. I read a lot on Bruggman last month just because I was curious about his decision process and the kid seems to get it. I think Bruggman, who has a ridiculous cannon for an arm, understands that Petrino and McGee can set him up to succeed. While we might scratch our head as to why he would battle it out amongst others here rather than go somewhere he could potentially start next year, let’s not forgot that Petrino wanted him badly two years ago and then pushed hard again last month when he became available. I’m no expert, but I’d say Petrino has done pretty well evaluating talent in the past so I’ll trust him on this one as well.

Sweet Tweet:

Right there with you Tyler. Can’t listen to Mariah Carey’s ‘Hero’ without thinking about my 5th grade graduation, I can’t hear Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’ without remembering the night of my wedding and when the first chord drops on the Geto Boys ‘Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster’….nothing on my brain but Levitch.

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#10 Dominique Brown

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Class: RS Senior

Ht/Wt: 6-3/233

Position: Running back

Hometown: Cincinnati, OH

Twitter: @hardbodynique

Thoughts: Recruiting kids like Dom Brown consistently will keep Louisville towards the top of the college football world for years to come. It may sound like hyperbole, but it’s really just a statement reflecting the type of player/person Dominique is. This will be Brown’s fifth year in the program and you haven’t heard a peep from him regarding off the field problems, you saw him fight back from an injury his sophomore year, you didn't hear a negative word from him the last couple seasons about having to share the load with others, and I’ve never heard one word from either coaching staff about Dom not putting in the work to be successful. The kid is unique.

For those that may not recall, Brown came in his freshman year and got some immediate playing time behind Bilal Powell, Vic Anderson and Jeremy Wright. As a sophomore he took the reins, along with Vic Anderson and finished second on the team in rushing yards and first in touchdowns. Brown appeared to be primed to take on the lead role in 2012 with Jeremy Wright, but a knee injury forced him to miss the entire season. With his highly anticipated return last year, Brown didn't disappoint and lead the team in rushing, posted eight touchdowns in a "slow pace" offense and put a couple 100+ yard games under his belt. While I don’t think anyone is putting a ton of weight on Brown's shoulders this year I know a lot of fans, including myself, are expecting big things from the running backs as a whole. It’s hard to envision a  scenario where either Brown, Dyer or Scott couldn't get something going in a  single game. As long as the O-Line opens up some holes I think Brown and company will pile up yards with little resistance.

Ten years from now you probably won’t see Dom’s name plastered all over the UofL record books or hear him mentioned with greats who played before him, but without his contribution and his belief in helping to revive this program five years ago we’re not winning a Sugar Bowl, we’re not winning 12 games last year and we may not be a member of the ACC. A group of kids bought into what Charlie was selling back in 2010 and helped turn our program back in the right direction. Thank you Dom, that debt can never be repaid.

Sweet Tweet:

Do yourself a favor, since Mike’s gone, give this a look see and we can count it as our ‘Friday Irrelevance’…


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