By Chris O’Grady

The stage was set for Charlie Strong’s coaching debut at the University of Louisville, but, as many predicted, the offensive firepower of the University of Kentucky’s Derrick Locke and Randall Cobb was too much for the Cards to overcome in their opening game of the 2010 season. In the end, the Cardinals lost 23-16.

Locke, a senior, rushed 23 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns, including a 32-yarder only 35 seconds into the game that took the wind from beneath the Cardinals’ defensive sails. Cobb finished with 80 yards rushing, one touchdown, and also completed a pass for 19 yards in the fourth quarter.

Kentucky led 13-0 after the first quarter and 20-6 at halftime, early odds that Strong said were just too much for the team to surmount.

“We look at a game like this – we just made too many crucial mistakes early and dug a hole we couldn’t get out of,” said Strong. “We’re not good enough yet to overcome those miscues. We lost because we made mistakes.”

Strong said, however, that he was happy with the improvements made in defense in the second half.

“I was really pleased with how we came out in the second half and stayed in it almost all the way until the very end,” said Strong. “I told the guys, ‘You just have to settle down and get into position.’ There were too many big plays we allowed defensively. And that cannot happen.”

Junior defensive tackle Greg Scruggs said the team needed to play the first half as they did the second.

“The second half we had a drive inside us that made us want to play harder,” said Scruggs. “But that has to start in the first quarter.”

Offensively, the Cards received notable contributions from running backs junior Victor Anderson and senior Bilal Powell and were steadied by the solid play of senior quarterback Adam Froman. Powell rushed for 153 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run with 8:41 remaining in the third quarter, to pull the Cards within 10. It was the team’s first touchdown of the year.

“It was a big lift,” said senior tight end Cameron Graham, who had three catches for 38 yards. “He made a huge play. We just need to do more of that.”

Powell and Anderson appeared to be at the head of the Cardinal’s offensive machine, combining for 190 yards on the ground. Anderson also caught two passes for 10 yards. Strong said he wasn’t surprised by their performance.

“The offense did a real nice job today,” said Strong. “Bilal Powell is, as you can see, a very special football player. That play was a big momentum-changer today. They really lead the offense.”

Froman was 14-of-29, passing for 127 yards, but was a victim of his receivers, who had several drops. The offense had to frequently settle for field goals from junior kicker Chris Philpott, who was a perfect 3-of-3, connecting from 44, 32 and 27 yards.

“I’m not real excited about our performance today,” said Froman. “We didn’t score in the red zone like we know we should. If we do, we win the game.”

Strong also keyed on the offense’s inability to score in the red zone and the number of drops by receivers. One drop he especially noted occurred early in the third quarter, when senior wide receiver Troy Pascley dropped a long pass from Froman and was then promptly stopped for a 10-yard loss on a reverse play.

“We weren’t able to score touchdowns today offensively and had a lot of critical drops,” said Strong. “That play where we had a drop and then got stopped on the reverse – that sucked a lot out of that drive.”

But overall the Cards agreed that the game was a step in the right direction for a team still rebuilding.

“I told the team, ‘It’s up to you how you bounce back,'” said Strong. “‘This is not last year. You are a good team.'”

Anderson agreed, seeing that there was a lot to build on from this game.

“We just got to congratulate the other guys on that win,” said Anderson. “But, win or lose, a team should be able to build on things.”

The team will next play Eastern Kentucky University on Sept. 11 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium

“This game will definitely be something we use as a building block,” said Scruggs. “This is in no way a wall to our success.”