LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Only two games have been played, but I can already identify the primary team the University of Louisville football team needs to fear this season:
The University of Louisville.
I say that even though the Cardinals (2-0) dusted Missouri State, 35-7, at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Saturday.
"We were moving too slow," U of L running back Senorise Perry said. "We weren't playing like the Number 23 team in the nation."
The only things that can stop the Cards from winning 10 or more games are a prolonged love affair with their press clippings or more than the usual assortment of injuries and soreness that are part of college football.
If I'm Charlie Strong, I cut off Internet access. Better that his players do not see these scores:
Wake Forest 28, North Carolina 27. The Tar Heels (1-1) are coming to town next weekend, bringing their bogus classwork along, I'm certain.
Connecticut and Temple, two Big East schools, played important Show Me games against visitors from the Atlantic Coast Conference Saturday. Here is what they showed:
Don't expect much. The Huskies lost to North Carolina State, 10-7 and the Owls lost to lowly Maryland, 36-27. It's only the second weekend in September, but the Big East is in prime piñata form.
Of the 10 teams remaining on the U of L schedule, only three are still unbeaten – South Florida, Cincinnati and Rutgers.
There's more, and it's not simply a Big East thing. Four Top 25 teams lost.
Wisconsin (No. 13) lost. So did Arkansas, ranked eighth, and Nebraska, ranked 16th. Oklahoma State bounced off its run-up-the-score moment against Savannah State, stumbling at Arizona. Notre Dame (22nd) and Michigan (19th) huffed and puffed to victories. Louisville, ranked 23rd, should gain another spot or two in the next Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Strong will have to discover if his team can handle the hype because the hype is coming.
Well, can they?
"Of course we can," U of L offensive tackle Jamon Brown said. "But that's not something we really focus on . We focus on getting better every week."
Strong didn't sound as convinced. Not after the game. And certainly not before the game.
When Strong blasts on his whistle during pre-game warm-ups and orders his team back into the locker room, everybody knows what it signifies: Not enough people are taking the game as seriously as the great teams regularly take every challenge.
Against Missouri State, both the players and fans appeared guilty as charged. The announced attendance of 47,553 was nearly 8,000 less than the record gathering from the Kentucky game six days earlier.
Strong didn't appreciate the vibe that he felt on the field. Several players said their head coach was greatly perturbed. No players were willing to say what Strong said. Just that it was strong, textbook Strong.
"I wasn't surprised at all," Brown said. "We didn't have a lot of energy coming out there for warm-up. He was rushing us to get inside. He had a couple words for us. We did come out slow. He did the right thing."
"I didn't think we would (have an issue), honestly," said Nate Nord, the Cards' tight end. "I thought our focus this week was great. I thought we were ready to go, but he had to give us a kick in the butt to get us going."
Louisville got going. They put up 475 yards. They averaged better than six yards per offensive snap. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater completed 30 of 39 throws. The defense knocked loose one fumble and made an interception.
It wasn't that the Cardinals played a poor or even ordinary game. They didn't. They simply didn't play with the edge or precision the great teams show.
Example A: Nine penalties for 87 yards. Example B: A quarterback sack for an 11-yard loss. Example C: The running game averaged 3.5 yards per attempt. Example D: The deep furrow in Charlie Strong's brow.
"We played hard," Strong said. "We just didn't play smart."
Examples?
"Just look at the penalties," Strong said. "It's just being a disciplined football team."
Their discipline will be challenged now – more than the Cardinals will be challenged by North Carolina, FIU and what's next on the schedule.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
Only three of the 10 teams left on Louisville's schedule remain unbeaten.
