By Andy Knabel
Last September, Louisville and Middle Tennessee State combined for 1,284 total yards of offense in a 58-44 victory for the Cardinals. Since then, a lot has changed, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
Louisville’s new defensive coordinator Ron English has made his presence known in his first season with the Cards. His main goal from the beginning was to change the whole mentality of the defense. After giving up 555 yards of offense to the Raiders last season, the Cardinals needed a change of mentality.
“Coach English told us everybody always says actions speak louder than words,” Earl Heyman, senior defensive lineman, said. “We kind of had to play with a little chip on our shoulders.”
The Cardinal held the Raiders to 306 yards of total offense, and just 105 yards rushing. The Raiders’ running backs combined for just 59 yards on 15 carries, as the Cards defeated Middle Tennessee 42-23 Saturday at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
Middle Tennessee’s two-quarterback assault did not catch the Cards off-guard. They scouted the Raiders offense all week preparing to make adjustments based on which quarterback was in the game. Middle Tennessee’s quarterbacks Joe Craddock and Dwight Dasher were held to a combined 19 of 37 for just 162 yards.
The stingy Cardinal defense frustrated most of the Raiders’ offensive players, as well as head coach Rick Stockstill. Stockstill went on to talk about how the pressure got to the Raiders, but also that Louisville played excellent coverage on their receivers: “They have some legit corners.”
“I thought we did an excellent job on defense of creating pressure and knocking down the runs,” U of L head coach Steve Kragthorpe said. “That got them in some long down and distance situations. We kept them backed up and got great field position for our offense to drive the ball.”
Louisville’s special teams play proved to be a strong asset again, returning two kicks for at least 30 yards, as well as scoring a touchdown on a blocked punt by James Bryant and recovered in the end zone by Johnny Patrick.
The Middle Tennessee coaching staff has done just as much to change the attitude of their defense since the 2007 meeting with the Cards, stressing an aggressive mentality to their players. Overloading the strong side and blitzing often put a lot of pressure on Louisville quarterback Hunter Cantwell, forcing two first quarter interceptions that led to a 14-0 lead for the Raiders.
“It’s not the way you want to start, but I know we had a ton of time left and we had to finish strong,” Cantwell said.
The Cardinal offense was once again led by a running back committee. Senior running back Brock Bolen carried the ball 20 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns, marking the first three touchdown game of his career. Freshman running back Victor Anderson added 164 yards on 19 carries, including an 88 yard touchdown run.
“It can happen at any time,” Anderson said of the run. “And when it happens you’ve just got to turn on the boosters and go.”
While the Cardinals’ 391 yards of offense in this game pale in comparison to the 729 yards of offense posted in the 2007 meeting, Louisville has become more of a balanced team. The Louisville defense has held its opponents to under 30 points in all six of its games this year. After scoring just two points on a safety against Kentucky, the Cards have posted a point total of 21 points or higher in the five games since.
As it stands right now, Louisville is 7th in the Big East with a conference record of 0-1. However, with a win next week against South Florida, the Cards would jump into the top half of the conference. The Cardinals looked as strong in the second half against the Raiders as they have looked all season and may be beginning to build momentum going into conference play. Kragthorpe believes Louisville has a shot to win the Big East.
“It’s wide open now and everybody has a chance at it,” Kragthorpe said. “Now, you race to the finish line to see who can win the thing. And we wanna be the one.”
