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Football schedule set for 2007-08 season

Coming off the best season in school history, and the school’s first ever BCS appearance, the University of Louisville will take on Division 1-AA Murray State University in their season home opener.

The two teams have met 16 times with Louisville leading the series 10-6. The in-state rivals have not met since 1990, when the Cardinals defeated the Racers 68-0. This year’s game will be a night game played at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Murray State, who competes in the Ohio Valley Conference, posted a 1-10 record last season and was winless, 0-8, in conference play. Their lone win came against Indiana State the third game of the season.

The game was originally scheduled for Sat., Sept. 1, but Murray State made accommodations to move the game to Thurs., Aug. 30.

“I wish we could play a better team, but I’m glad they worked around their schedule to play us,” said sophomore history major Kyle Winslow.

The Cards, who return 21 starters from last year’s Big East Championship team, will play a total of five out-of-conference games. The Governor’s Cup, the annual battle between U of L and the University of Kentucky will take place on Sat., Sept. 15.

Louisville will also face Division 1-AA Middle Tennessee State University who they defeated 44-17 on the road last season despite an injury to starting quarterback Brian Brohm.

The two new additions to Louisville’s out-of-conference schedule are University of Utah and the ACC’s North Carolina State. The Cards will play Utah at home while playing N.C. State in Raleigh.

Kragthorpe secures highly ranked recruits

New Louisville head football coach Steve Kragthorpe has been busy on the recruiting trail since he was officially hired as the head football coach on Jan. 9.

Kragthorpe has picked up verbal commitments from highly ranked high school and junior college prospects, before most have declared their intentions to attend U of L.

The biggest pick up was five-star cornerback Woodny Turenne. Turenne is listed as the top junior college player in the nation. The 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, Turenne attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif. and is expected to make an instant impact. He made an official visit to U of L the week of the basketball game against the University of Kentucky and committed this past Wednesday.

Willie Williams has also made a verbal commitment to the University of Louisville. A great deal of controversy has swarmed around the verbal commitment of the four-star linebacker from West Los Angeles Community College. Williams previously attended the University of Miami where it was found that he was arrested 11 times prior to signing his letter of intent. He was ranked as the top linebacker in the nation and the second best prospect overall in 2004.

The Cardinals got a surprise verbal commitment from safety C.J. Peake. Peake was on the Cardinals recruiting radar early, but made a verbal commitment to the University of Wisconsin. Peake, a 6-foot-2, 220 pound safety from Trotwood, Ohio, reevaluated his options and committed to Kragthorpe and the Cards.

Louisville also picked up recent commitments from Florida high school standouts, Josh Miller and Bilal Powell. Miller was a quarterback in high school, but is likely to play wide receiver for U of L and Powell was a running back who is likely to play in the secondary.

Look to next week’s Cardinal for a story on the Feb. 2 signing day.

Court named after former coach Crum

Prior to the game against Georgetown on Feb. 7, the University of Louisville will officlally name the court at Freedom Hall after retired head coach Denny Crum.

Crum coached at U of L from 1971 until 2001. He posted a record of 675-295 including national championships in 1980 and 1986. He also led the Cards to the final four on six different occasions, ranking fourth all-time among coaches.

There will be a pre-game ceremony at 7 p.m. where the floor will officially be named “Denny Crum Court.” Crum is expected to be present for the ceremony.

“For three decades, U of L basketball was Denny Crum,” said U of L athletic director Tom Jurich. “It’s a fitting tribute to honor him with this unique distinction for his success and years of hard work in guiding our men’s basketball program consistently on a national level.”