By Andrew Krumme
While one Florida football program pulverized the Cards over the weekend (South Florida creamed Louisville 45-14), a different Florida team should not be able to repeat that performance this Saturday. U of L is slated to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls at noon for its homecoming game.
If the Cards put into action what they seem to have learned after the surprising defeat in Tampa, Fla. Saturday night, they may stand a fighting chance against Florida Atlantic’s avian arsenal.
Following U of L’s defeat, the Cards top 10 ranking dropped to No. 24 in The Associated Press poll and No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches poll.
“When you don’t execute in all phases of the game, you can’t win the game,” said U of L senior wide receiver Montrell Jones. “The little mistakes are what cost us [against USF]”
Louisville played poorly for much of the game, with the exception of a push before the half by sophomore quarterback Brian Brohm. But Jones said he felt the defeat “wasn’t a big blow” for Louisville. According to Jones, his team didn’t execute like it should have, and that’s “what ended up hurting us all game long.”
“We need to get regrouped and get back our focus,” he said of Louisville’s preparations for the Florida Atlantic game.
The upcoming FAU match does not figure to be a highly competitive homecoming game, but the return of Louisville football legend should definitely spice things up. Old traditions will come face-to-face with the new when former Cardinal football coach Howard Schnellenberger returns to Card Country, this time as the current coach of the Owls.
Schnellenberger returns to confront a Louisville program that he resurrected and helped make what it is today. Only two coaches (Lee Corso and Frank Camp) had a better winning percentage in the 60 years before Schnellenberger’s reign for the Cardinals. The Louisville native compiled a 54-56-2 record in 10 years as head coach and led Louisville to its best season ever in 1990. Schnellenberger’s team went what then was a school best 10-1-1 and defeated Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl.
While Schnellenberger’s under-.500 at U of L record may be a bit misleading, his contributions outside the win/loss column are not. His Cardinal teams earned 90 percent of the school’s all-time TV appearances, got the top bowl bid ever, and helped increase attendance by almost 40 percent. His effect on the school’s football team also led to the building of Papa John’s Stadium.
Schnellenberger has done nothing differently at Florida Atlantic. Since his arrival in 1999 as head coach and director of Football Operations, he has helped raise over $15 million for the program. His Owls squad holds the record for the fastest start-up program to earn a Division I-A victory and is the fastest program to reach the Division I-AA playoffs. Some of the names he recruited in college that later went on to play in the NFL are Vinny Testaverde, Louisville’s own Ted Washington and pass rushing specialist Joe Johnson.
This year’s Florida Atlantic team is playing its first full D-1 schedule and has felt the ill effects, going 0-4 on the season. While last season’s campaign was a solid one for Schnellenberger and company at 9-3, they lost a bulk of their starters from last year’s team.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior full back Aaron Sanchez is their best all-around player. He is a good power runner, has great hands for a full back and does his job blocking.
The key to the FAU offense will be quarterback Danny Embick who has completed 55 percent of his passes for roughly 170 yards per game this year. Senior wideout Thomas Parker is a solid receiver, averaging over 20 yards a catch, but does not have the game-breaking speed needed for a big-play wide receiver.
The defensive side for Florida Atlantic is their strength despite returning only two starters from last year. They have great team speed and are good tacklers as a unit. Linebacker Shomari Earls combines good speed and solid tackling to be effective as a run-stopper in the backfield and is still able to drop back into coverage. Cornerback Willie Hughley is a shutdown corner and will most likely be All Conference in the Sun Belt. He has good size (almost six feet tall) and combines that with great athleticism that contributed to four pass breakups already for the season.
It will be tough for Schnellenberger to pull out a victory at his old stomping grounds. The Cards’ explosive offense will be too much for the Owls’ inexperience on defense. However, if the Cards overlook Schnellenberger’s team, they could be vulnerable for an upset. The Owls marched into Hawaii in 2004 and took down a lackadaisical Warriors team in overtime, giving them their only home loss of the season. Furthermore, the Cardinals’ loss to USF was unexpected and could wreak all kinds of havoc on the team mentally.
â?” Managing Editor Chris Brown contributed to this story.
