nov. 18, 2010 issue

VOLUME XV • NUMBER 14NOVEMBER 18, 2010

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LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT NOVEMBER 18, 2010

NOVEMBER 18, 2010 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT PAGE 3

E D I T O R I A L S T A F F

GENERAL MANAGER - Jack Coffee

SENIOR WRITER AND EDITOR - Russ Brown

OPERATIONS MANAGER - Howie Lindsey

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES - Mickey Clark, Betty Olsen and Blanche Kitchen

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS - Dave Klotz, Shelley Feller, Gail Kamenish,

Howie Lindsey and Chuck Feist

CONTRIBUTING COLUMNISTS Matt Willinger, Jeff Wafford,

Jason Puckett and Rick Cushing

DESIGNER - Scott Stortz

COPY EDITOR - Rick Cushing

The Louisville SportsReport is printed in Kentucky and based in Louisville. It is published weekly in January, February and March, monthly in April, May, June and July and weekly mid-August through late December by Louisville Sports News, L.L.C., in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville Sports News, L.L.C.: Owner and General Manager - Jack Coffee. The SportsReport was founded in 1996. United States Postal Number: 015255

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VOLUME XV, NUMBER 14NOVEMBER 18, 2010

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9 OH, SO CLOSESenior quarterback Justin Burke and the Cardinals were

inches away on a crucial 4th down in overtime. The Cardinals failed to convert and USF was able to kick a

fi eld goal to win the game. “I didn’t get low enough and I didn’t get enough push,” Burke said after the game.

Louisville men’s soccer won the school’s fi rst Big East Tournament championship Sunday in Harrison, N.J. The Cardinals tied with Providence 1-1 but won the title on penalty kicks, 3-2. - photo courtesy of BigEast.org

11 WOMEN BATTLE NO. 4 TENNESSEETia Gibbs and the Cardinals women earned

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt’s respect during a wild and exciting opening game at the KFC Yum! Center. UofL fell 63-50 after trailing just 45-44 with 7:15 to

go in front a record crowd of 22,134 fans.

W H A T ’ S I N S I D E

4 CROSS COUNTRY: CARDINALS MEN RECEIVE AT-LARGE BID TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

By Howie Lindsey5 UOFL SHOWS ITS ‘TERRIFIC POTENTIAL’ IN DEBUT By Russ Brown6 GAME STATS - SOUTH FLORIDA; LOUISVILLE DEPTH CHART7 CARDS BOWLED OVER BY BULLS, OWN MISTAKES, 24-21 IN OT By Russ Brown8 USF STUMBLE HASN’T PREVENTED FANS FROM THINKING

ABOUT BOWLS By Jack Coffee9 CARDS TAKE BLAME, ABSOLVE COACH, FOR 4TH-DOWN

FAILURE By Russ Brown10 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY By Howie Lindsey & Russ Brown11 RECORD CROWD SEES CARDS STAND TOE-TO-TOE WITH NO. 4

VOLS By Howie Lindsey12 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS. TENNESSEE PHOTO GALLERY

12 MEN’S SOCCER WINS BIG EAST IN DRAMATIC FASHION By Howie Lindsey 13 MEN’S SOCCER: LOUISVILLE PICKED AS NATION’S TOP SEED IN

NCAA TOURNAMENT By Howie Lindsey15-16 CARDINAL FOOTBALL VS. SOUTH FLORIDA PHOTO GALLERY17 BIG SENIOR GROUP IS CATALYST FOR CARDS’ PROGRESS By Russ Brown18 LOUISVILLE AND WEST VIRGINIA ROSTERS19 GAMEDAY PREVIEW - WEST VIRGINIA By Rick Cushing20 CARDINAL STARS OF THE WEEK By Howie Lindsey21 RECRUITING: CARDS SIGN FOUR, CLASS IS RANKED NO. 7 By Jeff Wafford23 ‘SELFLESS’ VAN TREESE PART OF IMPROVED SOPH QUARTET By Russ Brown24,25 BIG EAST NOTEBOOK: EDSALL’S 4TH-DOWN GAMBLE PAYS OFF

AS UCONN STUNS PITT By Russ Brown26 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULES

FEATURES AND CONTENT:

23 VAN TREESE SETS GOOD EXAMPLEStephan Van Treese’s ‘selfless’ play is setting a

good example for the Cardinals this season. He and his sophomore teammates, Rakeem Buckles, Peyton

Siva and Mike Marra, are vastly improved, according to Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

By Howie LindseyThe University of Louisville men’s cross

country team earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Cham-pionships on Monday with a fi fth-place fi n-ish at the Southeast Regional last Saturday at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park. The Car-

dinals didn’t earn an au-tomatic bid as one of the top two teams in their region, but they had a strong enough showing in the toughest region in the nation to earn their fourth bid in the past fi ve seasons.

“I felt that our upperclassmen ran well and represented Louisville well,” cross country coach Brice Allen said after the re-gional but before UofL received its bid on Sunday. “We accomplished our goal by staying healthy, and I’m confi dent the men will move on to the national championship with the win over (nationally ranked) Vir-ginia (which fi nished sixth).”

The Cardinals, No. 20 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Associa-tion poll, were one of 13 squads to earn

at-large bids, completing the 31-team fi eld that will compete in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 22 at the LaVern Gibson Champion-ship Course located at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. The women’s 6K race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m. ET (Louisville’s women didn’t qualify), followed by the men’s 10K at approximately 12:48 p.m.

At the NCAA Southeast Regional, the Cardinals men fi nished fi fth out of 34 teams. Senior Michael Eaton and junior Matt Hughes fi nished fourth and 13th, respectively, to earn all-Region honors. It is the fourth time Eaton has achieved the honor, the fi rst time for Hughes. True fresh-men Tyler Byrne and Ryan Eaton also put together notable performances, fi nish-ing 39th and 62nd, respectively. Finishing fourth for the Cardinals (59th overall) was junior Luke Lovelace.

“Tyler and Ryan deserve praise,” Allen said. “Those two guys are putting together great freshmen campaigns for us. Ryan ran really well today, and Tyler has been a solid No. 3 man. I have a very optimistic about the future for those two.”

Eaton’s 62nd-place fi nish doesn’t sound

great, but considering there were 231 elite runners in Saturday’s race it is quite an ac-complishment. Byrne was seventh among freshmen in the race, and Eaton was 11th.

31 TEAMS WILL RUNTwo teams qualifi ed from each of the

nine national regions - South, South Cen-tral, Southeast, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Great Lakes, Mountain and West. Then the NCAA picked 13 more teams to receive at-large bids.

Before Saturday’s race, Allen said he could see six or seven teams making it from Louisville’s Southeast Region. And he was right on the money.

William and Mary and Duke earned the automatic qualifying spots, and the NCAA gave four of the 13 at-large bids to the Southeast Region - with North Carolina State, Richmond, Louisville and Virginia each earning bids.

The teams that fi nished seventh and eighth in Louisville’s region - Eastern Ken-tucky and Liberty - missed out on a bid, as did national powers North Carolina and Wake Forest, which fi nished ninth and 10th.

Teams competing in the NCAA Cham-

pionships are as follows: Alabama, Arkan-

sas, Brigham Young, California, Colorado,

Duke, Florida State, Georgetown, Indiana,

Iona, Louisville, Minnesota, New Mexico,

North Carolina State, Northern Arizona,

Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State,

Oregon, Penn State, Portland, Princeton,

Providence, Richmond, Stanford, Syracuse,

Texas, Villanova, Virginia, William and Mary

and Wisconsin.

WOMEN FINISH 13THUofL’s Kim Grieshaber earned all-Region

honors for the fi rst time in her career with

a 21st-place showing in the women’s 6K to

lead the Cards to a 13th-place team fi nish.

She completed the course in 21:02.8, more

than a minute better than her 6K time at

the Big East Championships (22:40.8) two

weeks ago. Trailing her by less than 20

seconds was Emily Borsare, who took 28th

with a time of 21:18.4. Monica Hernan-

dez (68th), Cassie Martin (144th) and Ariel

Briggs (162nd) rounded out the group’s

top-fi ve fi nishers.

“I think it’s great to have three all-region

runners in Kim, Michael and Matt,” Allen

said.

PAGE 4 LOUISVILLE SPORTSREPORT NOVEMBER 18, 2010

RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONCROSS COUNTRY

CARDINALS MEN RECEIVE AT-LARGE BID TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

HOWIE LINDSEYHOWIE LINDSEY

By Russ BrownIf, as coach Rick Pitino believes, his Lou-

isville basketball team will get better on a weekly basis, that could be a scary thought for the Cardinals’ Big East Conference ri-vals.

Making their offi cial debut in the new KFC Yum! Center, the un-ranked and unnoticed Cards christened the arena in grand fashion, blitzing 2010 national runner-up Butler 88-73 in front of a festive crowd of 22,723.

Count Butler coach Brad Stevens among those who think this could be a surprisingly successful season for UofL -- surprising in that the Cards failed to crack the preseason top-25 poll and were picked to fi nish eighth in the Big East after losing four starters from last year’s club.

Instead, UofL made Butler (1-1) look like the unranked team, dominating from open-ing tip to fi nal buzzer. The No. 16/18 Bull-dogs bore no resemblance to a top 20-team or to the club that came within a basket of beating Duke in the NCAA championship game last April. They returned three starters off that team.

“I don’t think it’s rocket science,” Stevens said. “We got outplayed in every way. We got caught up in the atmosphere, and it was a great atmosphere. And they are very good -- don’t let anybody tell you they aren’t. They have 10 or 11 players who could play a lot of places. All the Big East predictions are probably wrong, based on what I’ve seen.”

What Stevens and his players saw was a relentless defensive effort that held the Bears to 35 percent shooting (21 of 60), including 23.3 percent (7 of 30) in the fi rst half, which ended with Louisville in control 41-23.

And on offense, they saw a crisp-passing outfi t that constantly found the open man and produced 18 assists on 27 baskets.

UofL also showcased its depth, even with Jared Swopshire sidelined indefi nitely with a groin injury. In the fi rst half alone Pitino used 10 players, with all but one scoring and sev-en getting two or more rebounds.

When the smoke cleared, the Cards had fi ve players in double fi gures, with sopho-more forward Rakeem Buckles’ 17 points leading the way. Buckles also led all re-bounders with 11 and got three steals.

“That’s how I always play. I always play with a fi re in me,” Buckles said. “It was a great win, man. The whole time preparing for them, I always felt that we could beat this team. They’re a great team, but we beat them and I’m very proud of this team and the way we played the game.”

Terrence Jennings contributed 13 points and eight boards, while Preston Knowles and freshman guard Elisha Justice added 12 apiece and Mike Marra had 11 to go along with his team-high fi ve assists.

UofL had a 36-22 advantage in the paint, and its bench outscored the Bulldogs’ subs 36-16.

“They’re just good basketball players,”

Stevens said of the Cards. “Buckles is RE-ALLY good. Jennings is REALLY good on the interior. They have a lot of depth, a lot of good shooters and they’re tough. I know it’s a long year, but I can’t imagine with their depth and playing like that they won’t have a good year.”

As you might expect, however, although he said he was pleased with many aspects of Louisville’s performance, Pitino wasn’t ready to pass judgment on his team quite yet. Too early. Too many games to play. Too much that can happen -- both positively and negatively -- between now and March.

“I’m real proud of the guys,” Pitino said. “It was a wonderful win, and this team has terrifi c potential. Their attitude is tremen-dous, they work extra hard. They played their tails off. I just don’t know what we are. How could you rate our team? I can’t rate them on one win. But I do think this team is going to get a lot better.”

Pitino liked UofL’s fi rst-half defense when Butler struggled to get an open shot, and its fi rst-half ballhandling. UofL committed only three turnovers in the fi rst 20 minutes, de-spite its up-tempo style. The Cards wound up with 14 miscues, most of them coming after they had built a 24-point lead early in

the second half.“If we don’t turn the ball over much, we

will play tough,” Pitino said. “And we did a very good job tonight protecting the bas-ketball. That’s a starting point for us, but it’s just the beginning.”

There is no disputing, though, that this was an important victory. It gave the Cards a resume-building win in a tipoff to a non-conference schedule that will provide few opportunities the rest of the way. UofL’s only remaining ranked opponent before it opens Big East play against Seton Hall on Jan. 5 will probably be Kentucky on Dec. 31.

“In the old days of Louisville when you’re in Conference USA, this would be gigantic,” Pitino said. “The Butlers, Kentuckys, Vegas-es and Westerns are all very important, but we have the Big East.”

At the moment, four Big East teams are ranked in the top 20 -- Pittsburgh at No. 5, Villanova (6), Syracuse (10) and Georgetown (20). With the win over Butler, UofL made its case for a top-25 ranking, too.

“I think we gained a little respect tonight with the way we played the game,” Buckles said. “We still have a long way to go, but we defi nitely took a step toward getting re-spect.

“I’m sure throughout the nation no one expected us to beat Butler like this becausethey’re ranked and coming off a great sea-son, but we studied them well and preparedvery well and we were ready for the game.

“The sky’s the limit for this team. We play together as a team, as everybody could see.We don’t rely on one person; we all feedoff of each other, and that’s an advantage.We practice like that, and we were lockedin. We had a good scouting report and weexecuted it.”

UofL had Butler on its heels from the out-set. The Cards jumped to an 8-0 lead andtook control with a 10-3 spurt that increasedan 11-9 advantage to 21-12. Then Knowles,who left the game with 5:11 left with a legcramp, hit a three-pointer to spark a half-ending 10-2 run for a 41-23 cushion.

Louisville held Butler to one fi eld goal in the fi rst four minutes of the second half, andPeyton Siva scored seven of his nine pointsduring that stretch to give the Cards theirbiggest lead at 50-26.

The Bulldogs got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way, but a fl urry of missedshots and turnovers by UofL made it semi-interesting for a while. With Butler trailing68-57 heading into the fi nal three minutes,Buckles provided the dagger with his sec-ond three-pointer (in four attempts).

“We’re just excited right now,” Jennings said. “We proved that we’re a better basket-ball team than everybody thought we were.We can make a big run if we play like this allthe time. We went out and played a greatteam in Butler, but we stuck to our scout-ing report. We played hard tonight. It was agreat way to open up the new arena.”

Pitino praised freshman point guard Jus-tice, who was summoned to action whenSiva picked up two early fouls. Besides his12 points, most of which came from the foulline where he was 9 of 14, the 5-10 Ken-tucky Mr. Basketball from Dorton grabbedsix rebounds and had two assists and justone turnover in 21 minutes.

“Bullet (Justice) is a heck of a player,” Pi-tino said. “For him to come in and open agame like this.... The thing that impressedme the most was that he wanted the ballso much in key situations as a freshman.He didn’t want anyone else to handle thebasketball except him. And that speaks vol-umes of his guts and his heart.”

Said Justice: “I didn’t really expect to be in this situation, but with Peyton in foultrouble, I had to step up and be the best Icould in that situation.”

UofL will return to action Saturday night in the KFC Yum! Center against JacksonState, then will host Chattanooga Mondaynight.

NOTE -- Pitino got in a good-natured jabat Kuric, who didn’t attempt a shot and wasscoreless after ending the regular seasonlast year with 22 points in the upset of No. 1Syracuse in the fi nal game in Freedom Hall.

“It’s called good defense,” Pitino said. “Maybe they watched the Syracuse game.But Kyle hasn’t been the same since hewon homecoming king. It has gone to hishead.”


RECRUITING NOTEBOOK10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

RUSS BROWNRUSS BROWN

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he was ‘real proud’ of his team after what he

termed a ‘wonderful win’ Tuesday night against Butler.- photo by Dave Klotz

C A R D S M A K E B E L I E V E R S O F B U T L E R D U R I N G 8 8 - 7 3 W I N

UOFL SHOWS ITS ‘TERRIFIC POTENTIAL’ IN DEBUT


OFFENSEQUARTERBACK9 ADAM FROMAN (INJ.) 6-4 218 SR.13 JUSTIN BURKE 6-3 226 SR.RUNNING BACK15 BILAL POWELL (INJ.) 6-0 204 SR.20 VICTOR ANDERSON 5-10 186 JR.28 JEREMY WRIGHT 5-11 193 R-FR.X-WIDE RECEIVER1 JOSH BELLAMY 6-0 205 JR.11 JOSH CHICHESTER 6-9 240 JR.H-WIDE RECEIVER27 DOUG BEAUMONT 5-9 186 SR.89 SCOTT RADCLIFF 5-9 180 SO.Z-WIDE RECEIVER14 ANDRELL SMITH 6-4 212 SO.88 JARRETT DAVIS 5-10 164 FR.TIGHT END83 CAMERON GRAHAM 6-4 242 SR.82 PETE NOCHTA 6-6 245 SR.85 NATE NORD 6-5 233 SO.LEFT TACKLE78 BYRON STINGILY 6-5 300 SR.73 HECTOR HERNANDEZ 6-5 279 JR.LEFT GUARD79 MARK WETTERER (INJ.) 6-5 398 SR.70 CONRAD THOMAS 6-6 325 SR.68 KAMRAN JOYER 6-3 301 R-FR.CENTER55 MARIO BENAVIDES 6-4 295 SO.66 ALEX KUPPER 6-3 289 SO.RIGHT GUARD65 JOSH BYROM 6-5 305 SR.69 JOHN CLARK 6-2 292 JR.RIGHT TACKLE76 GREG TOMCZYK 6-6 287 SR.74 JEFF ADAMS 6-8 295 SR.

DEFENSEFOX END91 WILLIAM SAVOY 6-1 245 JR.44 B.J. BUTLER 6-2 264 FR. 47 MALCOLM MITCHELL 6-2 235 R-FR.DEFENSIVE TACKLE6 GREG SCRUGGS (INJ.) 6-4 273 JR.92 BRANDON DUNN 6-3 282 FR.NOSE TACKLE97 TIM HIGH 6-2 298 SR.93 ROY PHILON 6-3 277 R-FR.95 RANDY SALMON 6-3 291 SO

DEFENSIVE END58 RODNEY GNAT 6-3 255 SR. 90 MALCOLM TATUM 6-3 260 SR.SAM LINEBACKER24 DANIEL BROWN 6-1 215 SO. 39 JACOB GEFFRAD 6-3 201 R-FR.MIKE LINEBACKER46 DEXTER HEYMAN 6-3 238 JR. 2 PRESTON BROWN 6-2 249 FR.52 ANTWONE CANADY 6-0 244 SR.WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER5 BRANDON HEATH 6-1 220 SR.41 EUGENE SOWELL 6-0 208 SR.CORNERBACK42 BOBBY BURNS 5-11 180 SR.8 DARIUS ASHLEY 5-8 186 SO.STRONG SAFETY29 HAKEEM SMITH 6-1 175 R-FR. 23 TERENCE SIMIEN (INJ) 6-3 207 JR.FREE SAFETY36 SHENARD HOLTON 6-1 190 SO. 33 MIKE EVANS 5-10 180 JR.CORNERBACK19 JOHNNY PATRICK 6-0 186 SR.31 CHAMP LEE (INJ.) 6-0 198 R-FR.26 ZED EVANS 5-11 173 R-FR.

SPECIAL TEAMSPUNT RETURN27 DOUG BEAUMONT 5-9, 187, SR., 3V 1 JOSH BELLAMY 6-0, 205, JR., JC89 SCOTT RADCLIFF 5-10, 183, SO., 1VKICK RETURN 28 JEREMY WRIGHT 5-11 193 R-FR. 1 JOSH BELLAMY 6-0, 205, JR., JC45 BLAYNE DONNELL 5-9, 190, SR. 3VHOLDER 4 WILL STEIN 5-10, 185, SO., 1VPUNTER 12 CHRIS PHILPOTT 6-0, 191, JR., 2V 40 JOSH BLESER 6-1, 201, JR., TR 35 ANDREW FLETCHER 5-8, 162, FR., HSKICKER12 CHRIS PHILPOTT 6-0, 191, JR., 2V35 ANDREW FLETCHER 5-8, 162, FR., HSLONG SNAPPER60 DANIEL WEEDMAN 5-11, 243, SR., 3V65 JOSH BYROM 6-5, 305, SR., 3V

2010 DEPTH CHARTUofL VS. SOUTH FLORIDA GAME STATS

GAME STATSUSF (6-3,3-2) vs. Louisville Cardinals (5-5,2-3)Date: Nov 13, 2010Site: Louisville, KY Stadium: Papa John’s Cardinal • Attendance: 43,887

SCORE BY QUARTERS 1 2 3 4 OT SCOREUSF 0 10 3 8 3 24Louisville Cardinals 7 7 0 7 0 21

SCORING SUMMARY:1ST 07:30 LOU - SMITH, ANDRELL 20 YD PASS FROM BURKE, JUSTIN (PHILPOTT, CHRIS KICK) 4 PLAYS, 11 YARDS, TOP 1:45, USF 0 - LOU 72ND 08:58 USF - BONANI,MAIKON 39 YD FIELD GOAL 4 PLAYS, 5 YARDS, TOP 1:21, USF 3 - LOU 7 02:50 LOU - CHICHESTER, J. 2 YD PASS FROM BURKE, JUSTIN (PHILPOTT, CHRIS KICK) 14 PLAYS, 80 YARDS, TOP 6:08, USF 3 - LOU 14 02:33 USF - LAMAR, LINDSEY 100 YD KICKOFF RETURN (BONANI,MAIKON KICK) USF 10 - LOU 143RD 11:01 USF - BONANI,MAIKON 22 YD FIELD GOAL 7 PLAYS, 85 YARDS, TOP 3:24, USF 13 - LOU 144TH 11:43 USF - BOGAN,DONTAVIA 48 YD PASS FROM DANIELS,BJ (DANIELS,BJ RUSH) 1 PLAY, 48 YARDS, TOP 0:11, USF 21 - LOU 14 01:21 LOU - BELLAMY, JOSH 10 YD PASS FROM BURKE, JUSTIN (PHILPOTT, CHRIS KICK) 9 PLAYS, 46 YARDS, TOP 4:18, USF 21 - LOU 21 OT USF - BONANI,MAIKON 37 YD FIELD GOAL 4 PLAYS, 5 YARDS, USF 24 - LOU 21

KICKOFF TIME: 12:01PM END OF GAME: 3:21PM TOTAL ELAPSED TIME: 3:20OFFICIALS: REFEREE: J. MCGINN; UMPIRE: R. FEENEY; LINESMAN: M. FITZGERALD; LINE JUDGE: R. NEWELL; BACK JUDGE: J. DOWNEY; FIELD JUDGE: G. CROWTHER; SIDE JUDGE: J. BRENNAN;TEMPERATURE: 68 WIND: SSW-12 WEATHER: FAIR

TEAM STATS USF LOUFIRST DOWNS................... 10 21 Rushing..................... 6 10 Passing..................... 3 8 Penalty..................... 1 3NET YARDS RUSHING............. 172 182 Rushing Attempts............ 39 49 Average Per Rush............ 4.4 3.7 Rushing Touchdowns.......... 0 0 Yards Gained Rushing........ 196 193 Yards Lost Rushing.......... 24 11NET YARDS PASSING............. 87 146 Completions-Attempts-Int.... 11-19-0 16-31-2 Average Per Attempt......... 4.6 4.7 Average Per Completion...... 7.9 9.1 Passing Touchdowns.......... 1 3TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 259 328 Total offense plays......... 58 80 Average Gain Per Play....... 4.5 4.1Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 1-1 0-0Penalties: Number-Yards....... 5-55 8-63PUNTS-YARDS................... 7-260 8-284 Average Yards Per Punt...... 37.1 35.5 Net Yards Per Punt.......... 37.6 33.2 Inside 20................... 2 3 50+ Yards................... 1 0 Touchbacks.................. 0 1 Fair catch.................. 1 1KICKOFFS-YARDS................ 5-336 4-261 Average Yards Per Kickoff... 67.2 65.2 Net Yards Per Kickoff....... 37.6 20.0 Touchbacks.................. 1 2Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD. 2--2-0 1--3-0

Average Per Return.......... -1.0 -3.0Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD 2-141-1 4-128-0 Average Per Return.......... 70.5 32.0Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 2-5-0 0-0-0Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0Possession Time............... 27:45 32:15 1st Quarter................. 9:33 5:27 2nd Quarter................. 4:13 10:47 3rd Quarter................. 8:58 6:02 4th Quarter................. 5:01 9:59 OT Quarter................. 0:00 0:00Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 14 8 of 18Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 1 of 2Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 3-3 Touchdowns.................. 0-2 3-3 Field goals................. 2-2 0-3Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 2-10PAT Kicks..................... 1-1 3-3Field Goals................... 3-4 0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATSRushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg AvgPowell, Bilal 31 149 9 140 0 21 4.5BROWN, D. 7 23 0 23 0 5 3.3Wright, Jeremy 5 18 0 18 0 5 3.6ANDERSON, Vic 2 2 0 2 0 1 1.0Burke, Justin 3 1 0 1 0 1 0.3Donnell, Blayne 1 0 2 -2 0 0 -2.0Totals... 49 193 11 182 0 21 3.7

Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long SackBurke, Justin 16-30-1 146 3 20 0BROWN, D. 0-1-1 0 0 0 0Totals... 16-31-2 146 3 20 0

Receiving No. Yds TD LongBellamy, Josh 5 58 1 17Smith, Andrell 3 43 1 20Powell, Bilal 2 2 0 5COPELAND, D. 1 15 0 15Beaumont, Doug 1 9 0 9Donnell, Blayne 1 8 0 8Wright, Jeremy 1 6 0 6Graham, Cameron 1 3 0 3CHICHESTER, J. 1 2 1 2Totals... 16 146 3 20

Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 TBPhilpott, Chris 8 284 35.5 48 3 1Totals... 8 284 35.5 48 3 1

Punts Kickoffs InterceptAll Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.LgBeaumont, Doug 1 -3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Wright, Jeremy 0 0 0 4 128 51 0 0 0Totals... 1 -3 0 4 128 51 0 0 0

DEFENSIVE STATSNo. Player Solo Ast Tot 5 Heath, Brandon 9 2 11 29 Smith, Hakeem 5 4 9 19 Patrick, Johnny 4 1 5 24 Brown, Daniel 4 1 5 46 Heyman, Dexter 2 3 5 44 Butler, B.J. 3 1 4 52 Canady, Antwone 2 2 492 Dunn, Brandon 3 . 3 93 Philon, Roy 2 1 3 90 Tatum, Malcolm . 3 3 36 Holton, Shenard 1 1 2 42 Burns, Bobby 1 1 2 10 BROWN, D. 1 . 1 8 Ashley, Darius 1 . 1 32 Perry, Senorise 1 . 1 58 Gnat, Rodney 1 . 1 43 Rogers, Deon . 1 1 12 Philpott, Chris . 1 1 6 Scruggs, Greg . . .

NCAA SOCCER TICKETS GOING FASTLOUISVILLE MEN’S SOCCER TEAM EARNED THE TOP SEED IN THE 2010 NCAA TOURNAMENT AFTER WINNING THE BIG EAST REGULAR SEASON TITLE AND TOURNAMENT TITLES. LOUISVILLE EARNED A BYE FROM THE FIRST ROUND OF PLAY AND WILL HOST THE SECOND ROUND OF THE NCAA TOURNAMENT. THE CARDINALS WILL FACE THE WINNER OF THE EAST TENNESSEE ST. AND COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON GAME ON SUNDAY AT 7 P.M. IN CARDINAL PARK. AS THE TOP SEED IN THE TOURNAMENT, THE CARDS WILL BE ABLE TO HOST THREE ROUNDS OF HOME GAMES.

TICKETS ARE $7 FOR ADULTS AND $5 FOR YOUTH, STUDENTS AND SENIOR CITIZENS. TICKETS WENT ON SALE AT 9 A.M. TUESDAY AT THE ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICES. YOU CAN ALSO CALL THE ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE AT 852-5151 FOR TICKETS. GROUPS OF 10 OR MORE CAN PURCHASE TICKETS FOR $3.


10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASON10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONCARDINAL FOOTBALL

By Russ BrownBowl eligibility for Louisville’s football team

will have to wait a while longer, and time is running out for the Cardinals, who squandered a victory last Saturday that was theirs for the taking.

While it isn’t always the case in a loss, this time the Cards (5-5, 2-3 Big East) can defi nitely blame themselves for their 24-21 overtime defeat by South Florida (6-3, 3-2) in front of

43,887 fans in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

UofL saw its chances for a third victory in four games squashed by slip-shod special teams play on covering kickoffs and punting, drive-killing pen-alties, a couple of missed scoring opportunities deep

in USF territory and, fi nally, a risky fourth-down gamble that failed and sealed its fate in the overtime.

So a bowl celebration was put on hold at least until this Saturday when West Virginia (6-3, 2-2) invades PJCS for a noon kickoff. If the Cards lose to the Mountaineers, they’ll need a victory in their season fi nale at Rutgers (4-5, 1-3) on Nov. 26 to potentially earn their fi rst bowl trip in four years.

“We’ve got to win (Saturday),” senior quar-terback Justin Burke said. “We wanted to be 8-4, now we’ve got to be 7-5.”

Said sophomore center Mario Benavides, “I still think we’re going to a bowl game, defi -nitely going to a bowl game.”

Maybe so. But it will take a much better all-around performance against a West Virginia team that is more talented and much more explosive offensively than USF, which lost to the Mountaineers 20-6 in mid-October. WVU is coming off a dominating 37-10 victory last Saturday over Cincinnati -- a team that beat the Cards.

“We still have two games left,” UofL coach Charlie Strong said. “We still have a chance to get bowl eligible, but we didn’t play well enough today to win a football game.”

The loss ruined a successful return by run-ning back Bilal Powell, who rushed for 140 yards on 31 carries after missing the previous game at Syracuse with a knee injury. It was his sixth 100-yard rushing performance this sea-son, which ranks third in UofL history.

“Bilal is the glue of our offense,” Strong said. “He keeps our offense going, and it was good to see him bounce back and play as well as he did.”

USF won its third in a row and left PJCS with a victory for the fi rst time in four tries after be-ing outscored by an average of 32-12 in its pre-vious visits.

“Statistically, this game wasn’t pretty,” said fi rst-year USF coach Skip Holtz, whose team managed just 259 yards of offense and con-verted only 2 of 14 third-down tries. “But they believed. They competed. They encouraged each other. We kept hearing that South Florida had never won up here. There’s winning ugly, but there’s no such thing as an ugly win.”

There are, however, ugly losses, and this one fi ts the bill for Louisville.

In the end, the game came down to the length of a fi nger, a few inches. That’s how much UofL needed for a fi rst down from the USF 4-yard line on fourth down on the fi rst series of overtime. But the Bulls crowded the line of scrimmage and stuffed Burke on a sneak that everyone in the stadium could see coming, then sophomore Maikon Bonani kicked a 37-yard fi eld goal to win the game.

“It’s fourth and an inch, and if we can’t get an inch we don’t deserve to win the game,” Strong said.

Benavides estimated the Cards needed about four inches. Burke said he thought he made it, but when the ball was marked by the offi cials it was still a couple of inches short and a review failed to overturn the original spot.

“I thought I had it, but USF made a heck of a play and they got a lot of push, so who knows,” Burke said. “It’s not our call, and it’s not South Florida’s call. We’ve got to make a yard instead of an inch.”

Strong and the Cards rightfully felt it shouldn’t have come down to that one play. UofL dominated most of the fi rst half, with USF managing only 68 yards of offense. But the Bulls stayed in contention thanks to sloppy cov-erage on a kickoff return that enabled Lindsey Lamar to ramble 100 yards for a touchdown in the closing minutes of the second quarter that narrowed the Bulls’ defi cit to 14-10.

Then in the third quarter the Cards moved to the USF 35- and 23-yard lines, but intercep-tions ended those threats. After building a 14-3 lead, UofL saw the Bulls score 18 unan-swered points for a 21-14 lead before Burke’s clutch third-down, 10-yard touchdown pass to

Josh Bellamy with 1:21 remaining necessitated the overtime.

“It was a very tough loss -- just to see (the Cards) battle back and get the game into over-time,” Strong said. “Offensively, we never re-ally got into a rhythm, and penalties killed us. In the third quarter -- and if you look at the fi rst quarter -- I felt like we could have put the game away. We got up 7-0, but we still had two or three other opportunities where we could have taken the ball and scored.”

UofL took a 7-0 lead on Burke’s 20-yard TD pass over the middle to Andrell Smith midway through the fi rst quarter, then made it 14-3 when Josh Chichester’s 2-yard TD reception capped an 80-yard drive with 2:50 left in the fi rst half. Momentum was on UofL’s side. Brief-ly, as it turned out.

Lamar jarred the Cards with his 100-yard kickoff return, during which UofL had a num-ber of chances to bring him down.

“That was one of the more impressive kick-off returns you’re going to see,” Holtz said. “Because he broke tackles, split it and ran into the pile, broke through some tackles, cut back to his left, slowed down to let everybody catch up to him so he had some blockers, cut back against the grain. It was pretty.”

Well, pretty to one sideline contingent at least. To the Cards? Not so much.

“That was real defl ating,” UofL linebacker Brandon Heath said. “If we had gotten anoth-er stop, we’d have gone into halftime up 14-3 and you never know what would have hap-pened coming out for the second half.”

Said Benavides: “Honestly, defl ating is not the word I want to use. It’s more like, ‘Darn it,’ because I have all the confi dence in the world in our coaches and our defense. It’s like night

and day from last year. So when it happened, Iwas kind of like, ‘All right,’ whereas last year itwas like, ‘Oh, man.’”

The ‘Oh, mans’ probably came later, when Louisville turnovers foiled scoring chances.

The fi rst one came after USF had pulled within 14-13 on Bonani’s 22-yard fi eld goalwith 11:01 remaining in the third quarter.

The Cards drove from their own 32 to the USF 35, but Burke was hit by defensive endPatrick Hampton as he threw on a fi rst-downplay, and the ball was picked off by free safetyJerrell Young.

“I never felt the pressure coming,” Burke said. “But still, it probably wasn’t open anyway,so it was probably best to just cut your lossesand throw it out of bounds.”

UofL was on the move again on its next possession, driving to a fi rst down on the USF23. But freshman Dominque Brown, who hadrun 20 straight times out of the “WildCard”formation, attempted the fi rst pass of his col-lege career. It bounced off the helmet of USFlinebacker Jacquian WIlliams and landed in thehands of defensive end Ryne Giddins.

“That was UofL’s last threat until the TD catch by Bellamy in the fi nal 90 seconds ofregulation.

“We came out and scored 14, and then it just kind of went downhill,” Bellamy said. “Welost a sense of urgency. I feel like we shouldhave put up more points than that.”

Daniels had only 30 yards passing through the fi rst three quarters, but he boosted USFinto a 21-14 lead with a 48-yard TD bomb toDontavia Bogan, who caught the pass deep inthe end zone despite being sandwiched by twoUofL defenders who didn’t make a play on theball. Then Daniels scored the two-point conver-sion.

“Defensively, we played well until that long ball over our head,” Strong said. “We had ablitz called and they got in a formation wherewe couldn’t run it. So there was no pressureand they just threw it over our head.”

After Bellamy’s TD, USF had a chance to win the game in regulation. With two seconds left,the Bulls lined up to attempt a 52-yard fi eldgoal. Strong tried to ice Bonani by calling atime out. When play resumed, Bonani’s kicksailed through the uprights and USF players be-gan celebrating, but it was waved off becauseStrong had called another TO a split-secondbefore the kick.

Bonani missed the second attempt, sending the game into overtime.

“I won’t lie to you guys, I was really ner-vous,” said Bonani, whose longest fi eld goalthis season is 47 yards. “After I kicked thefi rst one down the middle, I was like, ‘Dang itCoach Strong, you really did this to me, didn’tyou?’ Good job by him. As I took my stepbackward for the second attempt, there wasa gust of wind, but it was my fault. I mis-hitthe ball. I felt sad because I didn’t do my jobfor the team.”

But with Louisville out of timeouts in the overtime there was no more ice available, andBonani made good on his next chance to bea hero.


Josh Bellamy looked at the offi cial to confi rm that his 10-yard catch in the end zone with 1:21 left was a touchdown as South Florida DB Ricardo Dixon buried his head in his hands. With the extra point, UofL tied the score at 21 and forced overtime. - photo by Dave Klotz

F O U R T H - D O W N G A M B L E F A I L S ; F I E L D G O A L D O O M S U O F L

CARDS BOWLED OVER BY BULLS, OWN MISTAKES, 24-21 IN OT


Only President’s Award Winner in Greater Louisville 10 out of 11 years!

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BOB MONTGOM E RY HAS BE E N S E RVI NG TH E COM M U N IT Y S I NCE 1960 .

OK, I’m a believer. In spite of the loss to South Florida, I feel strongly that we arein a new era of University of Louisville football. Most of us were so impressed with theinitial decisions and changes Charlie Strong made upon taking over the program that itwas evident that this guy knew what he was doing. But he still needed to win footballgames to convince the fans that the Cards were on their way. After 10 games and a5-5 record there is no doubt that he and the assistants he has gathered around him cancoach and win football games.

I have to admit that before the season I was one of those who was realistic aboutthe talent level of this year’s team and its ability to compete at the Division I level. I wasmiffed at those on Cardinalsports.com who talked of a six- or seven-win season rightoff the bat and even of a potential bowl invitation. I have faith, but it goes only so far.In my opinion they were getting their expectations way out of whack. I thought withthe present talent level there was no way this team could win more than four gamesand probably would go 3-9 on the season. Now you know why I do so poorly pickingwinners on “Top Tom Lane” each week.

But from the fi rst game against Kentucky this team has steadily improved in everyphase of the game. There were occasional setbacks -- such as against South Florida-- but fans could see things getting better overall game-to-game. Much like buildingthe new arena, Coach Strong and his staff have been the architects of a plan that hasproduced a product with a strong foundation, and with future expansion a team thatwill make an impact nationally.

When the fans look back on this season, I think the Syracuse game will be the onethat stands out as a breakthrough for the Charlie Strong era. Going into the gamethere was a gap of 49 positions between Louisville and Syracuse in the CBSsports.compoll, with Syracuse at No. 27 and the Cards at No. 76. UofL was a decided underdogin the game, and very few (including me) thought the Cards had a chance at victory.Syracuse was a team that had won at South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

What impressed me most about the game was the defensive effort and their abilityto shut down an offense that was averaging 325 yards per game. The Cards held theOrange to 256, its lowest output of the season. The defensive game plan was the mosteffective since the Fiesta Bowl in shutting down the strength of the opposing offense.Rick Lantz, the defensive coordinator in 1989 and now with the Omaha Nighthawksof the United Football League, would have been proud of the effort. The blitzing keptthe quarterback off balance so much that he could complete only short passes. Andthe Cards were so well prepared that they tackled the receivers almost as soon as theycaught the ball. The effort in the second half reminded many viewers of the Floridateams that dominated on defense the past few years. How many of us watching thegame actually thought Louisville could win after falling behind 17-14 at halftime?

This is not a team with fi ve NFL draft selections in the starting lineup like the FiestaBowl team that included Ray Buchanan, Ted Washington, Mark Sander, Mike Flores andReggie Johnson. This is a team that starts fi ve freshmen and sophomores and bringsfi ve true freshmen off the bench. If Strong and defensive coordinator Vance Bedfordcan get this kind of effort out of this group, what does the future hold?

Now Louisville fans can start mulling over the unthinkable, a potential bowl game.With six bowl games available to the Big East and Notre Dame, six wins would almostassure the Cards of a bowl. Notre Dame is still a question mark, having only fi ve winsand games against Army and USC in Los Angeles remaining on its schedule.

With Pitt seeming to be in the driver’s seat for a BCS invitation as league champs(although the Panthers have three league games to go, with two on the road and ahome game against West Virginia), the second-place invite to the Champs Sports Bowlin Orlando, the third-place invite to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, and theBeef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl in St. Petersburg, the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York City(brrr) and the BBVA Compass Bowl (?) in Birmingham are up for grabs. I don’t knowabout you, but my vote goes to St. Petersburg or Orlando.

Regardless of the bowl, three years in the bowl desert have made Cardinals fanseager for an invite anywhere, anytime and against anybody. The climate doesn’t reallymatter, just the thought of a post-season bowl has made Cardinals fans warm andfuzzy inside.

USF STUMBLE HASN’T PREVENTED FANS FROM THINKING ABOUT BOWLS

COMMENTARY BY JACK COFFEE [email protected]

Dexter Heyman and Darius Ashley combined to sack USF quarterback B. J. Daniels. - photo by Dave Klotz


CARDINAL FOOTBALLLOUISVILLE BASKETBALLCARDINAL FOOTBALL

By Russ BrownWith his fi rst controversial decision as

Louisville’s head football coach, Char-lie Strong is certain to face criticism and second-guessing from Monday morning quarterbacks in the wake of the ill-fated fourth-down gamble in last Saturday’s 24-21 overtime loss to South Florida.

To some observers, the decision to go for it on a 4th-and-inches at the USF 4-yard line was an unnecessary risk on several fronts.

First, even if UofL got the fi rst down there was no guarantee that a touchdown

was imminent. Secondly, too many bad things can happen in such a scenar-io: a penalty, a fumble, or -- as did happen -- a failure to convert.

Foremost, though, is why take the chance? If, as Strong said afterward, he had confi dence in his defense being able to

hold USF out of the end zone on the Bulls’ ensuing possession, there was no burning reason for the Cards to forsake a chip-shot fi eld goal for a potential TD.

Kick a fi eld goal and put the pressure on USF to either try and score a touchdown to win or kick a fi eld goal to send the game into a second overtime. But at least come way with some points.

Bottom line: Fail to get the fi rst down and you hand the game to the Bulls on a sliver platter, which is what occurred. When quarterback Justin Burke’s sneak came up short, the game was essentially over.

“That was big,” USF quarterback B.J. Daniels said. “All we had to do was kick a fi eld goal.”

Sure enough, USF ran three safe rushing plays before Maikon Bonani kicked the 37-yard game-winner.

But if second-guessing does indeed oc-cur in some quarters, there was none be-ing voiced by Strong or his players follow-ing the disappointing loss, which kept the Cards from becoming bowl eligible and tak-ing some of the pressure off the next two games.

There was also no lack of players willing to shoulder the blame for the defeat.

First, Strong’s explanation:“It was my decision to go for it on fourth

and an inch. We were running the football (well) and decided that we could get the fi rst down and then get the touchdown. And then we would be up by seven and they would have to drive the ball, which I didn’t think they could go score on our defense. I didn’t think they could go score seven points.

“The strength of our team is the offen-sive line. So you feel like if we get behind them, we’re going to get an inch with the quarterback. Maybe just stick the ball out, but it was just an inch we needed. And we ran the ball every snap until we got it down there. You just feel like we can go get this inch. You fi gure we’ve been moving the football that far, so we felt like we could get it. And then you go and kick a fi eld goal and they go match your fi eld goal and you’re still staying in overtime.”

In the OT, UofL moved to a fi rst down at the USF 13 on nine rushing yards by Bi-lal Powell and three by Dominque Brown. Then Jeremy Wright picked up nine yards on three consecutive carries, setting up the

fourth-down play.Center Mario Benavides estimated the

Cards needed about four inches for a fi rst down. Burke took the snap and tried to plunge ahead off a push by Benavides and right guard Josh Byrom, but he came up a couple of inches short.

“I didn’t get low enough and I didn’t get enough push,” Burke said. “To be one inch away really hurts, but you’ve got to make a play. Coach Strong believes in us in doing that, and we didn’t get it done.

“If it was a yard, tougher, but you’ve got to make inches. The strength of our team is the offensive line, so we put it on their backs all the time, and we put it on their backs in the fourth quarter. We were able to move the ball by running it. They did a heck of a job, and I think I let them down on that one inch.”

Said Benavides: “They made a play, we didn’t. They had a couple nose guards, line-backers stacked in. They pretty much read the sneak the whole way. Everybody is com-ing off at an angle. The D-linemen had their ears pinned back and their butts up and it’s a different game when you get in those situations.

“But I thought we had it because even with all that packed in there I felt like we got a decent push and Burke fell right in between me and the guard.”

Burke and Benavides both said the of-fense supported Strong’s decision and said blame for failing to convert should be placed on the players’ shoulders.

“That’s not on him, that’s on us,” Bena-vides said. “He believes in us. If he didn’t go for it, I might feel even worse. We just didn’t get it done. No special magic or any-thing like that. It’s football and it’s a physical game, and when it comes down to it we’ve got to make plays and we didn’t do that at the end today and we’ve got to do that next week against West Virginia.”

Before the critical play, UofL’s offense had been inconsistent and had blown two scor-ing opportunities with interceptions. Burke threw for 114 of his 146 passing yards in the fi rst half, and the Cards wound up with only 328 yards total offense, 140 of it on 31 carries by Powell.

“We didn’t play well,” Burke said. “We had some good stretches, but their defense is really good. The offense didn’t take care

of what we needed to do. I think the de-fense played their butts off, they really did. We should have put more points up for them. I feel terrible leaving our defense out like that. We take all responsibility.”

Well, not quite. Breakdowns in special teams contributed signifi cantly to the loss, too. After Uof L had taken a 14-3 lead late in the second quarter, USF’s Lamar Lindsey re-turned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, with seemingly almost every Cardinal on the fi eld getting a shot at him and missing.

And two short punts by Chris Philpott, who took over punting duties after Josh Bleser suffered an ankle injury against Pitts-burgh, led to USF scores. Philpott’s 17-yard-er from out of his end zone in the second period gave the Bulls the ball at the UofL 26, but the the Cards held them to a fi eld goal.

UofL wasn’t as fortunate the next time, when a 22-yard punt by Philpott gave USF possession at UofL’s 48. On the very next play Daniels connected with Dontavia Bo-gan for a touchdown.

That was one of two critical big plays al-lowed by Louisville’s defense. The other was a 67-yard run by backup tailback Demetris Murray to the UofL 7, setting up a 22-yard fi eld goal by Bonani. Otherwise, USF was limited to short gains. Take away those two plays and the Bulls had only 144 yards for an average of 2.6 yards per play.

“It’s a whole team,” linebacker Brandon Heath said. “You win together and you lose together, that’s how it is. We had a lot of blown assignments and a lot of plays we didn’t capitalize on, so you put it on our shoulders, too. The plays they made was us missing assignments.”

But Benavides disagreed, saying he felt the defense played well enough for UofL to win.

“Give South Florida all the credit in the world,” Benavides said. “They won, and they’re an extremely talented team. But I feel like offensively and a little bit on special teams we let down.

“Defense, every week they’re playing amazing. We can’t put this on them at all. We’re a team, but I’ll take responsibility because we’ve got to play better. Coaches will tell you it’s a team effort and that’s true, but we’ve got to make better plays on of-fense. I think our defense played really, re-ally well.”

Quarterback Justin Burke was unable to pick up a fi rst down on this fourth-and-inches gamble in overtime against USF. “I didn’t get low enough and I didn’t get enough push,”

Burke said. Said center Mario Benavides: “They pretty much read the sneak the whole way.... The D-linemen had their ears pinned back and their butts up.” - photo by Chuck Feist


The game was over when: UofL failed to get a fi rst down on a 4th-and-inches quarterback sneak by Justin Burke on the fi rst series in overtime. That ba-sically gave the win to USF. Burke had converted a 4th-and-inches the previous week at Syracuse, but the situation wasn’t nearly as grave. In that case, UofL had a 28-20 lead and the ball was on its 39-yard line with three minutes left.

Turning point: After taking a 14-3 lead and turning the momentum in their favor, the Cards gave up a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD by USF’s Lindsey Lamar 2/12 minutes before halftime.

UofL Offensive Player of the Game: Bilal Powell returned to action after missing the Syracuse game with a knee injury and gained 140 yards on 31 car-ries. “He gave us a spark,” Burke said. “That’s the reason he’s the best back in the country. He doesn’t ever turn off.”

UofL Defensive Player of the Game: Senior line-backer Brandon Heath was credited with 11 tackles, including one for a loss.

Who’s Hot: Powell’s 140 yards made him only the sixth back in UofL history to rush for 100 yards in six or more games during a season, tying him with Michael Bush (2005), Anthony Shelman (1994) and Deon Booker (1998). Frank Moreau (1999) and Wal-ter Peacock (1973) each did it seven times.

Who’s Not: Special teams. In addition to Lamar’s kickoff return, UofL’s Chris Philpott squibbed punts of 17 and 22 yards. Philpott had a 7-yard punt at Syracuse the week before, and the Orange also returned a kickoff 37 yards. “Guys just have to do their job,” coach Charlie Strong said. “Guys have to go down and cover.”

On the Rise: UofL held USF to 2 of 14 on third-down conversions and now ranks 10th in the FBS in that category, having limited opponents to a 32.56 con-version rate (42 of 129). Unfortunately, the Cards’ next two foes also rank in the top 10, with West Vir-ginia’s defense leading the nation at 22.4 percent (28 of 125) and Rutgers No. 5 at 30.0 (36 of 120).

On the Decline: UofL’s offense has suffered a re-markable drop in production over the past three weeks. Through their fi rst seven games the Cards averaged 442 yards of offense per game, but in their last three they’ve generated only 272 ypg. Overall, they’ve dropped from the top 20 nationally to No. 54 at 391.2 ypg.

Quotable: Strong, on whether he likes the rule that allows coaches to call a timeout right before the ball is snapped on a fi eld-goal attempt: “Today I liked it.” When media members laughed at the an-swer, Strong added, “At least that’s something to smile about today.”

Quotable, Part II: “Disappointing because we had this game in our hands. But we didn’t fi nish like the coaches always preach. We should have fi nished the game.” -- UofL free safety Shenard Holton.

RUSS BROWN’S RUNDOWNSouth Florida 24, UOFL 21

CARDS TAKE BLAME, ABSOLVE COACH, FOR 4TH-DOWN FAILURE


SELECTED FALL SPORTS SCHEDULES

Saturday was a BAD way to lose. Louisville appeared to have the momentum going into overtime when USF kicker Maikon Bonani missed a fi eld goal at the end of regulation. Then, when the

Cardinals opened the overtime period with back-to-back-to-back-to-back successful running plays, it appeared they were on their way to another victory. But the fi nal couple of plays were heartbreakers. First, Jeremy Wright was stopped short of a fi rst down on third down. (Actually, it appeared to us that he had the fi rst down, but the referee’s spot put him 4-6 inches shy). Then the Cards failed to get those 4-6 inches on fourth down. USF took over on the 25-yard line, rushed three times and kicked the game-winning fi eld goal. Ouch.

We like Louisville coach Charlie Strong’s statement to his team in the locker room after the game. Sure, Strong could have walked in there and taken the blame for himself. Or he could have gone

in there and told his team that everything will be all right, and they’ll get ‘em nice time. But he was brutally honest with his team after the game. “You get it to 4th-and-inches in the overtime, and we don’t get the fi rst down. You don’t get that, you don’t deserve to win,” he said. “You don’t get a 4th-and-inch, we don’t deserve to win the football game. That’s what I told our football team afterwards. I said, ‘We didn’t deserve to win this football game.’” That’s a tough thing for a coach to say and a tough thing for a team to hear after a tough loss, but it is also the truth.

The locker room scene was UGLY for the Cardinals, according to some of the players. Mario Benavides said several players broke down crying after the game, and many others were sitting in their lockers silently angry. That’s a GOOD thing, according to Charlie

Strong. “It’s adversity,” he said. “We just have to persevere through it and just learn from it. It’s good to see in the locker room. Nothing’s ever good about a loss, but just to see how hard our players took that loss.... It was very emotional in that locker room, and now you’re seeing that the program has turned. It’s a game you should have won.” Strong said he believes the program turned a corner when the players are this broken up after a loss. He said he wants a team that hates to lose, and he is molding this Louisville program into that kind of a mentality. “Fourth-and-an inch, guys learned from that lesson right there. At least they can say we went for it, Coach, and we didn’t get it. Just the toughness in this program - that’s what I want to build - is some toughness in this program. If I’m placed in that situation again, we’re going to go for it on fourth-and-an inch. I believe in our offensive line, which is the glue of our football team, which has fi ve seniors, that we can get that.”

We get letters and e-mails each time we broach the subject of football attendance. Many people don’t like us bringing the subject up because they believe we are “bashing the fans.” We don’t mean

to bash the fans that were in attendance at Saturday’s game - they were loud and fantastic, but those of you who bought tickets and didn’t show have some explaining to do. It was great weather, a perfect Saturday, and Louisville had a chance to clinch a bowl bid. Where were you? And if you couldn’t be there, why weren’t your tickets used? It was strange to see 11,000 or so empty seats during a game of this magnitude, especially when week-night games are frequently much better attended. Too many Saturday confl icts? We just don’t get it.

It was GOOD to see Louisville sign four extremely talented men’s basketball players last week. The Cardinals’ class is rated No. 7 in the nation by Rivals.com, and all four signed in the early signing

period. That was a shock to some - Worldwide Wes and others - who doubted whether Louisville could get Wayne Blackshear to sign early. Rick Pitino said Blackshear and his mother were solidly in the Louisville camp all along and that he didn’t know where all the rumors that he may decommit were coming from. Blackshear signed with the Cardinals and ended that speculation. Blackshear is Louisville’s wing scorer of the future, Chane Behanan is Louisville’s workhorse forward of the future, and Zach Price is going to be a solid center in a couple of years when he stops growing and starts

fi lling out. And Angel Nunez, the small forward from New York City, has enormous potential despite being unranked by most of the ranking services. His athleticism and basketball skill combined with a better work ethic could make him a “rankings buster” in years to come. Terrence Williams was also a “rankings buster.” He went from outside the top-100 players in his senior class to being a fi rst-round, lottery NBA Draft pick.

It was GOOD to see former UofL assistant basketball coach Kevin Willard -- who is also the son of current Cardinals director of basketball operations Ralph Willard -- get his fi rst victory as Seton Hall’s head coach Sunday when the Pirates blasted Cornell

92-68. A New York Post story said Seton Hall, coming off a 62-56 loss at No. 22 Temple, displayed all the qualities that have the Pirates considered a Big East sleeper this year -- defensive intensity, unselfi sh offense and solid shooting. Jeremy Hazell led the Hall with 28 points. Hazell, the Big East’s top returning scorer, hit 4 of 6 three-point shots, while teammate Jordan Theodore had 10 points, seven assists and three steals. Kevin will bring his team to the KFC Yum! Center for UofL’s Big East opener on Jan. 5.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated took a stab at predicting the 2011 NCAA basketball tournament. The magazine left out Louisville and Western Kentucky from the 68-team fi eld. SI predicts eight Big

East teams will make the fi eld: Pitt, Villanova, Syracuse, Georgetown, West Virginia, Marquette, Seton Hall and Notre Dame. Louisville, starting the season without a single starter back from last year because Jared Swopshire is injured, will have a tough road to get an at-large bid this season.

Looking at the schedule, it is entirely possible that Pittsburgh (5-4, 3-1) will miss a bowl game this season. Just a week ago, after Pitt beat up on Louisville 20-3 to move to 3-0 in the league, most people picked the Panthers to win out the rest of the season

and make a BCS bowl. But now? After losing to Connecticut 30-28? The future doesn’t look bright. If the Panthers can lose to UConn, they can lose to anybody, including their last three opponents: South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati. They’ll be favored in the USF and Cincinnati games, but those games are on the road, and Pitt has been fairly bad on the road this season except for the Syracuse game. The West Virginia showdown on Nov. 26 could either be for the league title or for bowl eligibility - how crazy is that?

Speaking of bowls, it is entirely possible for Louisville to get paired up with Kentucky in the Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 8. In fact, CBS Sports thinks that is what will happen. They have the Cards

and Cats paired in their bowl projections released last week. Our take? Louisville still has work to do, but if the Cards get the invitation to the Birmingham Bowl there is NO WAY Kentucky will accept a bid to the bowl. We believe the Cats would do everything in their power to try to avoid getting into a bowl game with the Cardinals. Ever tried to give a house cat a bath? That’s what we picture when we think of SEC offi cials trying to convince UK’s administration to take their team to face the Cardinals at the end of this season.

Just a word about how remarkably awesome the fi rst UofL men’s and women’s games were in the new KFC Yum! Center. The women battled No. 4 Tennessee for 33 of 40 minutes before falling behind

in the fi nal 7:15. And despite how well this young UofL team played, the real story was the crowd. A school- and Big East-record 22,134 fans packed the Yum! for the game, and it was loud and rowdy throughout the contest. The men beat No. 16 Butler Tuesday night in front of 22,734. The acoustics of the building make the sound level on the court extremely loud. And because there are video boards and fans on all sides of the court, the home-court advantage for the Cardinals is off the charts. The fans and the atmosphere were fun and upbeat for both games. Let’s keep that trend going this season.

GOOD

GOOD

GOOD

BAD

BAD

GOOD

GOOD

BAD

GOOD

BAD


WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

CARDINAL FOOTBALL

By Howie LindseyThe lights went down, the fi reworks

went off and the teams were introduced in front of a school- and league-record crowd of 22,124 at the opening game in the KFC Yum! Center last Friday night. And for a while -- for 33 minutes at least -- it ap-peared as if the unranked and unheralded University of Louisville women’s basketball team was going to pull off a monster upset against the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers.

But UT freshman Meighan Simmons scored eight straight points to spark a 10-0 run that turned a 45-44 UT lead with 7:15 left into a 55-44 margin with 5:10 remain-

ing. From there the Lady Vols kept the Cardinals at bay, winning 63-50 in both team’s season-opener.

“It was a wonderful thing to be a part of - to have 22,000-plus and a sellout crowd on opening night, to retire Angel Mc-Coughtry’s jersey,” UofL

coach Jeff Walz said. “There were a lot of great things that went on tonight, but un-fortunately the score wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t that great tonight.”

While Walz wasn’t happy with the loss, most UofL fans merely hoped that the Car-dinals would just “keep it close” against highly touted UT. That they did. Walz did say he liked his team’s effort.

“I feel like we competed and gave good effort,” he said. “There is no question that this team can get better, and we are going to. We’re going to be competing at a high level soon.”

Louisville pushed ahead to an 8-2 lead in the fi rst fi ve minutes. Tennessee pushed back, going on a 19-4 run to lead 21-12, but the Cardinals closed the gap and the game was largely within two possessions the rest of the fi rst half.

Each time the Lady Vols pushed ahead by more than a possession or two, the Car-dinals, taking their cue from the loud and rowdy crowd, clawed their way back into the game.

“There is no doubt about this Louisville team: They are a really tough-minded, very well-coached team, and we had our hands full throughout the game,” Hall of Fame UT coach Pat Summitt said.

UofL cut the Tennessee lead to 32-31 in the fi rst two minutes of the second half. Tennessee pushed out to a 45-36 advan-tage over the next eight minutes, but Louis-ville clawed back again.

A three by junior Becky Burke cut the UT lead to 45-44 with 7:34 remaining. But that didn’t last long.

“We cut the lead to one, and we drive in and we turn it over,” Walz said. “We were trying to drive in there, and we just kept turning the ball over. It’s not because we weren’t playing hard. Again, every player that went out there I thought competed at a high, high level.”

Following the turnover, Simmons took over. She hit a jumper at the 7:09 mark, a three on the next possession and another three 30 seconds later. A layup by Shekinna Stricklen capped the 10-0 run.

“Meighan Simmons, I think, is the quick-est guard to ever play at Tennessee,” Sum-mitt said. “... She is just fearless, and I hope others will follow her lead. She just came up big for us. When I (fi rst) watched her play, I knew she was a special player.”

Two of UofL’s freshmen, center Sher-onne Vails and point guard Shoni Schim-mel, helped the Cardinals close within 55-50 with 4:08 left, but Schimmel’s two free throws were the last points the Cardinals scored.

The last seven minutes read like a horror novel for Walz. UofL hit just 2 of its last 14 shots as UT went from up one to a 13-point win.

Simmons’ 22 points led all scorers, and Stricklen recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Lady Vols out-rebounded the Cardinals 53-29, collecting 20 offensive boards and turning those into 18 second-chance points.

UofL was led by junior forward Monique Reid, who had 19 points and nine boards. No other Cardinal fi nished in double fi g-ures.

NO WAY EIGHTHLouisville was rated eighth in the Big East

coaches’ preseason poll. Told of that rank-ing after the game, Summitt laughed it off as folly.

“Well, I think (Walz) needs to tell every-body that that’s where they belong, but we know better,” Summitt said.

Summitt is extremely impressed with Walz and the program he’s running at Lou-isville. So impressed that she’s willing to start a multi-year series with the Cardinals.

“He’s excellent,” Summitt said of Walz. “He’s really, really good, and he’s going to keep winning and he’s going to keep getting players. I think he does things the right way, and that’s why I would consider us trying to

keep the series going.”SHAKY START FOR SHONISchimmel, at times spectacular and

other times frustratingly green, fi nished with nine points, eight turnovers, three rebounds and three steals. She had seven turnovers in the fi rst half, six in the fi rst seven minutes of play.

“It was her fi rst game,” Walz said. “...She wants to play well. She wants to per-form, and she was over-excited. She was trying to make the big pass and trying to push the ball up the fl oor. I told her I wanted her to push the ball up the fl oor, but we just made a simple halftime ad-justment. I told her you can’t throw it up the fl oor if nobody is guarding you. They weren’t guarding her. They were entic-ing her into throwing that length-of-the-court pass, but nobody was stopping her from going the length of the court to the basket. In the second half she attacked and good things happened.”

After the shaky fi rst half, Schimmel was spectacular in the second. She had a hand in nearly every point UofL scored for the fi rst 12 minutes of the half. She was credited with only three assists, but she had at least six, including a string of three straight possessions at one stretch in the second half.

“As soon as she gets a grasp of (at-tacking the basket), and she will, we’ll be fi ne,” Walz said. “After seven turnovers in the fi rst half she only turned the ball over one time in the second half. She got herself together, and she’ll be really good for us.”

Schimmel showed fans a glimpse of her potential when she stole the ball, beat the Tennessee defense down the court and faked a pass, rolled the ball around her waist and shifted it back to her shooting

hand for an easy layup. On another pos-session she was looking left while drib-bling up the court and threw a laser pass to the right through two defenders to a waiting Reid for a layup.

“I don’t think anybody should be dis-appointed in what they saw from the kid today,” Walz said. “She has a chance to be a really great player here. She works her tail off, and I think we saw glimpses of what she can do.”

CARDS CLOBBER OHIOAfter a strong, but ultimately losing ef-

fort against the Lady Vols, Louisville took care of business Sunday afternoon with an impressive 84-47 victory over host Ohio University.

The Cardinals leaped to a 44-20 half-time lead with the help of nine points and four rebounds by Reid and eight points and four rebounds by Keshia Hines. UofL held the Bobcats to just 4-of-23 shoot-ing with 13 turnovers in the half, and the Cards held OU without a point from the 15:17 mark to 7:17 as they increased their lead from 8-6 to 29-6.

The Cards allowed Ohio to score 27 points in the second half on 10-of-28 shooting, but they scored 40 themselves and never allowed Ohio to get closer than 21 points.

Walz played everyone on his bench, with freshman guard Charmaine Tay log-ging the most minutes -- 22. Four Cardi-nals scored in double fi gures, led by Becky Burke with 14 points, Schimmel and Reid with 13 apiece and Hines with 12. Schim-mel had seven assists and one turnover in 20 minutes.

The Cardinals will host Houston Baptist Wednesday night at 7 at the KFC Yum! Center, and they’ll host Southeast Mis-souri State on Friday, also at 7 p.m.

RECORD CROWD SEES CARDS STAND TOE-TO-TOE WITH NO. 4 VOLS

Angel McCoughtry waved to the record crowd after receiving a framed copy of her UofL jersey from Vice President for Athletics Tom Jurich and senior woman administrator Julie Hermann before the game. McCoughtry, now starring with the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, is UofL’s all-time leading scorer, both men and women.- photo by Dave Klotz


Center Keshia Hines looked for someone to

pass to as Tennessee center Kelley Hain applied defensive pressure. Hines had two points and three rebounds in UofL’s 63-50

loss in the inaugural game in the KFC Yum! Center. -

photo by Dave Klotz


WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PHOTOS

Sophomore forward Asia Taylor dribbled upcourt against the Lady Vols. Taylor started but played just 10 minutes and was 0 for 4 from the fi eld. - photos by Dave Klotz

Monique Reid went up for a basket against No. 4 Tennessee. The junior forward fi nished with 19 points, the only UofL player in double fi gures. She also had nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal. - photos by Dave Klotz

Freshman point guard Shoni Schimmel got off to a shaky start against Tennessee (7 turnovers in the fi rst half), but she settled down and had just one TO in the second half. “She got herself together, and she’ll be really good for us,” coach Jeff Walz said.

By Howie LindseyAndre Boudreaux dove to his right, stretching his body, and felt the ball thud off his

hands and away from the goal. Knowing he had just clinched the Big East Tournamentchampionship for UofL, Boudreaux leaped to his feet and sprinted downfi eld before be-ing corralled by his teammates and mobbed near midfi eld. The Cardinals had just won theprogram’s fi rst-ever Big East Tournament title.

“I’m very proud of our guys today and the resiliency we showed,” coach Ken Lolla said.“Days like today we are simply reaping the seeds that have been sown over the last fi veyears. These guys have invested a lot of time and effort into the season, and today is theresult of that.”

Boudreaux’s fi nal block, on Providence’s last of fi ve attempts in the fi rst penalty-kick ses-sion, won the game for Louisville 3-2 after a 1-1 tie in regulation and two overtime periods.The block also meant Louisville stayed undefeated at 16-0-3 and was crucial in the Cardi-nals’ receiving the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament (seeds were announced just24 hours after Louisville won the Big East Tournament).

“There’s a power in the emotion of it,” Lolla said. “Winning it that way created a lotof emotion. We know how important it is to continue to show that emotion, express thatemotion, and it breeds faith and belief each time that happens.

“Winning it in PKs, we would have loved to win it in regulation, but it allowed us emo-tionally to even create a little bit more juice, a little bit more momentum and a little bit morebelief in what we are doing.”

Louisville should have won the championship in regulation. Neither team scored for thefi rst 83 minutes of the 90-minute match. Then junior Colin Rolfe, a preseason All-American,scored the go-ahead goal from 20 yards away on a hard shot into the back of the net.

The Cardinals appeared to be home free until a referee’s call with less than two minutesremaining gave Providence an easy chance to score. Chase Rodgers got whistled for a fouljust a few yards from the goal on a play that looked clean on replay. Providence’s MattMarcin nailed the free kick into the goal with 1:51 left to tie the score at 1.

“I certainly would have preferred a different call or no call, but I know the referees havea responsibility to do the best they can,” Lolla said. “Like us as players and coaches, wedon’t get everything right. The human quality is a wonderful part of the game - and youhave to appreciate that part of the game that the referees may not always make the bestcalls. We accept it, and it created a very good opportunity to grow because of the adversity.We handled it really well.”

Neither team scored in the fi nal 1:50 of regulation, nor during the two 10-minute over-time periods. The penalty kicks were every bit as dramatic as one would expect.

Providence got off to a bad start when defender John Raley’s shot missed off to theright of the goal. Louisville’s fi rst shooter, freshman Dylan Mares, calmly kicked the ball intothe left side of the net as Providence keeper Jhojan Obando jumped to the right. That putLouisville up 1-0.

Providence tied the score at 1 when Marcin scored into the right side of the goal asBoudreaux leaped left. Marcin, who also scored the goal to send the game to overtime,calmly jogged back to his team’s huddle. Louisville’s Paolo DelPiccolo had his shot clank offthe post on the left side of the goal near the upper ‘V’ as Obando jumped just a few feetaway. Had DePiccolo’s shot been a few inches to the right, it would have lodged in the backof the net.

Providence took a 2-1 lead when midfi elder Anthony Baumann’s shot defl ected off theright hand of Boudreaux and skittered into the net. But Nick DeLeon scored on a shot tothe left side as the keeper dove right to tie the match at 2.

Providence’s Michael Periera then was blocked by Boudreaux on the left side of thegoal. That gave the Cardinals the opportunity to take the lead, and they did on a shot byCharlie Campbell. His quick shot to the left side of the goal put Louisville up 3-2 with justone round to go.

Providence’s Wilder Arboleda had to make his penalty kick to keep his team alive, but hishard shot to the right side of the goal was punched away by Boudreaux.

The Cardinals celebrated in a big heaping pile near midfi eld. The team was awarded theshiny metallic cup given to the Big East Tournament champions. The coaches began imme-diately looking ahead to the next challenge, the NCAA Tournament.

“We, as coaches, just turned toward each other, shook hands and had a big hug,” Lollasaid. “We knew it was another check mark, another big accomplishment. The celebrationreally will come later on. There is still more out there. The journey is still ongoing.”

CARDS WIN AWARDS -- Junior Austin Berry won Big East Defender of the Year, leading goal-scorer Dylan Mares won Big East Freshman of the Year and Lolla and his coaching staffwon Big East Coaching Staff of the Year at the Soccer Awards Banquet Thursday night.

CARDS WIN BIG EAST IN DRAMATIC FASHION

MEN’S SOCCER


MEN’S SOCCER

By Howie LindseyUniversity of Louisville men’s soccer

coach Ken Lolla and his team gathered at the Yum! Practice Facility Monday evening to watch the ESPNU NCAA Selection Show. They didn’t have to wait long to hear their name called.

Louisville was tabbed the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and was the fi rst name mentioned by the ESPNU announcers when the show hit the air.

“I was happy with what I saw,” forward Colin Rolfe said. “We came here today expecting to get that top seed, and we did it.”

By virtue of be-ing one of the top 16 seeds, Louisville (16-0-

3) earned a bye in the fi rst round of the 48-team tournament. In men’s soccer, the fi rst four rounds are played on the campus of the higher-seeded team. That means UofL will host the winner of a match between East Tennes-see State (15-5-0) and College of Charleston (10-4-3) Sunday at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Park. If the Cards continue to win, the No. 1 seeding means they will have home games in the Round of 16 and the Elite Eight.

“When you look at the history of success in the NCAA Tourna-ment, having home-fi eld advan-tage plays a huge part in that,” Lolla said. “If you look at our record at home over the last few years, we’ve done very well here. It’s a great advantage. We talked to our guys all season long about trying to put ourselves in a good spot to have home-fi eld advantage through the NCAA Tourna-ment.”

The other side of Louisville’s bracket pits St. Peter’s (13-5-1) against Providence (12-5-3) in the fi rst round, with the winner to play national No. 16 seed Ohio State (10-5-3). Louisville hasn’t seen St. Peter’s, but Providence just pushed Louisville to penalty kicks to decide the Big East championship, and UofL tied Ohio State 0-0 on Sept. 22.

“We liked our draw, what we saw of it during the show,” Rolfe said. “There are a lot of teams in our bracket that we’ve seen before, so that will be interesting.”

If Louisville gets past that Round of 16 game with either St. Peter’s, Providence or Ohio State, they’d likely face either national No. 9 seed Notre Dame (10-5-4) or national

No. 8 seed UCLA (14-4-1). Louisville beat Notre Dame twice this season, 2-0 on Oct. 16 and 1-0 in the semifi nals of the Big East Tournament last Fri-

day night. A win there and Louisville would advance

to the College Cup, the fi nal four teams, in Santa Barbara, Calif., Dec. 10-12.

Louisville will be a target in the tour-nament, a target of being the No. 1 overall seed.

“I think the season prepared us for this, though,” Lolla said. “When we were a fi rst-time No. 1 ranking during the sea-son, people told us, ‘Now you have a tar-get on your backs.’ We said it was great preparation for the NCAA Tournament because we thought it would be the same way. We expect to see everybody’s best game every single night. When we see that it will only make us better. We saw that this season, and I think it makes us better prepared for where we are.”

Where they are is entering the tourna-ment as the favorite to win it. The Car-

dinals completed a perfect run through the Big East regular season (9-0-0) and won the

Big East Tournament Sunday afternoon in Red

Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. The Cardinals are No. 1 in all the national polls and No. 1 in the RPI computer rankings.

The other top national seeds are No. 2 Maryland (17-2-1), No. 3 Akron (18-1-1), No. 4 North Carolina (16-3-1), No. 5 SMU (15-2-0), No. 6 California (12-2-3), No. 7 South Carolina (12-6-2) and No. 8 UCLA (14-4-1). The tournament’s only other undefeated team is Butler, the No. 13 seed at 16-0-3.

Through one of the tougher schedules in the nation - seven Big East teams got NCAA bids - Lolla has come to know that his team will consistently perform.

“I know that we’ll compete, I know we’ll move the ball, I know that we’ll pres-sure on defense and I know that we’ll be very focused when the game starts,” he said. “It’s what we’ve done all year, and it’s gotten us to where we are.”

Louisville’s not a one-scorer team.

Lolla has built the program to a point where 11 players have scored a goal this season, eight players have five or more points and four have 10 or more. That makes for a remarkably tough squad to defend.

“I think what makes us danger-ous is we are balanced,” Lolla said. “There is no one guy that you can key on in any situation. Because of that, it makes it difficult for you to be stopped.”

The Cardinals are led in scoring by freshman Dylan Mares with eight goals and two assists for 18 points. Rolfe, the leading scorer last sea-son, has six goals and five assists (17 points) and is typically the fo-cus of the opponent’s defense. Junior forward Nick DeLeon has six goals and an assist (13 points),

and ju-nior mid-f i e l d e r K e n n e y W a l k e r has two goals and seven as-sists (11 points).

L o l l a said be-ing able to host home g a m e s throughout the second,

th i rd and fourth rounds of the NCAA Tournament could be crucial to lifting his team into the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 - or better yet - College Cup Final Four.

“We’re going to make a strong plea for the fans to come out and support us,” he said. “The home-field advan-tage is huge. Our fans have played a huge part in our success at home this season. When they are out in force, our guys feed energy off of that crowd. We so much want them to come out - need them to come out. We don’t just want them to be there, either. We want them to be a part of our success.”

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youths, students and senior citizens. Tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the athletic ticket offices. You also can call the athletic ticket office at 502, 852-5151 for tickets. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $3 apiece.

LOUISVILLE PICKED AS NATION’S TOP SEED IN NCAA TOURNAMENT


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The undefeated and top-ranked University of Louisville men’s

soccer team (16-0-3) posed for a team picture at Red Bull Park in

Harrison, N. J., on Sunday after winning the Big East Tournament

title game 3-2 over Providence.- photos courtesy of BigEast.org

UofL coach Ken Lolla accepted the award for Big East Soccer Coaching Staff of the Year. He has led the Cards to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Soccer Tournament.Freshman Dylan Mares

accepted his trophy after being

named Big East Rookie of the

Year. Mares led the Cards with

18 points in the regular season

-- eight goals and two assists.


LOUISVILLE VS. UCONN PHOTO GALLERY


CARDINAL FOOTBALL VS. SOUTH FLORIDA PHOTO GALLERY

Junior Josh Chichester hauled in a 2-yard TD pass from Justin Burke late in the fi rst half to give the Cards a 14-3 lead. - photo by Dave Klotz

Senior linebacker Brandon Heath (6) and senior defensive end Malcolm Tatum combined to fl atten USF running back Moise Plancher. Heath led the Cards with 11 tackles. Tatum had three. - photo by Shelley Feller

Coach Charlie Strong gestured toward the fi eld during UofL’s game with South Florida last Saturday. - photo by Dave Klotz


CARDINAL FOOTBALL PHOTO GALLERY

Justin Burke let a pass go against South

Florida. The senior was 16 of 30 for 146 yards and three TDs

with an interception. - photo by Shelley Feller


10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASON10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONCARDINAL FOOTBALL

By Russ BrownWhen Charlie Strong took the head foot-

ball coaching job at Louisville, one of the many unknowns he faced as he stepped into uncharted territory involved the Cardinals’ large senior class -- 24 strong. He wasn’t sure about either their skill level or how they would react to the stringent demands of the new coaching staff.

He found out about six months later when fall camp opened, and he has had nothing but praise for the seniors since. They’ve been a ma-jor part of the foundation for his rebuilding pro-gram, and they’ve helped take the Cardinals -- sur-prisingly -- to the brink of bowl eligibility.

Among them are 13 starters, eight on offense, who will be play-ing their fi nal home game Saturday at noon when UofL (5-5, 2-3) meets West Virginia (6-3, 2-2) in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

The group includes leading rusher Bilal Powell, starting quarterbacks Justin Burke and Adam Froman, the top two leading re-ceivers, Doug Beaumont and Cameron Gra-ham, virtually the entire offensive line, sec-ondary veteran Johnny Patrick and defensive leader Brandon Heath, a linebacker.

Patrick has played in 43 games for Lou-isville, starting 38. Beaumont has 30 starts among his 44 appearances, and Heath has played in 39 games, 17 as a starter.

For weeks now Strong has praised the se-niors for their willingness to accept the new staff and has credited them with whatever success the Cards have enjoyed this season.

“It’s a group of guys that have played a lot of football here,” Strong said during his weekly press conference Monday. “That’s why I felt it was so important to get those guys to a bowl. Just look at what those guys have done this season. All of them have played well.

“It’s a group that at the beginning of the season everybody was sitting around saying, ‘Wow, can we get these guys to go play?’ Or, ‘How good are these guys?’ For our se-nior class to step up and play the way they’ve played, that’s why we’ve had the season we’ve had to this point because of how well they’ve played and the leadership they’ve shown.”

Strong said he believes the seniors were so open to him and his staff because they had grown weary of losing. None of them have played on a winning team, the best record during their tenure being a 6-6 slate in 2007, although some were around as red-shirt freshmen for UofL’s 2006 Orange Bowl championship.

“It was a lot of work,” Strong said. “You watch a group of guys that just said, ‘Hey, I’m tired of this program being in the con-dition it’s in. Let’s go change this program and start right now.’ Each one of the seniors made an effort to change the football team this season. These guys have really stepped up as leaders.”

One of those seniors, offensive guard Josh

Byrom, remembers the trepidation the play-ers initially felt after their fi rst introductory meeting last December with Strong, who spent nearly an hour criticizing them for their various shortcomings, both on and off the fi eld.

“We were just so excited because you hear so many great things about Coach Strong and where he came from,” Byrom said. “I’ll never forget. We’re all so pumped in the team meeting waiting for him to get there, and he comes in and says, ‘It’s a plea-sure to be here.’ Then he just ripped us apart for about 45 minutes.”

Byrom said a major part of Strong’s talk involved academics.

“We had a lot of guys here who weren’t real high on going to class,” Byrom said. “And he ripped the team, saying, ‘You haven’t won a game in this long,’ haven’t done this or that in this long. Then he started calling out individuals and saying, ‘You think I care if you had one interception last year’ and stuff like that. He really brought us back to reality.

“So I was a little nervous about how guys were going to react to that. He walked out and we all sat there for a couple minutes just looking at each other like, ‘Oh man, I don’t know about this.’ But it was good. We needed it.

“We took it in stride, took it the right way. You really had no choice to resist because it was, either you’re with us or you’re not. The seniors really led the group and let guys know if you don’t want to be here, get out, and that’s the same attitude Coach Strong had. Guys shaped up, our GPA is back up there and this team has really come together.”

Now the seniors have a chance to take the

next step and go out with a bang -- by upset-ting West Virginia in front of friends and fam-ily on Senior Day and probably securing UofL’s fi rst bowl bid in four years in the process.

“If we could pull this one out, it would be great,” Byrom said.

But it won’t be easy. West Virginia ranks among the nation’s leaders in most of the major defensive categories, including total defense (253.3 ypg), scoring defense (13.22 ppg) and rushing defense (94.89 ypg). And the Mountaineers got their offense cranked up in a 37-10 rout of Cincinnati last Saturday in Morgantown.

“With our defense, if we score 20 or 21 points, I already know that’s a victory in the books,” WVU senior wide receiver Jock Sanders said. “I know our defense because I bonded with our team and I know all those seniors and those guys who are on defense because I have to go against them every day. I know what they can do.”

Against UC, the Mountaineers also showed what they can do when they elimi-nate penalties and turnovers in crucial situa-tions. Before beating the Bearcats WVU had scored just 27 points in back-to-back losses to Syracuse and Connecticut.

“Penalties and turnovers played a big part in our three losses this year,” WVU offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen said. “We’ve got to not shoot ourselves in the foot. And when we don’t, we’re a pretty good offense.”

Against UC, West Virginia got four fi rst-half touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Geno Smith and used a stable of running backs, led by Noel Devine, to grind out 245 rushing yards.

“Our offense is based on what the de-fense gives us,” Smith said. “When we don’t

turn the ball over and make mistakes we’repretty good.”

“Offensively, they have a lot of speed,” Strong said. “(Smith) is playing well, Devine,Sanders.... They like to get the ball in thehands of their playmakers, and their offen-sive line is big and solid. We’re going to haveto play very well to win this game.”

UofL will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak against West Virginia, whichalso has beaten the Cards in fi ve of the lastsix meetings. UofL’s only win during thatstretch came in 2006, 44-34.

LATE NIGHT WITH CHARLIEDuring his weekly press conference Mon-

day, Strong wasn’t backing away from hisdecision to go for a fi rst down on fourth-and-inches on the South Florida 4-yard linein overtime of Louisville’s 24-21 loss.

In fact, Strong said he sent a mass text message to all of his players late Saturdaynight encouraging them and saying he wouldmake the same call again.

“I said, ‘Tough loss,’” Strong told the me-dia. “‘I believe in each one of you. We’re areally good football team, and you are a veryspecial group of guys. If I had to do it all overagain, I would go for it on fourth-and-inch-es. That’s how much I believe in each one ofyou.’ I got a bunch of texts back. I thoughtthey’d be doing something else on a Satur-day night.”

Byrom, who received the text about 11:30 p.m., said he and his teammates foundStrong’s message uplifting in the face ofan extremely disappointing and emotionallydraining loss.

“It almost brought a smile to my face,” Byrom said. “Just knowing that he believesin us. He sends motivational texts during theweek, but it’s usually letting us know whatwe haven’t done here the past few years.

“It was tough not getting that (fi rst down), but it’s good to know he believes in us. Wewere feeling down and out, and that mes-sage really helped. It calmed us down, helpedus regroup and get back together.”

Strong and Byrom both said the Cards took this loss harder than any of the othersduring the season, taking it as a sign of howfar the program has progressed.

“It let me know this team really cares,” Byrom said. “It was very emotional after thegame, many guys in tears just sitting in theirlocker with their pads on because that onehurt. You feel like you have it and you’re allexcited and you don’t get that fourth-and-one and it’s tough. But we have a 24-hourrule: Win or lose, you move on and get readyfor the next game.”

Said Strong: “Adversity. We have to per-severe through it and learn from it. Nothingis ever good about a loss ... but to see howhard our players took that loss, you see ourprogram is turning.”

QUOTABLE: After Byrom praised DougBeaumont, one of his roommates, he notedthat it took him a while to learn Beaumont’sname when he arrived on campus as a fresh-man. “When I fi rst got here, I didn’t reallyknow his name but I knew he was Mr. Foot-ball in Kentucky, so I just called him Mr. Foot-ball. He didn’t like that too much.”


Senior DE Malcolm Tatum (90) and sophomore linebacker Daniel

Brown combined to stop USF running back Moise Plancher. -

photo by Shelley Feller

U P S E T O F W V U , B O W L E L I G I B I L I T Y W O U L D B E F I T T I N G T R I B U T E

BIG SENIOR GROUP IS CATALYST FOR CARDS’ PROGRESS


LOUISVILLE ROSTER WEST VIRGINIA ROSTERNO NAME HT WT POS CL HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) 1 Josh Bellamy 6-0 205 WR JR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte CC)2 Michaelee Harris 6-2 184 WR FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)2 Preston Brown 6-0 249 LB FR Cincinnati, Ohio (Northwest)3 Corvin Lamb 5-9 207 RB FR Miami, Fla. (Northwestern)4 Will Stein 5-10 185 QB SO Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)5 Kenneth Jaboin 6-1 203 DB JR Miami, Florida (NIACC)5 Brandon Heath 6-1 215 LB SR West Palm Beach, Fla. (Palm Beach Lakes)7 Damian Copeland 6-1 175 WR RS FR Bradenton, Fla. (Palmetto)8 Darius Ashley 5-8 186 CB SO Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)9 Adam Froman 6-4 220 QB SR Santa Rosa, Calif. (Santa Rosa JC)10 Dominique Brown 6-2 215 QB FR Cincinnati, Ohio (Winton Woods)11 Greg Scruggs 6-4 269 DT JR Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)11 Josh Chichester 6-8 240 TE JR West Chester, Ohio (Lakota West)12 Chris Philpott 6-0 191 K JR Atlanta, Ga. (Str. Pius X Catholic)13 Justin Burke 6-3 229 QB SR Lexington, Ky. (Lexington Catholic)13 Preston Pace 6-1 204 CB JR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Butte)14 Andrell Smith 6-3 210 WR SO Miami, Fla. (Palmetto)15 Bilal Powell 6-0 215 RB SR Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson)17 DeMarcus Topp 5-10 180 WR SO Paducah, Ky. (Paducah-Tilghman)17 Marcus Smith 6-3 234 QB FR Columbus, Ga. (Hardaway)18 Titus Teague 5-11 170 CB RS FR Pomona, Calif. (Pomona)19 Jahmal Lawson 6-5 200 QB SO Louisville, Ky. (Valley)19 Johnny Patrick 6-0 190 CB SR Deland, Fla. (Deland)20 Victor Anderson 5-9 184 RB JR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)21 Troy Pascley 6-2 203 WR SR Alliance, Ohio (Alliance)22 Jordon Paschal 5-8 171 CB FR Trotwood, Ohio (Trotwood-Madison)23 Mike Hayes 5-10 180 CB JR Louisville, Ky. (Male)23 Terence Simien 6-3 218 S JR Sacramento, Calif. (San Mateo)24 Daniel Brown 6-1 219 LB SO Atlanta, Ga. (Douglass)25 Malik Curtley 5-10 185 RB SO Paducah, Ky. (Paducah-Tilghman)26 Aaron Nance 6-3 197 WR FR Louisville, Ky. (Seneca)26 Zed Evans 5-11 173 CB RS FR Seagoville, Texas (Seagoville)27 Doug Beaumont 5-9 187 WR SR Louisville, Ky. (Male)28 Jeremy Wright 5-11 199 RB RS FR Clermont, Fla. (East Ridge)29 Hakeem Smith 6-1 175 S RS FR Jonesboro, Ga. (Riverdale)30 Kamal Hogan 6-0 206 RB FR Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)31 Champ Lee 6-0 185 S RS FR Lakeland, Fla. (Lake Gibson)32 Senorise Perry 6-0 182 WR FR Summerville, Ga. (Chattooga)32 Marcus Bentley 6-1 195 DB SO Lexington, Ky. (Henry Clay)33 Mike Evans 5-10 180 CB JR Bellfl ower, Calif. (Nevada)33 Grant Donovan 6-1 192 LS FR Louisville, Ky. (Male)34 James Miller 5-9 182 RB SO Covington, Ky. (Holmes)34 George Durant 6-0 215 LB RS FR St. Petersburg, Fla. (Boca Ciega)35 Jon Payne 6-0 202 P SR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)35 Andrew Fletcher 5-8 162 K FR Nashville, Tenn. (Montgomery Bell)35 Anthony Conner 5-11 190 CB SR Houston, Texas (Butte CC)36 Shenard Holton 6-1 190 S SO Bowling Green, Ky. (Warren East)37 Tyon Dixon 5-11 190 LB FR Cincinnati, Ohio (Colerain)37 Lincoln Carr 5-9 158 WR SO Crestwood, Ky. (South Oldham)38 Isaac Geffrad 6-3 188 S RS FR Oakland Park, Fla. (Northeast)39 Jacob Geffrad 6-3 204 LB RS FR Oakland Park, Fla. (Northeast)40 Agyei Williams 5-11 184 S SO Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)40 Josh Bleser 6-1 201 P JR Park Hills, Ky. (Covington Catholic)41 Eugene Sowell 6-0 208 LB SR Birmingham, Ala. (Shades Valley)42 Bobby Burns 5-11 180 CB SR Spanaway, Wash. (Butte)43 Deon Rogers 6-2 185 LB FR Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Treasure Coast)44 B.J. Butler 6-2 264 DE FR Kissimmee, Fla. (Osceola)44 Bo Eggers 6-0 218 LB RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Manual)45 Blayne Donnell 5-8 190 RB SR Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)46 Dexter Heyman 6-3 238 LB JR Louisville, Ky. (Male)47 Malcolm Mitchell 6-2 230 DE RS FR Stone Mountain, Ga. (Dunwoody)47 Chris White 6-4 215 TE RS FR Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)48 Lacy Coleman 6-4 230 DE FR Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek)51 Mike Privott 6-0 227 LB RS FR Norfolk, Va. (Lake Taylor)52 Antwone Canady 6-0 244 LB SR Swainsboro, Ga. (Hutchinson)53 Jake Smith 6-4 313 OL FR Jacksonville, Ala. (Jacksonville)54 Reinhold Leicht 6-0 242 LB JR Louisville, Ky. (Air Force)55 Mario Benavides 6-4 304 C SO Los Fresnos, Texas (Los Fresnos)57 Nick Heuser 6-0 229 LB SO Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)58 Rodney Gnat 6-3 253 DE SR Jacksonville, Fla. (Wolfson)59 Zach Perkins 6-4 302 OL RS FR Shepherdsville, Ky. (North Bullitt)60 Daniel Weedman 5-11 243 LS SR Louisville, Ky. (Christian Academy)61 William Savoy 6-1 238 DE JR Elizabethtown, Ky. (John Hardin)62 John Clark 6-2 311 OL JR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)63 Chris Johnson 6-2 290 DL RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Butler)64 Mohamed Kourouma 6-3 291 OL SR Somerset, N.J. (Franklin)65 Josh Byrom 6-5 305 G/C SR McKee’s Rock, Pa. (Montour)66 Alex Kupper 6-3 285 OL SO Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)67 Nick Egart 6-0 292 OL JR Louisville, Ky. (St. XAvier)68 Kamran Joyer 6-3 292 OL RS FR Tampa, Fla. (Wesley Chapel)69 Chris Walker 6-3 300 OL RS FR Louisville, Ky. (Ballard)70 Conrad Thomas 6-6 315 OL SR Douglasville, Ga. (Douglas County)71 Chris Acosta 6-3 262 OL FR Miami, Fla. (Hialeah)72 Hunter Stout 6-4 278 OL RS FR Tampa, Fla. (Wharton)73 Hector Hernandez 6-5 282 OL JR Naples, Fla. (Naples)74 Jeff Adams 6-8 298 OT SR Cadiz, Ky. (Trigg County)75 Ryan Kessling 6-5 314 OT JR Tallahassee, Fla. (Chiles)76 Greg Tomczyk 6-6 299 OT SR Long Valley, N.J. (The Hun School)77 Joe Evinger 6-6 320 OL SR Brazil, Ind. (College of the Canyons)78 Byron Stingily 6-5 300 OT SR Country Club Hills, Ill. (Joliet)79 Mark Wetterer 6-5 319 OG SR Cincinnati, Ohio (Anderson)80 Stephon Ball 6-4 223 TE SO Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Xavier)81 Rock Keys 6-5 248 TE SR Collins, Miss. (Jones County)82 Pete Nochta 6-5 246 TE SR Lexington, Ky. (Tates Creek)83 Cameron Graham 6-4 253 TE SR Inglewood, Calif. (El Camino)84 Stephan Robinson 6-0 165 WR FR Louisville, Ky. (Central)85 Nate Nord 6-5 230 TE SO Boca Raton, Fla. (West Boca Raton)86 Zach Meagher 6-4 239 FB JR Cincinnati, Ohio (Glen Estes)87 Kai Dominguez 6-0 172 WR FR Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph’s Regional)88 Stephen Goodwin 6-0 190 WR RS FR Louisville, Ky. (St. Xavier)88 Jarrett Davis 5-9 165 WR FR Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek)89 Scott Radcliff 5-10 183 WR SO Louisville, Ky. (Trinity)90 Malcolm Tatum 6-4 253 DE SR Moss Point, Miss. (Gulf Coast CC)92 Brandon Dunn 6-3 282 DT FR Louisville, Ky. (Pleasure Ridge Park)93 Roy Philon 6-3 276 DT RS FR Lexington, Ky. (Bryan Station)94 Joseph Townsend 6-4 287 DT SR San Jose, Calif. (Foothill)95 Randy Salmon 6-3 291 DT SO Atlanta, Ga. (Hutchinson CC)96 Patrick Grant 6-4 236 TE SO Sunrise, Fla. (Boyd Anderson)97 Tim High 6-2 298 DT SR Compton, Calif. (El Camino)98 Drew Davis 6-1 275 DT SO Fort Mitchell, Ky. (Beechwood)99 Zach Kiernan 6-6 284 DE JR Cold Springs, Ky. (Newport Central Catholic)

NO NAME POS HT WT YR HOMETOWN 1 Tavon Austin WR 5-9 173 SO BALTIMORE, MD1 Pat Miller CB 5-10 183 SO BIRMINGHAM, AL2 Robert Sands CB 6-5 221 JR CAROL CITY, FL2 Brad Starks WR 6-3 190 JR UNIONVILLE, VA3 Eddie Davis CB 6-0 186 SR TAMPA, FL3 Qudral Forte CB 6-1 190 FR ATLANTA, GA4 Tom Ferrari QB 6-1 178 FR ASHLAND, PA5 Ivan McCartney WR 6-3 183 FR MIRAMAR, FL6 Will Johnson TE 6-2 238 SR DAYTON, OH7 Noel Devine RB 5-8 180 SR FORT MYERS, FL8 Andrew Goldbaugh WR 5-9 170 SO WHEELING, WV8 Terrell Morning WR 6-1 175 JR PEMBROKE PINES, FL8 Keith Tandy CB 5-10 198 JR HOPKINSVILLE, KY9 Brodrick Jenkins CB 5-10 182 FR FORT MYERS, FL9 Jock Sanders WR 5-7 179 SR SAINT PETERSBURG, FL10 Stedman Bailey WR 5-10 195 FR MIRAMAR, FL10 Michael Dorsey S 6-3 210 FR WARREN, OH11 Barry Brunetti QB 6-0 207 FR MEMPHIS, TN11 Sidney Glover CB 5-11 207 SR WARREN, OH11 Bruce Irvin DE 6-3 235 JR WALNUT, CA12 Geno Smith QB 6-3 210 SO MIRAMAR, FL13 Josh DePasquale QB 5-11 199 JR HOUSTON, PA13 Jewone Snow LB 6-3 230 FR CANTON, OH13 Cotey Wallace QB 6-1 180 FR WELLSBURG, WV15 Coley White QB 6-0 175 SO DAPHNE, AL16 Jeremy Johnson QB 6-2 175 FR KOUNTZE, TX16 Wes Tonkery CB 6-1 190 FR SHINNSTON, WV18 Brantwon Bowser CB 5-11 190 SR PHOENIX, AZ19 Anthony Vecchio CB 5-9 157 FR MORGANTOWN, WV20 Ishmael Banks CB 6-0 185 FR RICHMOND, VA22 Brandon Hogan CB 5-10 189 SR MANASSAS, VA23 Benji Powers CB 5-11 181 JR WILLIAMSTOWN, WV24 Eain Smith CB 5-11 204 JR MIRAMAR, FL25 Kwabena Asante RB 5-10 190 FR SILVER SPRING, MD26 Travis Bell S 6-2 187 FR BELLE GLADE, FL27 Trey Johnson RB 5-10 172 FR RICHMOND, VA28 Darwin Cook CB 5-11 205 FR CLEVELAND, OH29 Trippe Hale CB 5-10 198 SR MOBILE, AL29 Daquan Hargrett RB 5-6 188 FR MIAMI, FL30 J.T. Thomas LB 6-2 225 SR FORT LAUDERDALE, FL31 Pat Lazear LB 6-0 237 SR BETHESDA, MD32 Ryan Clarke RB 6-0 247 SO GLEN BURNIE, MD32 Terence Garvin CB 6-3 215 SO BALTIMORE, MD34 Shawne Alston RB 5-11 222 SO HAMPTON, VA34 John Howard K 5-11 198 FR CINCINNATI, OH34 Derek Knight CB 5-11 201 SR DETROIT, MI35 Lawrence Smith CB 5-9 178 SO MIAMI, FL36 Gregg Pugnetti P 6-1 208 SR FAIRFAX, VA38 Matt Lindamood FB 6-0 234 SO PARKERSBURG, WV40 Tyler Bitancurt K 6-1 198 SO SPRINGFIELD, VA41 Nick Cadwell CB 5-9 188 SO LEESBURG, VA41 Ricky Kovatch FB 6-2 239 JR DUBLIN, OH42 Donovan Miles LB 6-1 234 SO STAFFORD, VA43 Casey Vance LB 5-9 227 JR SENECA ROCKS, WV44 Taige Redman LB 6-0 221 FR KEYSER, WV44 Corey Smith P 5-11 214 JR BUNKER HILL, WV45 Anthony Leonard LB 6-1 246 SR MCKEESPORT, PA45 Chris Snook FB 6-2 237 FR MEDINA, OH47 Doug Rigg LB 6-1 215 FR ORADELL, NJ48 Jeremy Kash LS 5-10 206 SR CENTERVILLE, OH49 Troy Gloster LB 6-0 200 FR GERMANTOWN, MD51 Josh Contraguerro LB 5-11 213 SO WHEELING, WV52 Najee Goode LB 6-1 238 JR CLEVELAND, OH52 Trent Lusk LS 5-9 194 SO MORGANTOWN, WV53 Tyler Anderson LB 6-2 240 FR MORGANTOWN, WV55 Branko Busick LB 6-0 231 FR STEUBENVILLE, OH59 Jamal Nelson DT 5-11 272 JR LAUREL, MD59 Matt Timmerman OL 6-3 294 SR LITTLE FALLS, NJ60 John Bassler OL 6-4 295 SO NEW WINDSOR, MD61 Eric Jobe OL 6-2 290 SR LA PLATA, MD62 Donovan Pearson DT 6-0 270 SO DANVILLE, WV63 Jeff Braun OL 6-4 308 SO WESTMINSTER, MD64 Don Barclay OL 6-4 304 JR CRANBERRY, PA65 Chad Snodgrass OL 6-4 296 JR CROSS LANES, WV66 Marquis Wallace OL 6-5 290 FR RICHMOND, VA67 Quinton Spain OL 6-6 330 FR PETERSBURG, VA69 Glenn Gress DT 6-2 250 JR CLARKS SUMMIT, PA70 Mike Calicchio OL 6-5 290 JR LONG ISLAND, NY72 Cole Bowers OL 6-5 289 FR ONA, WV73 Jordan Weingart OL 6-3 288 FR GAINESVILLE, FL74 Joseph Madsen OL 6-4 290 SO CHARDON, OH76 Pat Eger OL 6-6 288 FR JEFFERSON HILLS, PA77 Will Clarke DE 6-6 265 FR PITTSBURGH, PA77 Josh Jenkins OL 6-3 300 JR PARKERSBURG, WV78 C.J. Huffman DT 6-1 278 JR HURRICANE, WV79 Nick Kindler OL 6-6 285 FR CAMP HILL, PA80 Ryan Nehlen WR 6-2 198 SO MORGANTOWN, WV81 J.D. Woods WR 6-0 192 SO NAPLES, FL83 Jack Crossin WR 5-10 170 FR BERWICK, PA86 Reginald Rembert WR 5-7 157 SO MORGANTOWN, WV87 Trevor Demko DE 6-6 245 FR KULPMONT, PA87 Cody Nutter LS 6-3 241 JR PARKERSBURG, WV88 Tyler Rader OL 6-3 291 JR CROSS LANES, WV89 Tyler Urban TE 6-5 249 JR NORTH HUNTINGDON, PA90 Chris Neild DT 6-2 301 SR STROUDSBURG, PA91 J.B. Lageman DE 6-3 266 SO HUNTINGTON, WV91 Bryan Logsdon TE 6-5 258 JR BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV91 Soraya Ogbebar TE 6-5 249 FR --92 Larry Ford DE 6-3 255 SR GEORGETOWN, SC93 Scooter Berry DT 6-1 287 SR NORTH BABYLON, NY94 Josh Taylor DT 6-1 278 JR MIRAMAR, FL95 Chris Palmer DT 6-3 285 FR PHILADELPHIA, PA97 Julian Miller DT 6-4 260 JR COLUMBUS, OH98 Curtis Feigt DT 6-6 284 FR MERCERSBURG, PA99 Jorge Wright DT 6-2 264 SO MIAMI, FL


BY RICK CUSHINGA LOOK BACKThe Mountaineers have had

an up-and-down season. Three straight wins, followed by a 20-14 loss at then-No. 15 LSU, followed by two more wins, put WVU at 5-1 and in the top 20. But then came a shocking 19-14 Homecoming Day loss to Syracuse, followed by a 16-

13 overtime loss at Connecticut, and the “Fire-the-Coach” fans were howling. Until last Saturday, when the Mountaineers walloped visiting Cincinnati 37-10 and, at 6-3, 2-2, have a chance to redeem themselves by winning the Big East title and its BCS bowl bid. To win that title, WVU will have to beat Pittsburgh in the Steel City on Nov. 26. But fi rst, WVU will have to beat Louisville in the Derby City this Saturday.

“We’ve got to win the next game in Louisville,” said sophomore quarterback Geno Smith. “We’re not even thinking about Pitt right now.”

So the Cards fi gure to get WVU’s best effort, and if the Mountaineers play as they did against Cincin-nati, that means trouble. They jumped to a 30-0 lead in the fi rst half and cruised, with Smith throwing four TD passes and the defense limiting UC to 281 yards, nearly 140 below its season average, and forcing four turnovers. They limited UC to 60 rushing yards, and they sacked Tony Collaros fi ve times, intercepted him twice, forced him to fumble once and recorded a safety when he was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.

“That was a total team victory,” said WVU coach Bill Stewart. “I had hoped that we could make some adjustments, and we did. We made a complete over-haul the last two weeks and we found some things we needed to do better, and we did that today.”

WVU posted 29 fi rst downs, 245 yards rushing and had a 13-minute advantage in time of possession. In the second half the Mountaineers went predominantly to the ground, attempting only three passes and at one point running the ball 22 straight times against a worn-out Cincinnati defense.

WVU took heart when Pitt lost at Connecticut last Thursday. There are now fi ve teams in the Big East with a shot at the title, with only Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers being out of contention because of three league losses.

“We came out with every intent on winning today, and we felt after Pitt lost that it gave us a second life,” Smith said.

DEFENSE IS THE MAINSTAYThe Mountaineers employ an unusual 3-3-5 defense

that has been confounding opponents for years. This season is no exception. In fact, WVU’s defense has been lights out this season. The Mountaineers rank seventh in the country and fi rst in the Big East in both rush-ing and passing defense (94.89 rushing ypg, 158.44 passing ypg), fourth in the country in overall defense (253.33 ypg) and third in scoring defense (13.22 ppg). Throughout the team’s ups and downs this year, the D has been a constant. UofL’s offense will be facing its biggest challenge Saturday.

DEFENSE GETTING IN OPPONENTS’ BACKFIELDThrough nine games WVU has 61 tackles for a loss

(second in Big East, tied for 27th in the country), in-cluding 28 sacks, which leads the Big East and is fourth in the country. Against UC the Mountaineers had 13 tackles for a loss, including fi ve sacks. The leading sack masters are junior DE Bruce Irvin (6-3, 235) with eight, junior nose tackle Julian Miller (6-4, 260) with seven and senior LB J.T. Thomas (6-2, 225) and junior LB Najee Goode (6-1, 238) with six apiece.

TANDY A DANDYRedshirt junior cornerback Keith Tandy (5-10, 198)

from Hopkinsville, the lone Kentuckian on WVU’s roster, is tied for seventh in the country and tied for the lead in the Big East with fi ve interceptions. He’s also sixth on the team with 39 tackles (two for a loss), and he’s forced a fumble. Against UC he had fi ve tackles, four pass break-ups and a tackle for a loss in addition to his INT.

OFFENSIVE NUMBERS ARE DOWNWVU led the Big East in rushing last season at 186.4

ypg, but this season the Mountaineers are third in the league and 44th in the country at 166.56 ypg. WVU is 69th in the country in passing at 208.44 ypg, 63rd in total offense at 375.00 ypg and tied for 74th in scoring

at 25.89 ppg.SMITH COMING OFF BEST GAMEAfter two lackluster performances in losses to Syra-

cuse and UConn, Smith (6-3, 210) was superb against Cincinnati. He was 15 of 25 for 174 yards with an in-terception, with two TD passes to Tavon Austin (32 and 10 yards) and two to Jock Sanders (48 and 5 yards). This is Smith’s fi rst year as a fulltime starter. On the season he’s 178 of 273 (65.2 percent) for 1,870 yards (207.8 average) and 19 TDs with six interceptions. He’s run the ball 64 times for a net gain of 76 yards. He’s been sacked 17 times.

RUNNING GAME COMING AROUNDWith leading rusher Noel Devine (5-8, 180) slowed

by injury for much of the season, WVU recently has turned to sophomore Shawne Alston (5-11, 222), and he has delivered. Against UC he had 17 carries for 75 yards, and Devine, who’s still not 100 percent but is getting better, had 77 on 18 carries. WVU rushed for a season-high 245 yards against UC. For the season Devine has rushed 161 times for 770 yards (4.8-yard average, 85.6 a game) and fi ve TDs. That’s down from last season, when he rushed for 1,465 yards and 13 TDs and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. Alston has rushed 23 times for 107 yards (4.7-yard average). Also a weapon is sophomore fullback Ryan Clarke (6-0, 247), who has rushed 64 times for 230 yards (3.6 average) and two TDs. He ripped off a 20-yard run up the middle on a third-and-short against UC.

SANDERS POISED TO SET SCHOOL RECORDSanders, a 5-7, 179-pound senior fl anker, has 189

receptions, just two shy of the school record set by David Saunders in 1998. In its game notes after dust-ing UC, WVU said, “Sanders should get the record this Saturday at Louisville.” The Cards have been chal-lenged! For the season Sanders leads the team with 52 catches for 528 yards (9.8 per catch, 56.4 a game) and four TDs.

THREE OTHER RECEIVERS POSE THREATSThe Cards can’t afford to pay too much attention to

Devine, because WVU has three other productive re-ceivers. Austin, a 5-9, 173-pound sophomore, actually leads the team in receiving yards per game at 58.7 (44 catches for 528 yards, 12.0 average per catch) and in TD catches with fi ve, and junior Brad Starks (6-3, 190) leads in average yards per catch at 16.1 (16 for 257 and four TDs). Also dangerous is 5-10, 195-pound redshirt freshman Stedman Bailey (17 catches for 231 yards – 13.6 per catch – and three TDs), while Devine is a threat (25 catches for 130 yards and a TD).

TURNOVERS HAVE BEEN A PROBLEMWVU is tied for 83rd in the country in turnover mar-

gin at minus-.33, which is perhaps the main reason for the team’s inconsistency. The Mountaineers have 10 interceptions as opposed to seven by their foes, but they’ve lost 12 fumbles while recovering only six. Against Syracuse Smith threw three interceptions, and WVU lost four fumbles against UConn, the fi nal one coming in OT when the Mountaineers had a fi rst and goal at the 2-yard line. But they made just two TOs against UC, Smith’s INT and a fumble late in the game by a backup.

“As you can see, it was just a tale of turnovers,” Smith said of the difference between the UC victory and the two previous losses. “It’s the same amount of yards. It’s the same effort. It’s when we turn it over we lose.”

BITANCOURT A CAPABLE FG KICKERSophomore place-kicker Tyler Bitancourt is having

another good year following a very good freshman campaign, when he made 13 of 15 FG attempts. This season he’s 9 of 12, but he’s only 1 of 3 from beyond 40 yards.

PUNTING GAME AVERAGESenior Greg Pugnetti is averaging 41.7 yards on 51

punts, with 19 downed inside the 20, but his net punt-ing average (36.82 yards) ranks fourth in the Big East and 53rd in the country.

ALL-TIME SERIESUofL and WVU have met 11 times in a series that

dates to 1984, with the Mountaineers holding a 9-2 advantage. They have won the last three. The Cards’ two wins came in their 1990 Fiesta Bowl season (9-7) and in their 2006 Orange Bowl season (44-34). The latter victory was a signature one. Both teams were undefeated, WVU was ranked No. 3, and the nationally televised night game was played before a PJCS jam-packed with a frenzied White-Out crowd.

HEAD COACHHEAD COACHBILL STEWARTBILL STEWART

RB NOEL DEVINERB NOEL DEVINE

2010 SCHEDULEDATE OPPONNENT TIME/RESULT

Sept. 4, 2010 Coastal Carolina W, 31-0

Sept. 10, 2010 at Marshall W, 24-21

Sept. 18, 2010 Maryland (ESPNU) W, 31-17

Sept. 25, 2010 at LSU L, 20-14

Oct. 9, 2010 UNLV W, 49-10

Oct. 14, 2010 South Florida W, 20-6

Oct. 23, 2010 Syracuse L, 19-14

Oct. 29, 2010 at Connecticut L, 16-13

Nov. 13, 2010 Cincinnati W, 37-10

Nov. 20, 2010 at Louisville 12 Noon

Nov. 26, 2010 at Pittsburgh TBA

Dec. 4, 2010 Rutgers TBA

2009 RESULTSDATE OPPONNENT RESULT RECORD Sept. 5, 2009 Liberty W 33-20 1-0 Sept. 12, 2009 East Carolina W 35-20 2-0 Sept. 19, 2009 at Auburn L 41-30 2-1 Oct. 1, 2009 Colorado W 35-24 3-1 Oct. 10, 2009 at Syracuse W 34-13 4-1 (1-0) Oct. 17, 2009 Marshall W 24-7 5-1 Oct. 24, 2009 Connecticut W 28-24 6-1 (2-0) Oct. 30, 2009 at South Florida L 30-19 6-2 (2-1) Nov. 7, 2009 Louisville W 17-9 7-2 (3-1) Nov. 13, 2009 at Cincinnati L 24-21 7-3 (3-2) Nov. 27, 2009 Pittsburgh W 19-16 8-3 (4-2) Dec. 5, 2009 at Rutgers W 24-21 9-3 (5-2) Jan. 1, 2010 vs. Florida State L 33-21 9-4

WES

T V

IRGI

NIA

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NTA

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FAST FACTS- WEST VIRGINIA PLAYS TWO OF THE TOP

THREE TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE RIGHT BEFORE VISITJNG LOUISVILLE AND THEN RIVAL PITTS-

BURGH THE WEEK AFTER.

- THE MOUNTAINEERS HAVE WON BOWL GAMES IN FOUR OF THE LAST FIVE SEASONS.

TEAM BREAKDOWN

NOVEMBER 20, 2010

LOUISVILLEVS.

WEST VIRGINIALOUISVILLE, KY

12 Noon


CARDINAL STARSMICHAEL EATON - CROSS COUNTRYThe redshirt senior from Bowling Green, Ky., earned his fourth all-Region honor with a fourth-place fi nish at the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regional Saturday at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park in Louisville. He covered the 10,000-meter course in 30:20.02 and helped Louisville fi nish fi fth in the region as a team. Because the Cardinals fi nished ahead of nationally ranked Virginia, they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships, which will held next Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

AUSTIN BERRY - MEN’S SOCCERThe redshirt junior from Cincinnati was named Big East Defender of the Year at last Thursday’s Big East Soccer Awards Banquet in Short Hills, N.J. Berry, who was the second UofL player to be named Defender of the Year (Phil Edginton won the award last season), helped Louisville achieve an undefeated season. He started all 16 regular-season games and helped UofL attain a 0.56 goal-against average and a .750 save percentage. Berry also fi nished the regular season with three goals and two assists.

DYLAN MARES - MEN’S SOCCERAlso honored at the banquet was Mares. The freshman forward from Zionsville, Ind., is the second Louisville player to earn Big East Rookie of the Year honors after Colin Rolfe won the award in 2008. Mares led the team with 18 points in the regular season and recorded a team-high eight goals. His 1.38 points-per-game average ranked fi fth in the league, and his 0.62 goals per game was fourth. He earned Big East Rookie of the Week honors twice this season (Sept. 27 and Oct. 25) and Big East Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4. Mares was named to the All-Big East second team and, of course, the All-Rookie team.

ANDRE BOUDREAUX - MEN’S SOCCERThe junior goalkeeper from New Orleans stopped two of the fi ve penalty kicks he faced and got a hand on another one in a remarkable display of quickness and nerves of steel during the penalty-kick overtime period to decide the Big East Tournament champions Sunday at Red Bull Park in Harrison, N.J. Boudreaux, who fi nished the season with a remarkably good 0.56 goals-against average, blocked the fi nal Providence attempt to clinch the championship for UofL and then leaped to his feet and sprinted down the fi eld before he was wrangled by teammates in a dog-pile celebration near midfi eld.

LOLA ARSLANBEKOVA - VOLLEYBALLThe sophomore from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, had 15 kills and two blocks to lead Louisville to a 15-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-13 victory over Syracuse in the fi nal regular-season Big East match. “Syracuse was playing with such emotion from their Senior Day ceremonies in the fi rst set,” coach Leonid Yelin said. “We just had to stay even-keeled and take care of ourselves and hopefully let them burn out a little bit after the strong start.” UofL hit .406 for the match and outblocked the Orange 12-5. The Cardinals improved to 18-7, 12-2 in the Big East and clinched the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament.

BILAL POWELL - FOOTBALLThe senior from Clermont, Fla., had 140 yards on 31 carries against South Florida Saturday, just a week after being held out of action against Syracuse because of a bruised knee. Powell reached the 100-yard mark for the sixth time this season and seventh time in his career. The six 100-yard games in one season ranks third in school history, tied with Michael Bush in 2005, Anthony Shelman in 1994 and Deon Booker in 1988. The record holders are Frank Moreau (1999) and Walter Peacock (1973), who each had seven in a season. Powell could match or surpass that record with two (or three with a bowl) games left this season. Powell has 1,207 yards this season. He was named a semifi nalist for the Doak Walker award last week.

ROBERT HALL - MEN’S TENNISThe junior from Bowling Green, Ky., won the Bryant Draw Consolation Championship at the Crimson Tide Fall Invitational Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Hall defeated Radford’s Stijn Meulemans 6-2, 6-2 in the consolation title match to cap a 3-1 run in the tournament. He posted an 8-5 singles record last season, which tied for the team lead. He also paired with Alejandro Calligari for a 9-3 doubles record.

ARSLANBEKOVAARSLANBEKOVA

BERRYBERRY

EATONEATON

MARESMARES

BOUDREAUXBOUDREAUX

POWELLPOWELL

HALLHALL

HOWIE LINDSEY’SHOWIE LINDSEY’S

OF THE WEEKOF THE WEEK


By Jeff WaffordUniversity of Louisville basketball coach

Rick Pitino and his staff signed four play-ers to National Letters of Intent last week, good for the No. 7 recruiting class in the

nation, according to Ri-vals.com.

The class includes a trio of players ranked inside the top 100 – Chane Behanan (a 6-7 power forward), Wayne Blackshear (a 6-5 small forward) and Zach Price (a 6-11 center) – along with Angel Nunez (a 6-7

small forward).“This is a terrifi c recruiting class for us,”

Pitino said. “…It’s a terrifi c recruiting class because all the young men have the atti-tude I want to coach. All the young men have tremendous upside, they can improve a great deal, and they are all players that can play right away, so we are very excited to announce this recruiting class.”

The highest-rated player in the class is Behanan, a fi ve-star power forward from Bowling Green H.S. (Ky.) who is rated as the No. 5 power forward in this class and No. 23 player overall. Behanan also had scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Ken-tucky, Connecticut, West Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio State.

“Chane Behanan reminds me of Rodney McCray,” Pitino said. “Some people tried to say (Jamal) Mashburn, but he really re-minds me more of Rodney McCray. He has guard skills as well as forward skills, and that is the highest compliment because I thought Rodney McCray was a great bas-ketball player.

“(Chane) is explosive; he’ll do some things jumping-wise that I don’t quite be-lieve for his size. When you look at him you think of someone that is very powerful, but you can’t imagine how high he jumps. He’s a very good passer, he can score, he can play multiple positions, he can step away from the basket and he can post up. He uses screens well, he’s very physical and he’ll be a terrifi c Big East basketball player.”

Blackshear (6-5, 210) is a four-star small forward from Morgan Park H.S. (Chicago) who is rated as the No. 9 player at his posi-tion and the No. 32 player overall in the class of 2011. Blackshear chose the Cards over Illinois, Kentucky, Texas and others.

“Wayne is a young man that just has tre-mendous potential,” Pitino said. “He has as much potential as any player I have ever recruited because he is 6-5, long, a terrifi c defensive player, a very good rebounder from the guard spot, a good shooter. He is an explosive jumper, and he’s ... got the whole package.”

Pitino scoffed at reports over the last several months that Blackshear had looked at other schools after making his initial commitment to the Cards last year, indi-cating he and his coaches felt confi dent in Blackshear’s commitment all along.

Price (6-11, 240) is a four-star center from Jeffersontown H.S. (Louisville) who is rated as the No. 6 center and No. 72 overall player in the class of 2011. Price also con-sidered Ohio State, Cincinnati and others.

“Zach Price is a young man that also has great upside,” Pitino said. “He is 6-10, 6-11, and he’s a lefty, which poses problems for people.... He has a very good touch.”

The fi nal player announced by Pitino was Angel Nunez (6-7, 180), a small for-

ward from Notre Dame Academy (Mass.) who is rated as a three-star player. Nunez, who chose the Cardinals over offers from Arkansas, Arizona, St. John’s, West Virginia and several others, actually sent his letter of intent in a day later than the rest of the group because his mother in New York City had to sign the paperwork before it could be sent to UofL.

“I watched him play as a sophomore and I liked him a lot,” Pitino said of Nunez. “(I) saw him play early on as a junior, and we got off him. Then I saw him again and really liked him again. I think he has the attributes that I witnessed in Francisco Garcia.... He is going to need a strength program, but he has very good basketball skills.”

“He is a very good shooter; he has that high arching shot like Francisco did,” Pitino added. “He is a very good passer. He is somebody that I think has loads of poten-tial. But like Gorgui (Dieng) and like Fran-cisco, he has to get stronger physically.”

Overall, Pitino called the group a “ter-rifi c” set of players who are not only good athletes but also “very good basketball players.”

“They can all pass, catch and shoot,” he explained. “Zach at 6-foot-11 is a very good basketball player who really under-stands the game. I think Wayne is a great athlete, but he is also a terrifi c basketball player. He understands what to do with the basketball, he understands how to play defense, he understands passing. Chane probably has got the most to learn because he is going to have to play multiple posi-tions when he gets here. He is also very advanced as a basketball player. Angel is in the same boat. They are all very good basketball players and athletes.”

Pitino noted that UofL will be taking a trip to Australia prior to next season, which would give the young group of players an extra 10 days of practice to get acquainted with their new teammates and the UofL system.

The Cards’ four-man class ranks them seventh overall and third in the Big East. Kentucky holds the No. 1 ranking, with four players ranked in the top 25. St. John’s is rated No. 2 with a whopping six commit-ments, fi ve of whom are rated in the top 100. Duke, North Carolina, Arkansas and Syracuse also rank ahead of the Cardinals. Texas, Arizona and Illinois round out the top 10. Western Kentucky snuck into the rankings at No. 25.

Another interesting note about the 2011 class is that Pitino may not be done adding to it. Heading into signing day, Pitino was awaiting a decision from at least one player – 5-11 point guard Angel Rodriguez from Dr. Krop H.S. (Miami). The three-star guard committed to Kansas State but did not sign a letter of intent, meaning he still can be recruited before he signs in the spring.

However, Pitino mentioned recently that depending on the play of freshman point guard Elisha Justice he may not recruit a point guard in the 2011 class. That could become an interesting storyline to follow as the season goes on.

While only a handful of top-100 recruits remain uncommitted and unsigned at this point, funny things can start happening when coaches leave schools or when play-ers opt out of LOIs for other reasons. It’s not entirely out of the question that Pitino could also look toward the junior college ranks.

CARDS SIGN FOUR, CLASS IS RANKED NO. 7 IN THE NATION

JEFF WAFFORDJEFF WAFFORD

RIVALS.COM’S

2011 TEAM RANKINGS

RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

John Calipari is at it again with his third consecutive No. 1 recruiting class at Kentucky. Teague, a dynamic point guard, and Gilchrist, a versa-tile small forward, are the top prospects at their position. Power forwards Davis and Wiltjer are both multi-talented post players and inside/outside threats.

Steve Lavin is making a statement with his 2011 recruiting. He has three four-star forwards headed to St. John’s. Pointer, Sampson and Harkless are athletic, versatile forwards who can contribute in multiple ways. Four-star combo guard D’Angelo Harrison is a scoring machine. JUCO standout Nurideen Lindsey is also known for his ability to fi ll it up. The jewel of the class, however, is Pelle, a fi ve-star post man who is bubbling over with athleticism

Austin Rivers, the top prospect in the country, puts Duke in the No. 3 spot nationally and top spot in the ACC. Steady point guard Cook gives Duke a top-tier backcourt. Gbinije gives the reigning national champions a mul-tidimensional wing player with a complete game. Plumlee, a four-star center, brings length and athleticism to the Duke frontcourt.

Rival programs better have gotten their licks in last year because Roy Wil-liams is adding more top-fl ight talent to an already deep roster. McAdoo is as quick as any power forward in the country and Hairston is a bruising scorer with deep range.

The pressure is on John Pelphrey and his staff to produce, and they are doing so on the recruiting trail. Young blew up over the spring and sum-mer and is among the nation’s most explosive scorers. Madden is a versa-tile combo guard on the cusp of being a fi ve-star. Mickelson is a swift big man from in-state and Ross is another local product who can score facing the hoop. Abron, another ranked power forward, rounds out the class.

Syracuse has a second consecutive top 10 recruiting class. Christmas is one of the top shot-blockers in the 2011 class. A talented combo guard, Carter-Williams, is loaded with upside. Rounding out Syracuse’s class is Cooney, who will be expected to knock down shots from the wing.

Texas lost the commitment of top-10 prospect DeAndre Daniels, but the Longhorns still retain a top-10 recruiting class. Kabongo, a speedy point guard, leads the class. McClellan and Lewis are both athletic wing pros-pects who know how to score. A four-star prospect, Holmes, provides size to the class.

Sean Miller is working hard to put Arizona back on top and he’s got the best early class on the West Coast. Arizona native Nick Johnson is a high-light waiting to happen and Sidiki Johnson is a rugged rebounder who can score in the post. Top-10 prospect and the No. 2-ranked point guard Josiah Turner is the jewel of the three-man class.

Bruce Weber and his staff continue to lock down local four-star talent. Henry is a wing with size and scoring punch, while Abrams is among the top fl oor generals in the country. Shaw is a physical and versatile forward. Egwu needs work offensively but has size and blocks shots.

1. KENTUCKY2011 commits (National rank)PG Marquis Teague (2)SF Mike Gilchrist (3)PF Anthony Davis (6)PF Kyle Wiltjer (25)

2. ST. JOHN’S2011 commits (National rank)C Norvel Pelle (19)SG D’Angelo Harrison (41)SF Jakarr Sampson (44)SF Maurice Harkless (45)SF Dominique Pointer (81)SG Nurideen Lindsey

3. DUKE2011 commits (National rank)SG Austin Rivers (1)PG Quinn Cook (28)SF Michael Gbinije (31)C Marshall Plumlee (82)

4. NORTH CAROLINA2011 commits (National rank)PF James McAdoo (8)SF P.J. Hairston (14)

5. ARKANSAS2011 commits (National rank)PG B.J. Young (18)PG Ky Madden (27)PF Hunter Mickelson (98)PF Devonta Abron (106)PF Aaron Ross (147)

6. SYRACUSE2011 commits (National rank)C Rakeem Christmas (12)PG Michael Carter-Williams (16)SG Trevor Cooney

7. LOUISVILLE2011 commits (National rank)PF Chane Behanan (23)SF Wayne Blackshear (32)C Zach Price (72)SF Angel Nunez

8. TEXAS2011 commits (National rank)PG Myck Kabongo (24)SG Sheldon McClellan (52)PF Jonathan Holmes (83)SG Julien Lewis (96)

9. ARIZONA2011 commits (National rank)PG Josiah Turner (10)SG Nick Johnson (40)PF Sidiki Johnson (71)

10. ILLINOIS2011 commits (National rank)SF Mycheal Henry (36)PG Tracy Abrams (50)PF Mike Shaw (58)C Nnanna Egwu (93)

With his off-the-court drama behind him, Rick Pitino can continue to fo-cus on a potential blockbuster class. Behanan is a tough, physical scorer with offensive skill. Blackshear is a no-nonsense wing. Price and Taylor give the Cardinals added versatility inside and on the wing.


KFC Yum! Center OPENING PHOTO GALLERYSELECTED FALL SPORTS SCHEDULESCARDINAL FOOTBALL

D

MAKE YOUR PICKSLAST WEEK:

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KENT TAYLORWAVE TV

LAST WEEK: 6-4OVERALL: 71-39

TERRY MEINERSWHAS RADIO


GARRY GUPTONINSIGHT CH 2 TV


RUSS BROWNSPORTSREPORT


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MATT WILLINGERSPORTSREPORT


HOWIE LINDSEYSPORTSREPORT


DREW DEENERWHAS PLAY-BY-PLAY

WKRD RADIOLAST WEEK: 5-5OVERALL: 71-39

Each week members of our esteemed media panel will try to prove they are smarter than sportscaster Tom Lane. Longtime

Louisville SportsReport subscribers will remember that our media members used to test their football knowledge against a dog, but that proved to be far too challenging. The panel will battle it out by trying to pick the winners of 10 games per week during the college football season to earn the honor of top dog

in the LSR’s Top Tom contest.

ZACH McCRITE93.9 THE TICKET


WEST VIRGINIA AT LOUISVILLE WEST VIRGINIA LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLEPITTSBURGH AT SOUTH FLORIDA PITTSBURGH SOUTH FLORIDA PITTSBURGHFRESNO STATE AT BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATECONNECTICUT AT SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSERUTGERS AT CINCINNATI UC UC UCWISCONSIN AT MICHIGAN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN UMVIRGINIA TECH AT MIAMI VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH MIAMIOHIO STATE AT IOWA IOWA IOWA OHIO STATEARKANSAS AT MISSISSIPPI STATE ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSASNEBRASKA AT TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS CORNHUSKERS CORNHUSKERS

JACK COFFEESPORTSREPORT


U OF L PRESIDENTJAMES RAMSEY


JEFF WAFFORDSPORTSREPORT


LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE WEST VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA LOUISVILLE WEST VIRGINIA LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLEPITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH SOUTH FLORIDA PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGHBOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATESYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE CONNECTICUT SYRACUSERUTGERS UC UC UC UC UC UC RUTGERS UC UC

WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN UM WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSINVIRGINIA TECH MIAMI VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH MIAMI MIAMI VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH

OHIO STATE IOWA OHIO STATE IOWA OHIO STATE IOWA IOWA OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATEARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSASTEXAS A&M TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS CORNHUSKERS TEXAS A&M TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS CORNHUSKERS

DEB HARBSMEIERWHAS TV TEAM


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TONY VANETTIAFTERNOON UNDERDOGS

WKRD RADIOLAST WEEK: 3-7OVERALL: 65-45

LOUISVILLE WEST VIRGINIA LOUISVILLE WEST VIRGINIA WEST VIRGINIA LOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH SOUTH FLORIDA PITTSBURGH BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE BOISE STATE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE SYRACUSE CONNECTICUT SYRACUSE SYRACUSE UC RUTGERS RUTGERS UC UC UC RUTGERS WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN WISCONSIN VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH MIAMI VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH VIRGINIA TECH OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE OHIO STATE IOWA OHIO STATE ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS ARKANSAS MISSISSIPPI STATE ARKANSAS CORNHUSKERS TEXAS A&M TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS TEXAS A&M CORNHUSKERS TEXAS A&M

L O U I S V I L L E B E A T S B U T L E R

Hakeem Smith tackled USF’s Bradley Battles during Hakeem Smith tackled USF’s Bradley Battles during Saturday’s game. Smith has been one of the brightest stars Saturday’s game. Smith has been one of the brightest stars on Louisville’s defense this season. - photo by Dave Klotzon Louisville’s defense this season. - photo by Dave Klotz

HAKEEM LIVIN’ THE DREAM

Sophomore Peyton Siva looked up at the scoreboard and Sophomore Peyton Siva looked up at the scoreboard and smiled during Louisville’s win over No. 16 Butler Tuesday night smiled during Louisville’s win over No. 16 Butler Tuesday night at the new KFC Yum! Center. - photo by Dave Klotzat the new KFC Yum! Center. - photo by Dave Klotz


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONLOUISVILLE BASKETBALL

By Russ BrownStephan Van Treese will probably have an

expanded role on this year’s University of Lou-isville basketball team, but that doesn’t mean the 6-foot-9 sophomore forward is suddenly going to turn into a scoring machine.

Scoring isn’t Van Treese’s forte’. It’s the other things, like running the fl oor, rebound-ing and playing defense, that will earn him minutes on the Cardinals’ front line, which

will be shorthanded until -- or if -- junior forward Jared Swopshire returns from his injury.

“Van Treese is without ego,” UofL coach Rick Pitino said. “He doesn’t care about scoring. He just cares about rebound-

ing, getting up and down the fl oor, setting great screens. He’s a totally selfl ess player who just helps the team win.”

Even in high school, Van Treese wasn’t a prolifi c scorer. He averaged a modest 12.3 points for Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis as a senior, while also contibut-ing 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 blocked shots.

“Throughout my whole career I’ve never had to score for my team to win,” Van Treese said. “I usually just do whatever it takes for my team to win. I don’t care about scor-ing too much. I run the fl oor real well and concentrate on getting the ball out on fast breaks, rebounding, blocking shots, doing all the hustle things.”

Watching Van Treese in high school, Pitino realized he wasn’t getting a scorer, but he liked the other things he saw. Other schools, however, were apparently turned off by Van Treese’s relative lack of offensive production. UCLA and other major programs who had recruited him as a sophomore and junior fell by the wayside.

“He’s not someone who’s going to score a lot of points,” Pitino said. “He’s not going to blow you away with his scoring ability. But he makes his team win.”

As a freshman last season Van Treese saw limited action for the Cards, appearing in 16 games for a total of only 44 minutes. But his improvement, coupled with the indefi nite absence of Swopshire, should lead to much more time on the court this season.

Just how much remains to be seen, but he drew a starting assignment in UofL’s exhi-bition game against Kentucky Wesleyan last week and played 19 minutes in the Cards’ 96-54 rout. He had nine points, eight re-bounds and three steals while hitting 4 of 5 shots.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better since last season,” he said. “Just by playing in Coach P’s system and learning how he runs every-thing, this year I feel a lot more confi dent in my play. I feel great. I’m running the fl oor, been in the weight room, so I feel a lot stron-ger.”

Pitino said there are certain combinations that play better together, and that Van Treese meshes well with 6-10 freshman Gorgui Di-eng.

“Van Treese may be better with certain people. He plays very well with Gorgui,” Pi-tino said.

Said Van Treese: “Me and Gorgui, we’ve been playing real well together. He can pass the ball really well, and he’s tall and really long. It’s hard for people to block me out be-cause I’m going for every offensive rebound, and then they have to worry about Gorgui. Us going to the boards, it’s pretty hard for the other team to get the rebound. It’s work-ing out nice. He’s a character, but we play real well together.”

Van Treese is one of four sophomores who have improved signifi cantly and fi gure to have more of an impact this season, the others being forward Rakeem Buckles and guards Peyton Siva and Mike Marra.

Siva is the starting point guard, Buckles fi gured to start in the season-opener against Butler Tuesday night, and Marra should get plenty of quality minutes off the bench, and maybe a starting assignment now and then. Marra led the Cards against Wesleyan with 22 points on 6 of 8 three-point shooting.

“I think all the sophomores are signifi cant-ly better,” Pitino said. “I think you take your biggest leap from freshman to sophomore season, and all four guys have done that. I think freshman year they’re trying to almost memorize, they just can’t play instinctively. They’re trying to learn new offenses, trying to learn new defenses, different terminol-ogy. The second year they just rely on their instincts, and it’s much easier for them.

“From freshman to sophomore year, un-less you’re a ready-made high school All-American who’s going to go to the pros, they just make the normal progression, and that

whole class has improved dramatically.”Van Treese said that over the summer all

four sophomores were in the gym pushing each other to get better.

“That’s how the sophomore class is; we’re hard-working,” he said. “Just knowing what the expectations are before the season and what we needed to work on during the sum-mer was important. Last year I didn’t really know what to expect. This year I know more what my role is, so I knew what to try and do.”

Starting center Terrence Jennings is a ju-nior, so he can identify with the sophomores, what they went through as rookies and how they advanced going into their second sea-son in the program.

“It comes with maturity, understand-ing the game and learning and listening to Coach P and playing hard,” he said.

Pitino said he isn’t as hard on freshmen now as he used to be, which is undoubtedly good news to this year’s rookie class of Dieng and guards Elijah Justice, Russ Smith, Tim Henderson and Mark Jackson Jr.

“I’m not as diffi cult on them as you may think,” Pitino said. “Ten years ago was dif-ferent. But you realize you’re dealing with a spoiled culture, and you realize how to deal with them. I’m more tough physically on them than I am mentally. It’s different times, different person. If you watched our practices 10 years ago and today you would say it’s the same drills, same intensity, but it’s just that the players are different in terms of their mental approach and how you deal with them.”

NOTE: Swopshire has missed all of pre-season practice so far with a groin injury, and Pitino said the 6-8 junior who was UofL’s top returning scorer and rebounder (7.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is “out for the long haul.” Pitino added that he doesn’t expect Swopshire to be an “impact player” until late February, at best.


Sophomores Rakeem Buckles and Peyton Siva, freshman Tim Henderson and sophomore Mike

Marra got a charge from the action on the court late in UofL’s 96-54 romp over Kentucky Wesleyan last Thursday. - photo by Dave Klotz

‘SELFLESS’ VAN TREESE PART OF IMPROVED SOPHOMORE QUARTETCARDS LINEUP IS A GUESSING GAMEBy Russ BrownDon’t get to used to the starting lineup you saw against Butler Tuesday night. It could change when the Cardinals meet Jackson State Saturday night. And again on Monday when Chattanooga visits the KFC Yum! Center. And again ... Well, you get the idea.UofL coach Rick Pitino said he has so many players who are relatively equal, but with various attributes, that the Cards’ starting lineup and substitution pattern may be in a state of fl ux for the foreseeable future.The only sure starters at this stage are point guard Peyton Siva and center Terrence Jennings. You’d seemingly have to put sophomore forward Rakeem Buckles, who came on strong down the stretch last season, in that category, too. But Pitino isn’t sure.One day, Pitino said, he and his coaching staff think Buckles is a starter, then next day Stephan Van Treese, next day Mike Marra, next day Gorgui Dieng, and so on.“Our practices are a lot of fun,” Pitino said. “Every day we come to a different conclusion as to who the starting fi ve is. And I don’t mean in terms of ability. I use the analogy of the (1995-96 championship season) at Kentucky. I tried to start the best fi ve players, but they weren’t the fi ve players who meshed the best together, and when I moved Anthony Epps into the backcourt (at point guard) we became a great basketball team. So we’re trying to fi nd that out right now -- who meshes the best together.”As an indication of the parity on this UofL team, what Pitino considers his second unit has beaten the No. 1 group more often than the fi rst unit has prevailed.“And that’s quite unusual,” Pitino said. “It’s scary, but it could also be a big positive. There are 11 players that are very close; they have different types of skills and talents. Van Treese is the only guy separating himself from the pack right now in terms of hustle plays.“From a starting lineup standpoint, my mind changes every day. I couldn’t tell you who’s starting, who’s not starting. I think we’ve got 11 guys who can play the game. It’s a matter of how we match up defensively that will determine certain things.”Going into the season-opener against Butler, Pitino also said he had no idea what to expect from his team, and he challenged the media to take a guess.“I don’t know our basketball team real well, I really don’t,” he said. “I don’t think if you polled each other on who’s going to be the leading scorer on the team this year, I don’t think you could guess right because I can’t guess right. Who’s going to be the leading rebounder, I couldn’t tell you. The leading assist guy, I’m not too sure about that. Leading steal guy, I’m not too sure. I’ve never been in a situation like that before. It’s interesting.”Pitino said the Big East is also a mystery to him. Pittsburgh was a solid choice to win the championship in the coaches’ preseason poll, but there was very little consensus on the other teams. UofL was tabbed eighth, and Pitino’s pick to win the title was St. John’s.“The Big East this year is really a conference of you don’t know,” Pitino said. “I can’t tell you. You just don’t know until you get into conference play.”Pitino says he does know one thing for certain, however.“We’re going to get a lot better. We have tremendous growth in our team. We’ll improve each week. The great thing about this team is every week we see improvement both offensively and defensively.”Siva said the main things that have become obvious to him at this point are that the Cards have adapted well to the fast-paced style ordered by their coach, and that they’re a good-shooting and well-balanced team.“I’m certain we can get out and run and get each other open shots,” Siva said. “We have great shooters. I don’t think we have anyone the defense can key on.”


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN10 AMAZING AND MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE 2009-2010 SEASONBIG EAST NOTEBOOK

By Russ BrownLouisville’s Charlie Strong wasn’t the only

Big East coach who was in a gambling mood last week. So was Connecticut’s Randy Edsall, and his roll of the dice against Pittsburgh was ultimately more successful than was Strong’s.

Playing in front of a home crowd of 35,391 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford last Thurs-day night on ESPN, UConn faced a fourth-and-1 from its own 19-yard line with 2:50 left

while clinging to a 30-28 lead. Not an inch, a yard.

Edsall decided to give the ball to running back Jordan Todman and go for it. If Pitt stopped Tod-man, all the Panthers would have to do to win the game is make a short

fi eld goal. Pitt would be 4-0 in the Big East, and it would be see you later for the rest of the league.

For UConn (now 5-4 and 3-3) it was sud-den death for the Big East season.

“I think I said, ‘Defense, can you stop them?’” Edsall said. “And before they could answer, I said, ‘We’re going for it.’”

Todman, who fi nished with career highs of 222 yards on 37 carries, then gained 4 yards for the fi rst down, and from there the Huskies ran out the clock.

“I don’t think I could have lived with my-self if I said I’m going to punt the ball,” Edsall said. “Some people might say it takes a lot of cojones to make that call. I took a look in the eyes of the offensive linemen and Jordan, and knowing the heart and guts Todman has, I wanted us to control our own destiny.

“I just saw Pittsburgh take the ball down the fi eld on our defense, boom, boom, boom. I saw what our offensive line had done. I think I would have done a disservice to the offensive team if I took them off the fi eld.”

Said Todman: “I had a lot of confi dence in our offensive line that they would get a good push and I’d just lean forward. I would have never thought of punting -- let’s just run it, get it and put it away.”

UConn did the rest of the league a huge favor. There are four teams in the conference with two losses who now feel that they have a shot at the title -- UConn, Syracuse, USF and West Virginia.

And speaking of Todman, Edsall was stunned that his junior wasn’t selected as a semifi nalist for the Doak Walker Award even though he is the No. 2 rusher in the nation with an average of 147 yards per game. (Uo-fL’s Bilal Powell, No. 5 at 134.1, is on the list.)

“All that stuff is political,” Edsall said. “I think people just look at certain things, and it’s political. Donald Brown should have won it (two years ago). It’s all political. We just worry about doing our stuff on the fi eld. Certain things just amaze you sometimes, but you worry about what you can control, and you know that those kids would trade that stuff for helping their team win.”

PITT MAKES IT HARDERThe loss was a major blow for Pitt (5-4,

3-1), which suffered a meltdown in almost ev-ery phase of the game.

On offense, quarterback Tino Sunseri was off-target and was intercepted twice on Pitt’s fi rst four possessions. On defense, the Pan-thers couldn’t tackle Todman even though they hadn’t given up 100 yards rushing to any back all season.

And on special teams, UConn’s Nick Wil-liams returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touch-down, the Panthers fumbled a fourth-quarter kickoff return, which led to a UConn TD, and usually reliable Dan Hutchins shanked two second-half punts. Ironically, the next day, Hutchins was named one of the 10 semifi nal-ists for the Ray Guy Award, given to the na-tion’s top punter.

“I thought they pushed us around some,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. “I don’t have an answer, except our maturity to play a game on the road on national TV -- we didn’t get it done. We didn’t handle it in any phase. It’s disappointing.”

The Panthers’ margin of error now has shrunk considerably. Pitt has three league games remaining, two of them on the road -- at USF Saturday and at Cincinnati on Dec. 4. The Panthers’ home game is the Backyard Brawl with West Virginia at Heinz Field on Nov. 26.

“We preach Big East, Big East, Big East championship,” running back Ray Graham said. “It was very disappointing to go in there and lose that game. It makes things a lot hard-

er than it should be.”One more loss will take the conference race

and the opportunity to represent the league in a BCS bowl out of Pitt’s hands because tie-breaking rules would come into play. Then al-most anything could happen.

Of course, there are legitimate questions about whether any team in the Big East is worthy of a BCS bowl.

PLAYERS DEFEND STEWARTMaybe West Virginia’s impressive 37-10

rout of Cincinnati in Morgantown last Sat-urday will get some of the fans off the back of WVU coach and all-around nice guy Bill Stewart -- at least until the next loss, which could conceivably come Saturday when the Mountaineers take on Louisville in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Stewart wasn’t a popular choice when he replaced Rich Rodriguez three years ago and hasn’t been able to win over much of the fan base since. Criticism escalated to an all-time high recently after WVU dropped back-to-back Big East games to underdogs Syracuse (19-14) and UConn (16-13 in OT).

Upset fans have made “Fire Bill Stewart” Facebook pages and web sites, and one is sell-ing merchandise with “Fire Coach Stewart” on it.

“If I don’t know about it, obviously it doesn’t affect me,” Stewart said. “But I’m sure there’s a lot of things being said. That’s the right of Americans. We have the right to our opinions.”

Prior to the Cincinnati game, Stewart’s play-ers felt the necessity to defend their coach.

“Most of those people don’t know what’s going on inside these walls,” senior widereceiver Jock Sanders said, adding that hedoesn’t read or listen to what fans are sayingand tells his teammates to do the same.

“I don’t even listen to the good stuff,” he said. “Why listen to the good stuff or the badstuff? Most people don’t even know whatthey’re talking about. Most of these peoplehave never played a down in their entire life.So, why pay attention to those things and letthem get you sidetracked?

“All we can do is go about it and talk to each other inside these walls -- because weknow what’s really going on.”

Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith said Stewart “is a guy we look up to and listen to”and that Stewart “lifts us up and builds ourconfi dence.”

“I can see, from a fan’s point of view, it can be frustrating because you don’t want yourteam to lose,” Smith added. “And as players,it can be frustrating because you don’t wantto lose either, and you’re out there playinghard. Every team practices hard and comesout with the intent to win every game andevery play.”

JONES EQUALS KELLY ... IN LOSSESHard to believe, but with UC’s loss to WVU

Bearcats coach Butch Jones has lost as manygames in his fi rst year -- six -- as predecessorBrian Kelly lost in his three seasons.

“We’re going through some things that are uncharted water right now, for our coachesand for our players,” Jones said. “Our faith isbeing tested, but through adversity we’ll bestronger. We’re going to be fi ne.We’re goingto do this the right way.”

Cincinnati’s only Big East victory was 35-27 over Louisville on Oct. 15 in PJCS. Sincethen the Bearcats (3-6, 1-3) have lost three ina row -- to USF, Syracuse and WVU. They’llhost Rutgers Saturday, travel to UConn Nov.27, then end the season at home against Pitton Dec. 4.

“It’s the small things,” Jones said. “It’s the details. And right now we don’t play with at-tention to detail. It’s frustrating, and you’vejust got to keep working on it.”

The UC offense was hoping to get a boost from the return of quarterback Zach Collaros,who missed the Syracuse game with a bruisedleft knee. But Collaros was intercepted twice,lost a fumble, took a safety when he wascalled for intentional grounding in the endzone and was sacked fi ve times. He fi nished25 of 45 for 221 yards, with no touchdowns.

Like his teammates and coaches, center Ja-son Kelce is having a hard time fi guring outwhy the Bearcats’ season has turned into sucha disaster after back-to-back Big East cham-pionships.

“The only thing I can think of is lack of at-tention,” Kelce said. “I think at the beginningof the year we lacked a lot of passion. Nowwe come out and we want to play, but I don’tthink the guys really focus on just making surethat you don’t make a mistake. It’s getting


UConn coach Randy Edsall, with the Huskies clinging to a 30-28 lead over

Pittsburgh, went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 19-yard line with 2:50

left. The gamble paid off, and UConn handed Pitt its fi rst conference loss.

- photo by BigEast.org

H U S K I E S G I V E A N A S S I S T T O O T H E R L E A G U E H O P E F U L S

EDSALL’S 4TH-DOWN GAMBLE PAYS OFF AS UCONN STUNS PITT


BIG EAST NOTEBOOK

very old very fast.”ORANGE A MAJOR SUCCESS STORYYou could have made a lot of money bet-

ting that Syracuse (7-3, 4-2) would become one of the fi rst Big East teams to become bowl eligible this season. But after edging Rutgers 13-10, the Orange -- picked to fi n-ish next-to-last in the league in the coaches’ preseason poll -- is assured of making its fi rst bowl appearance since 2004.

Syracuse, the only Big East team currently receiving votes in the AP top 25, is writing one of college football’s biggest success sto-ries this season, and coach Doug Marrone believes there are more chapters to come.

“I just came out of the locker room where I told the players there’s a lot of great stories on this team,” Marrone said minutes after the win over Rutgers had guaranteed Syra-cuse’s fi rst winning record since 2001. “I said those stories need to come out.”

Marrone added that he is “excited for the kids,” adding, “I’m not a person who doesn’t have a personality. I might not show it, but inside of me is such a great joy for the players. And not just for the players. It starts with them, but for the community and the fans and the lettermen.

“We’re not where we need to be yet. We’re not even close. But I think now people realize we’re moving in the right direction.”

Freshman Ross Krautman provided the winning points for Syracuse with a 24-yard fi eld goal with 1:07 remaining at Rutgers Stadium.

“I think the way the game ended showed a lot about what’s gone on in this program,” Marrone said. “They’re a team of great char-acter. They trust in each other. They believe in each other.”

“It’s awesome,” senior punter Rob Long said. “We had tears of joy. We knew we did it as a team.”

Krautman is now 15 of 16 on fi eld-goal tries this season.

RUTGERS QB PICTURE MUDDLEDRutgers (4-5, 1-3), which will host UofL

in the Cards’ season fi nale on Nov. 26, con-tinues to play musical chairs with its quar-terbacks -- sophomore Tom Savage and true freshman Chas Dodd.

Savage lost his starting job to Dodd before the Pitt game on Oct. 23, benched as much for his performance as for several nagging injuries. Dodd then made three consecutive starts but was replaced by Savage at the start of the second half against Syracuse.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said he turned to Savage because, “I didn’t think we were very productive. Sometimes you just have to do what you believe is best. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. You’ve got to do what you think at the moment.”

Dodd had completed just 3 of 11 passes for 30 yards in the fi rst half, with two sacks, and had missed several open receivers. Sav-age came on to complete 6 of 12 for 76 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also was sacked twice.

No word on which QB will start Saturday at Cincinnati.

With the loss to Syracuse, Rutgers’ streak

of fi ve straight bowl appearances is in jeop-ardy, with the Scarlet Knights needing to win two of their last three games to become eli-gible.

“You don’t look at it as winning two of the fi nal three,” Schiano said. “You look at it as winning one of one. As long as I’m the head coach, you won’t see us hit the panic button here. We have a way of doing things. At times it has worked very well, other times medium, and other times not so well.

“But that’s the way we do it. I really do hope that in doing that it’ll help us be success-ful against Cincinnati. As we’ve seen, there are no guarantees. But I know one thing, if we try any other way it won’t work.”

‘NOVA PLAYER BENCHEDVillanova freshman basketball player Jay-

Vaughn Pinkston has been charged with two counts of simple assault and harassment by police and will not play in any games for the Wildcats pending the results of an internal review, the university said last week.

Pinkston, a 6-foot-7, 260-pound forward from Brooklyn, N.Y., was involved in an in-cident with several other students at a party in Upper Merion, a Philadelphia suburb, ac-cording to a statement issued by the univer-sity. Upper Merion police said offi cers had to go to a hospital to take an assault report.

Villanova issued the following: “Villanova has opened its own internal review to de-termine whether Code of Student Conduct violations had occurred in this matter. The university is moving forward with this review as quickly and diligently as possible in order to assure fairness to everyone.”

The university said Pinkston will be allowed to practice and participate in team activities but will not play in games.

“JayVaughn is very aware of the serious-ness of this matter and how it could impact the team,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said in the statement. “He understands there is a great lesson to be learned here.”

Pinkston was named a McDonald’s All-American at Bishop Loughlin High School. He also was named New York City’s Player of the Year as a senior.

His absence leaves the Wildcats with eight available scholarship players.

HOYAS’ AYEGBA TO SIT A WHILEGeorgetown freshman Moses Ayegba has

been ruled ineligible for the season’s fi rst nine games by the NCAA for a violation of its pre-enrollment rules.

According to a statement from coach John Thompson III, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound center from Kano, Nigeria, received a plane ticket to the United States from someone outside of his immediate family.

“Because of this, the NCAA has ruled that he is ineligible for the fi rst nine contests,” Thompson said in the statement.

Georgetown appealed the NCAA’s ruling, but it was rejected.

Ayegba played at Progressive Christian Academy in Camp Springs, Md., where he averaged 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 blocks per game. He’s one of four George-town freshmen expected to see playing time this season.

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KEEP UP ON ALL THE LATEST CARDINAL NEWS!AMERICA’S FOREMOST AUTHORITY ON UofL ATHLETICS

BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEKGeno Smith • So. • QB • West Virginia • Miami, Fla.

BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Lawrence Wilson • Sr. • LB • Connecticut • Tuscaloosa, Ala.

BIG EAST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Ross Krautman • Fr. • K • Syracuse • Franklin Lakes, N.J.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

Jordan Todman, RB, Connecticut — Had career highs of 37 carries and 222 rushing yards in a 30-28 win against Pittsburgh.

Bilal Powell, RB, Louisville — Had a career-high 31 carries for 140 yards

in a 24-21 overtime loss to USF.

Jeremy Deering, WR, Rutgers — Rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries in a 13-10 loss to Syracuse.

Maikon Bonani, K, USF — Hit 3-of-4 fi eld goal attempts, including

the gamewinner in overtime, in a 24-21 win at Louisville..

Derrell Smith, LB, Syracuse — Had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks in a 13-10 win at Rutgers.

BIG EAST WEEKLY HONORS - NOV. 15


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN

2010-11 WOMEN’S SCHEDULE

DATE OPPONENT SITE TIME RECORD OCTOBER 30 Indiana Wesleyan (Exh) KFC Yum! Center W, 67-42

NOVEMBER 12 TENNESSEE KFC Yum! Center L, 63-50 0-114 at Ohio University Athens, Ohio W, 84-47 1-117 HOUSTON BAPTIST KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 19 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 23 at Xavier Cincinnati, Ohio 7 p.m. 26 at Old Dominion Norfolk, Va. 7 p.m. 29 at IPFW Fort Wayne, Ind. 7 p.m.

DECEMBER 2 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 5 KENTUCKY KFC Yum! Center 2 p.m.11 DAYTON KFC Yum! Center 4 p.m. 15 at Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 7 p.m.18-20 Dual in the Desert Las Vegas, Nev. 18 vs. Marist Las Vegas, Nev. 4:30 p.m. 19 vs. Houston Las Vegas, Nev. 7:00 p.m. 20 vs. Nebraska Las Vegas, Nev. 9:30 p.m. 28 UT-MARTIN KFC Yum! Center 7:00 p.m.

JANUARY 4 ST. JOHN’S KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 9 PITTSBURGH KFC Yum! Center NOON 12 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 7 p.m. 15 at Connecticut Hartford, Conn NOON22 CINCINNATI KFC Yum! Center 2 p.m. 26 at Marquette Milwaukee, Wis. 8 p.m. 29 RUTGERS KFC Yum! Center 6 p.m.

FEBRUARY 1 GEORGETOWN KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m.6 at Villanova Philadelphia, Pa. 2 p.m. 13 WEST VIRGINIA KFC Yum! Center 5 p.m. 16 at Syracuse Syracuse, NY 7 p.m. 19 at USF Tampa, Fla. 2 p.m.23 DEPAUL KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 26 SETON HALL KFC Yum! Center 2 p.m.28 at Providence Providence, RI 7 p.m.

MARCH

4-8 BIG EAST Tournament Hartford, Conn. TBA

2010-11 MEN’S SCHEDULE DATE OPPONENT (TELEVISION) SITE TIME/RES RECORDOCTOBER Sun. 31 NORTHERN KENTUCKY / exhibition KFC Yum! Center W, 83-66 --

NOVEMBER Thur. 11 KENTUCKY WESLEYAN / exhibition KFC Yum! Center W, 96-54 -- Tues. 16 BUTLER (ESPN) KFC Yum! Center W, 88-73 1-0 GLOBAL SPORTS SHOOTOUTSat. 20 JACKSON STATE KFC Yum! Center 7:30 p.m. 19-13 NIT Mon. 22 CHATTANOOGA KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 15-18Sat. 27 MARSHALL KFC Yum! Center 1 p.m. 24-10 CIT

DECEMBER Wed. 1 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 7-25 in GLOBAL SPORTS SHOOTOUT Sat. 4 SOUTH ALABAMA KFC Yum! Center 1 p.m. 17-15 Wed. 8 SAN FRANCISCO KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 12-18 Sat. 11 UNLV (ESPNU) KFC Yum! Center Noon 25-9 NCAA in BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC Tues. 14 DREXEL (ESPNU) KFC Yum! Center 9 p.m. 16-16 Sat. 18 GARDNER-WEBB KFC Yum! Center 3:30 p.m. 8-21 Wed. 22 at Western Kentucky Bowling Green, Ky. 8 p.m. 21-13 Mon. 27 MORGAN STATE KFC Yum! Center 8 p.m. 27-10 NCAA Fri. 31 KENTUCKY (CBS) KFC Yum! Center Noon 35-3 NCAA

JANUARY Wed. 5 SETON HALL (ESPNU) KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 19-13 NIT Sun. 9 at USF Tampa, Fla. Noon 20-13 NIT Wed. 12 at Villanova (ESPN/2) Philadelphia, Pa. 7 p.m. 25-8 NCAA Sat. 15 MARQUETTE (ESPN2) KFC Yum! Center 11 a.m. 22-12 NCAA Wed. 19 ST. JOHN’S KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 17-16 NIT Sat. 22 at Providence (ESPNU) Providence, R.I. 5 p.m. 12-19 Wed. 26 WEST VIRGINIA (ESPNU) KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 31-7 NCAA Sat. 29 at Connecticut Storrs, Conn. Noon 18-16 NIT Mon. 31 at Georgetown (ESPN) Washington, D.C. 7 p.m. 23-11 NCAA

FEBRUARY Sat. 5 DEPAUL KFC Yum! Center 8 p.m. 8-23 Wed. 9 at Notre Dame (ESPNU) South Bend, Ind. 7 p.m. 23-12 NCAA Sat. 12 SYRACUSE (ESPN/2) KFC Yum! Center Noon 30-5 NCAA Wed. 16 at Cincinnati (ESPN/2) Cincinnati, Ohio 7 p.m. 19-16 NIT Fri. 18 CONNECTICUT (ESPN) KFC Yum! Center 9 p.m. 18-16 NIT Tues. 22 at Rutgers (ESPNU) Piscataway, N.J. 9 p.m. 15-17 Sun. 27 PITTSBURGH (CBS) KFC Yum! Center 2 p.m. 25-9 NCAA

MARCH Wed. 2 PROVIDENCE KFC Yum! Center 7 p.m. 12-19 Sat. 5 at West Virginia (ESPN/2) Morgantown, W. Va. Noon 31-7 NCAA Tues. 8-Sat. 12 Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden New York City


2007 CARDINAL CARAVAN

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