LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- It was a performance so polished that you halfway expected University of Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to pause before leaving Sunday's game against the University of Kentucky just to adjust his cuff links and brush off his lapels.
If there had been a shoe shine guy on the sidelines, he could've buffed Bridgewater's cleats for half the third quarter and all of the fourth, the sophomore left the game so early.
When an offense plays that well and clicks that consistently, you start to ask whether it was really the offense, or if the defense had that many problems; which is interesting, because you get the feeling that U of L coaches were asking themselves that same thing a few times in the preseason.
Regardless, let us proceed on the assumption that the U of L offense is good, that Bridgewater is on his way to becoming a big-time quarterback, that the receiving corps is stacked with playmakers and that the running game is in good hands behind the offensive line and running backs Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright, with Dominique Brown coming back into the mix at some point.
That bodes well. The more dangerous teams on U of L's schedule are teams who are pretty solid defensively. Connecticut should be a strong defensive team. South Florida, and North Carolina should be good defensively, along with Rutgers.
So of all the good things U of L showed on offense Sunday, its balance and diversity might've been the best of all. That ability to move the ball with multiple people in multiple ways is an edge against even the best defenses.
"I'm not a statistic guy," U of L offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. "But I think I was told nine guys caught passes in the game, and that's the nature of the offense. That's the difference between Teddy this year and Teddy last year. He didn't understand all the weapons he had and how to use those weapons. Now, he knows what weapons he has and how to use them."
The question, then, is what to make of the U of L defense we saw on Sunday. UK moved the ball, for the most part, however it wanted to. But you find yourself asking how much of that was due to U of L not adjusting well to the no-huddle, how much of it was due to contentment on U of L's part to give up the underneath stuff, and how much of it was due to UK just executing that short game very well?
Charlie Strong gave UK credit for its scheme. Here's the part that bothered him. The Wildcats gained 82 yards on third-down plays (13 of them, a 6.3-yard average). And while that in itself isn't the end of the world, the Cards' gave up third-and-long plays of 19, 15 and 12 yards, and UK wound up converting 6 of 8 third-down tries in the first half. (Though it shouldn't be lost that the Wildcats were just 1-for-5 on third down in the second half.)
Still, that was the element Strong didn't like. He figured to give up some underneath passing against UK's up-tempo attack. But in a position with third-and-long to get off the field, he didn't like that his defense on several occasions wasn't able to.
"I just expect more, maybe because I'm a defensive coach and I'm around the defense all of the time," Strong said. "I expect us to get off of the field more and to play better on defense. . . . We did a great job of stopping the run. They ended up with less than 100 yards rushing. We've just got to do a better job of getting off the field on third down."
The defense, however, only figures to improve. Two highly regarded true freshmen, Keith Brown and James Burgess, played at linebacker, and they're going to get more of a feel.
And the schedule looks manageable. Pittsburgh, the only Big East team that Strong hasn't beaten, lost its opener to Youngstown State. FIU fell to Duke. North Carolina will be a test, and the Cards won't be heavy favorites in most of their Big East games.
But after one game? There's no reason to think this team doesn't have a chance to make a BCS bowl push. And if it keeps improving, the record could be one to remember, whether the national love comes along with it or not.
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