By Chris O’Grady
Well it may have a taken a week longer than most on the U of L football team may have hoped for, but on Saturday Sept 11 the Cards finally accomplished two of their top objectives early in the season: get coach Charlie Strong his first win as a head coach, and get senior wide receiver Doug Beaumont in the end zone.
“This was a great team victory,” said Strong. “I’m very proud of the way the guys competed today, it just felt like we were in total control of the game from the start.”
The victim of the Cards success on Saturday was in-state foe Eastern Kentucky University, who plays in the division formerly known as 1-AA. The Cards largely overmatched the Colonels, who managed just 92 yards on the ground, and were shut out until ten minutes into the third quarter. The Cardinal defense, which was impressive all day, even recorded a safety in the second quarter.
The Cards did not score until the start of the second quarter when senior running back Bilal Powell found the end zone on one of his two touchdowns. The star back finished with 16 carries for 95 yards, falling just short of his second consecutive 100-yard effort.
But the team found its life when senior quarterback Adam Froman connected with Beaumont for a 42 yard touchdown with 3:12 seconds left in the half. It was the first touchdown of Beaumont’s career at Louisville, where he has more than 100 receptions. Beaumont finished the day with four catches for 83 and the touchdown.
“It’s a relief now I don’t have to answer that question all the time,” said Beaumont. “When it was in the air I was just trying so hard to concentrate and I thought to myself, ‘Oh man this is the one.'”
It looked as though the entire sideline wanted to celebrate with Beaumont in the end zone, with several player forced to be restrained by coaches. Coach Strong was even going to allow a little excessive celebration for the do-it-all senior.
“I told him he could have spiked it after he scored,” said Strong. “And he was like, ‘oh man coach I forgot,’ but he’s just Mr. Reliable right there, I’m really, really happy for him.”
The Cards were forced to fight the injury bug against EKU, and where without senior wide receiver Troy Pascley, senior linebacker and captain Brandon Heath. Senior defensive tackle Tim High, senior left guard Mark Wetterer and senior cornerback Johnny Patrick all went down with injuries during the game.
But in their place the Cards received big contributions from senior defensive end Rodney Gnat and junior linebacker Dexter Heyman. Freshman defensive lineman BJ Butler also stepped up for a Cards defense that raised havoc for EKU’s sophomore quarterback TJ Pryor and his replacement freshman Brendon Gregory.
“Rodney Gnat was really special today, I think he had like four sacks,” said Strong. “It doesn’t really matter who’s in there they just gotta get the job done.”
Gnat, who has been nicknamed “Big Pretty” by the coaching staff finished with 4 sacks, and contributed on more than a few quarterback hurries.
“It feels surreal today, everything just came together,” said Gnat. “I guess I earned my name today, I was excited and focused.”
The Cards play next at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon on Sept 18. It will be a tough test for the team on the road against a team ranked in the preseason top 25.
“It will be a hostile environment against a really good football team,” said Strong. “It will be a great challenge for us.”
