By Randy Burns
Cards Pointing Fingers After Games
Different players on the Louisville football team have been blaming each other as the reason for this season’s losses. “Every time you lose there is finger pointing going on. It started at the beginning of the season,” said senior running back Henry Miller. “Teammates fighting with each other is not an equation for a winning team.” Now with two conference losses, the Cardinals are more than likely out of Liberty Bowl contention.
The Unexpected has Happened
The Cardinals were ranked in the top twenty five in preseason polls across the country when the year began. The team is now struggling just to complete a winning season. “I just don’t know how to explain it,” said senior safety Curry Burns. “It’s really hard, and losing like this…it’s just not me.” The squad now has three games remaining to go out on top.
All of the Earned Hardware is now Gone
Throughout the previous years, the Louisville football team had won the Liberty Bowl trophy, the Governor’s Cup, and the Keg of Nails. Those accolades have all but been erased from the team’s trophy case. “They are all gone now,” said senior defensive end Devon Thomas. “We are in a position where we are playing for pride. We want to send our seniors out as winners and make it to a bowl game.” The Cardinals had owned the Keg of Nails since 1998 until this year.
No Optimism Present in Coaches Mind
The Cards need to win out the rest of their games and have a few key losses by TCU, Southern Miss, and Cincinnati to even be eligible for the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. But that seems far from conceivable according to Louisville Head Coach John L. Smith. “All we can do at this point is say goodbye to the conference title,” he said.
Officiating Not a Major Problem
Most coaches usually complain about bad calls they received throughout the course of a game. But that wasn’t true for Cincinnati Head Coach Minter. “I’m not going to gripe about the officiating now that we’ve won.” The Bearcats now move to 4-5 overall for the season while upping their conference record to 3-2.
