2008 Previews: Louisville

By Tim Cottrell
Sports Writer/Designer
Published: June 27, 2008

Preview No. 18 takes us to the Bluegrass State and the Louisville Cardinals. Previews of all 65 BCS conference schools, plus Notre Dame and state schools, will be posted daily in no particular order. To view all previews, click here.

I hadn’t had much of a chance to see what Louisville had this year prior to really poring over their information for this preview.

They are in trouble.

Coming off a miserable 6-6 season where they started in the Top 10, the Cardinals return only seven starters (3 on offense, 4 on defense) and bring in two new coordinators.

Jeff Brohm (older brother of ace departed quarterback Brian) steps in after coaching quarterbacks for several years, and they brought in Michigan’s Ron English (who didn’t exactly have a sterling group last season) to run the defense.

Replacing Brohm will be Hunter Cantwell, who only threw 14 passes last year but has shown himself to be more than capable, even starting a few games in 2006.

But the Cardinals must replace three spots on the offensive line and have no backs who have averaged more than 50 yards per game. Plus they lose four of their top five receivers.

As mentioned earlier, Louisville only returns four starters on defense, but that could be a good thing since they gave up an average of more than 31 points and 416 yards per game last season (I maintain that they should’ve always gone for it on fourth down and used an onsides kick after every kickoff).

But with nobody returning in the linebacking corps and the probability of relying on JUCO transfers (always an iffy proposition) across the board things don’t look good for Louisville this season.

At least they’re saved by having four straight games at home (and having all their tough games but two at home) and mixing in plenty of cupcakes with their two good non-conference games.

Here’s the schedule:

Aug. 31: Kentucky
This one’s more of a toss-up than I initially thought, but Kentucky is equally in flux this year.

Sept. 6: Tennessee Tech
This one will probably be good for Louisville’s annual football gods’ wrath-inducing, run-up-the-score blowout.

Sept. 17: Kansas State
The Wildcats are certainly capable of coming into Louisville and winning (it’s virtually the same team that beat Texas in Austin and nearly beat Auburn in Jordan-Hare last year), but I think the Cardinals can take it.

Sept. 27: Connecticut
The Cardinals need to win this one if they’re going to be bowl eligible.

Oct. 10: at Memphis
There’s a pretty funny story as to why this game is being played, and the game should be a laugher as well.

Oct. 18: Middle Tennessee
The Blue Raiders rung up 42 points on UL last year, and you can probably expect another shootout this time around.

Oct. 25: South Florida
The Cardinals will no doubt remember the drubbing they took in Tampa last year, but it probably won’t be much better at home this year.

Nov. 1: at Syracuse
And they’ll no doubt remember their inexplicable home loss to the Orange last year, as well.

Nov. 8: at Pittsburgh
I had initially called this one a toss-up in my Pitt preview, but I’m more inclined to call this a Panthers win now.

Nov. 14: Cincinnati
This is a toss-up, pure and simple.

Nov. 22: West Virginia
This will probably be closer than it should be, but the Mountaineers are too good.

Dec. 4: at Rutgers
Another toss-up, but probably a loss being on the road.

This team could be as bad as 4-8 or as good as 9-3. This won’t be a very good football team, but with the schedule there’s no reason they can’t be at least .500.