By Aaron Williams–
The Louisville Cardinals got a second wind this weekend when they shocked the previously No. 24 ranked Mountaineers of West Virginia University with an upset in Morgantown. The loss certainly had West Virginia fans leaving the stadium with a bitter taste in their mouth.
Thanks to a blocked field goal from junior cornerback Adrian Bushell and the ensuing return from freshman cornerback Andrew Johnson, the Cards stole the lead and game, sending West Virginia’s hopes for victory crashing down.
Now the Cardinals, 5-4 overall, find themselves in the second place in the Big East with a 3-1 conference record. They are right behind the undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats whose record stands at 3-0 in the conference and 7-1 overall.
Looking forward, Strong’s young birds will return to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium one final time this 2011 season to face the University of Pittsburgh this Saturday. Pitt, who stands at 2-2 in the conference, has fallen to the likes of Rutgers as well as the Bearcats, who have simply been mauling everyone in conference play with an explosive offense that hasn’t been held under 23 points all season. Those 23 points were scored against the University of Tennessee in Cincy’s only loss of the season so far.
I say all that to say this: while the Keg of Nails loss was a bitter one that came in the chain of losses to the likes of Florida International, Marshall and North Carolina, it is far from the Cards’ worse loss this season and being their only loss in conference play is nothing to hang a head over.
Count on the Cardinals defense, which has held firm all season, to protect the house on Saturday against Pitt. The combination of the experience, leadership and determination from the likes of Dexter Heyman and Greg Scruggs as well as the young talent exhibited by Andrew Johnson and Preston Brown will look to hit the Panthers hard and fast.
On top of this, the Cardinals’ quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is now entering the part of a young quarterback’s first season where he begins to look less like a freshman and more like an experienced, poised sophomore. This change in demeanor has nothing to do with earning credit hours in the classroom, but rather with time spent on the field with his teammates in tight situations and a growing familiarization with how to most lethally to run his offense through the use of options like tailback Dominique Brown, who proved in Morgantown he can be a go-to man for the Cards when the game is on the line, and receivers like DeVante Parker and Andrell Smith.
Past Pitt, the Cardinals have UCONN and USF on the horizon. Though both are road games, Louisville can find comfort in the fact that the Bulls haven’t managed a conference win all season. Meanwhile, Cincy must face Rutgers and Syracuse on the road before returning home to face UCONN. If the Cardinals can manage to utilize the momentum from Saturday’s Appalachian upset and convert it into three victories, things could very interesting. They are, after all, merely a Bearcat choke away from a tie for first place in the Big East.
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Illustration by Lara Kinne/The Louisville Cardinal
