By Whitney Spencer

All season long, the University of Louisville football team has found themselves with several chances to gain momentum, make a big play or come away with a big victory. But with every opportunity that has come, that same one has passed by. The Cardinals just can’t seem to find the missing piece of the puzzle.
Looking at the games that the Cards have played thus far, there isn’t one contest that was completely out of hand. Against the University of Kentucky, the Cards had the lead, and the chance to run the clock out with the ball. But a costly fumble and failed last drive gave the Wildcats the victory in Lexington.
When the Cardinals traveled to Utah to face the University of Utah Utes, no one even gave them a chance to show up to the game before predicting they would be run off the field. The Cards had a tough first half, but were able to close the gap to 23-14, with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. All they needed was a stop, to get the ball back and to give them a chance. Instead, the Cards gave up an 80-yard scoring drive, to seal the game for the Utes.
After holding the University of Pittsburgh Panthers in the first half, the Cards came out and lost all the momentum they took into the locker room. Leading 10-7 at halftime, the Cards seemed to forget the game plan in the second half. The offensive line broke down, allowing Adam Froman, in his first start, to be sacked constantly. On a scramble, Froman was stripped, and from then on all the momentum was from the Panthers.
The University of Connecticut was the next team to have their way with Louisville. After using nine minutes of the game clock to tie the score at seven, the Cards gave up a tie-breaking drive in just three minutes to the Huskies, who made the score 14-7. This turned out to be the least of the worries for the Cards. Replacing an injured Victor Anderson, Bilal Powell fumbled twice on third-quarter drives. One of his fumbles was on the Huskies’ 4-yard-line, while trailing 21-13.
This week’s game at the University of Cincinnati was just another uninspired performance. After being outscored 21-0 for the first quarter and a half, Louisville jumped in gear and scored, making it 21-7. For the remainder of the second quarter, and into the third quarter, the Cards were matching the energy of the Bearcats. But that quickly diminished. Cincinnati took advantage of the Cards’ lackluster performance and never looked back.
In each of these games, the Cards have had the opportunity to walk away with a more favorable outcome, maybe even a victory. Instead, in each of these games, the Cards have either dropped the ball, literally and figuratively, or been run over by the competition. Every piece that is needed to complete this football team and make it successful doesn’t seem to come together. Before the Cards can ever be successful, they need to figure out how to piece together the puzzle.