2008 Louisville Cardinals Preview

No coach in America faced a more daunting takeover season last year than Steve Kragthorpe of Louisville. Under Bobby Petrino in 2006, the Cardinals were one win short of playing for the national championship. Under Kragthorpe in 2007, the Cardinals (6–6) were one win short of being invited to a bowl game, ending the school’s nine-year streak of postseason play. They also lost to Kentucky for the first time in five seasons.

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Cardinals

College football learned to expect excellence during Bobby Petrino’s 41–9 four-year run at Louisville. The Cardinals are several seasons away from recapturing that level of excellence. The talent and speed drain on offense has been considerable, and the defense is stacked with too many question marks and unproven players. Even the coaching staff has been rebuilt. Give Steve Kragthorpe credit for clearing some of the malcontents out of the locker room and trying to fix the schematic problems. Before Louisville can make any progress on the field it has to make progress off the field. The coach needs to find a mix of players ready to forget Petrino’s way of doing things who are eager to embrace Kragthorpe’s system, which worked well at Tulsa. If he can uncover dependable receivers who can take advantage of Hunter Cantwell’s powerful arm, that would be a start. The first four games will be critical because they will all be played at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, where Louisville lost to Syracuse and Utah last season after winning 20 in a row for Petrino. One game doesn’t make a season, but Louisville opens with Kentucky, which has regained the upper hand in in-state recruiting. It’s not a must-win, but it’s close, especially to appease a grumbling fan base.

There’s little evidence to suggest Kragthorpe will have reason to exhale this fall. Brian Brohm has taken his marvelous quarterbacking skills to the pros. Brohm’s top three receivers are gone. The team’s leading rusher transferred.

Win with defense? Won’t be easy. A unit that ranked in the bottom third of the country in most of the important statistical categories lost seven starters, including its entire trio of linebackers.

How shaky are things in Louisville? The team was booed frequently by the home crowd at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium last fall, beginning with the season-opener.

Not many second-year coaches are forced to shuffle their staffs, but Kragthorpe recruited Ron English from Michigan to fix a defense that gave up 31.4 points per game. Jeff Brohm was bumped up to offensive coordinator.

The clearest sign that Kragthorpe is struggling to find stability: A program that was built with high school players by Petrino and John L. Smith signed nine junior college transfers, including one in the middle of spring practice.

Quarterbacks

Big things are expected from Hunter Cantwell’s big arm. A fifth-year senior, Cantwell started only four games as Brian Brohm’s backup the last three years, but some analysts are already ranking him as a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Whenever any injury to Brohm pushed Cantwell into the lineup, he showed the ability to throw a better deep pass than Brohm. He’s a sharp student of the game who enjoys living in the film room. But Cantwell has to prove he can do it over an entire season. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes in his career, all of them for Petrino. He only played in three games last season, completing 8-of-14 passes for 79 yards. “It’s a little bit different understanding you’re going in as the guy for this season,” Cantwell says. “It motivates you to play a little bit harder.” If Cantwell falters, three guys will scramble for playing time. Senior Bill Ashburn is the most experienced, sophomore Tyler Wolfe has the best field presence and redshirt freshman Matt Simms, son of former NFL star Phil Simms, has the most name recognition.

Running backs

Anthony Allen ran for 275 yards in the Cardinals’ second game, fell out of favor with the coaching staff and left. So the Cardinals are looking for somebody who can run the ball the way Michael Bush and Kolby Smith ran it under Petrino. Senior Brock Bolen is a solid between-the-tackles back, but he’s no threat to break a long run and is best used as a blocker. Sophomore Bilal Powell has the best overall skills and is the most likely starter. He earned most of Allen’s carries late in the season and gained 161 yards in the Cardinals’ final two games. And don’t overlook redshirt freshman Victor Anderson, who impressed everybody in the spring game. “Coming into the spring, I knew he could run the ball to the outside because I knew he had such speed and quickness,” Kragthorpe says. “But what’s really so impressive about Vic to me is the way he’s run the ball so well inside the tackles.”

Receivers

Cantwell certainly has the arm to stretch the field, but does he have the receivers? There’s little evidence of that. The Cardinals threw for 30 touchdowns last season. Players who caught 26 of those are gone. If you can catch the ball and run with it, you’ll get your opportunity to please Kragthorpe and Brohm (the coordinator, not the former quarterback), who hopes to add more flavor to the offense. Trent Guy is a speedster who can break long gains on short routes. Look for Scott Long, Chris Vaughn and Josh Chichester, larger, stronger guys, to do the tough work over the middle. Don’t overlook sophomore Doug Beaumont. He’s from the same high school (Louisville Male) as Bush and former U of L quarterback Chris Redman. Tight end is such a question mark that former defensive lineman Johnnie Burns was moved to the position during spring drills and won the starting job.

Offensive linemen

Kragthorpe has two guys who could start on any offensive line in the Big East — center Eric Wood and tackle George Bussey. Wood is a smart, determined kid who works well with Cantwell and serves as a team leader. Bussey can stop the speed rush from left tackle. He also has the footwork to seal linebackers on running plays. But that’s about all the talent Petrino left Kragthorpe on the line. Look for a pair of junior college transfers — Byron Stingily and C.J. Millenbah — to earn plenty of opportunity to play.

Defensive linemen

Good teams stop the run. Opponents ran for 4.4 yards against the Cardinals last season; four teams ripped through them for more than 200 yards. For Louisville to improve, Kragthorpe’s team must improve up front. Senior tackle Earl Heyman gives the coach an anchor. Ends L.D. Scott and Maurice Mitchell should be improved with another year of experience. Adrian Grady has shown the ability to shed blocks at defensive tackle, but he’s coming back from a torn pectoral muscle. This is a position where a fresh face could emerge, perhaps James McKinney, a transfer from Michigan, or junior college recruit Tyler Jessen.

Linebackers

No position reveals why Louisville is no longer a Top 25 program more than the problems at linebacker. The Cardinals were unsettled at the position last year, and the guys who provided even a little stability are gone. Kragthorpe included two junior college linebackers in his recruiting haul. Look for undersized Chris Campa, only 220 pounds, to emerge. He led Butler County (Kan.) Community College to a national title, making 104 stops. Brandon Heath, Mozell Axson and Miami (Fla.) transfer James Bryant all bring the size to make plays.

Defensive backs

The ineffectiveness of the run defense and the uncertainty of the linebacker play are also mirrored in the secondary. Free safety Bobby Buchanan, younger brother of former NFL standout Ray Buchanan, is the only proven playmaker from a group that allowed 251.2 passing yards per game and was torched for long passes by Kentucky, South Florida and several other teams. The top reclamation job for English has to be cornerback Woodny Turenne, who came to Louisville last year ranked as the number one junior college recruit at that position in the nation. Once he arrived, though, he rarely showed the lockdown ability expected from him. Johnny Patrick and Travis Norton will battle for the other cornerback position. And at safety, Kragthorpe is looking for more junior college help from either Josh Wiley or Justin Matthews. Latarrius Thomas, a starter at safety on the 2006 Orange Bowl team, is trying to return from a knee injury that sidelined him for nearly all of last season. Kragthorpe is looking for improved run support from his secondary. “We have to get the guy on the ground if he breaks the first level of contain on our defense,” he says.

Specialists

The last thing Kragthorpe needed was to lose one of the best placekickers in the nation, but Art Carmody, the 2006 Lou Groza Award winner, is gone. The unproven Tim Dougherty, a sophomore, is expected to replace him. The punting situation is not as unsettled, but it’s still a worry. Incumbent Corey Goettsche must improve upon his 38.9-yard average.

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