Louisville Pre-Game Pessimistic Thoughts
OK, I had a bad feeling last week – and the actual game met those low expectations. Today, I perhaps feel a little bit worse, as the Pack squares off against an even better offense, and a highly pissed opponent. Let’s look at ESPN.com’s preview, shall we?
Louisville ranks 1st in offense (626.8 ypg), while the Wolfpack offense clocks in at 96th (337.8 ypg – or just under 54% of the Cards’ output). Wolfpack QBs have thrown 4 TDs and 10 INTs, with a sickly 5.59 YPA. Louisville QBs, led by possible #1 overall NFL pick Brian Brohm, boast a 15:3 ratio, and an unbelievable 10.09 YPA.
Yes, Louisville’s defense has been wretched, giving up 40 points in a shootout loss to Kentucky, and 38 in an embarrassing home loss to awful Syracuse. Your one nugget of hope comes from that loss to the Orange, as the Cardinals showed vulnerability to big plays on deep throws, which probably left Harrison Beck drooling in the film room. But can the Pack OL give Beck enough time to launch bombs? Can Beck and the running attack do anything else, and keep the Cards from laying back in a virtual prevent defense all day? Will Louisville be stupid enough to kick to Darrell Blackman? Can the Pack’s only other bright spot, Steven Hauschka, perform an effective onsides kick (probably our only way to stop Louisville’s offense)?
We eagerly await the answers to these vexing questions this afternoon. It promises to be a glorious pseudo-fall like afternoon at Carter Finley, especially for those of us on the shady side. 3:30 starts in late September/early October are awesome. So, we will all be comfortable watching the likely ass-kicking. Plus, dear leader Fowler has assured us we won’t run out of water this week. We hear he also recently penned a note to GWB warning him to carefully consider post-war planning before invading Iraq.
In summary – you have 2 bad defenses, 1 bad offense, and 1 great offense. Oh, and the team with the good offense is royally pissed. Should be fun, no?
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/preview?gameId=272650097
That game was supposed to be a blowout too……
With their D, no reason why it is not a competitive game, GO PACK!
I just think it’s going to be a scorefest on both sides. If you saw the 10 turnover debacle last night with USF abd WVa you can see that in these high powered offenses — there’s plenty of turnovers. If we can keep ours low and play some better D — we can have a chance.
Do I expect a win? No. But this team ain’t Clemson or BC. Give who we’ve played their due. They are solid teams. IMO the tougher the scheduule is up front — the tougher and better the team will be as we get into the “weaker” part of the season.
I think we finally break 24 against a D1A opponent… but still lose by >2TD’s.
Prediction: 45-27
I don’t think we score that much.
63-17.
Our offense invents new ways to fail.
Unless our D-backs got hooked on speed in the last week, 700 yards is not out of the question.
Th birds, as you say, are pissed. They will lay the wood to the hapless Pack to make a point nationally.
We need to find a way to protect our QB’s long enough to involve Stone, Kushner,Hickman, Dunlap, and Bowen’s in a possesion game passing attack. Our focus should be pass protection just long enough for these short timing routes. Any kind of running game at this point would be unbelieveable, but we haven’t gained much in that area for years, and the new coaches really haven’t been able to solve it (Vermiglio?).
Although the DB’s have surrendered alot of yards for Louisville, I’m hesitant to ask the staff to give Beck the Green light. As the UCF and BC games showed, his instincts and mobilty along with his arm strength allow him to turn broken plays to down field gains. Blackman breaks patterns off well and our RBs get deep on wheel routes fast when these plays occur.
When Beck plays with these types of instincts he looks great attacking break downs in the secondary, ala Brett Favre. When he try’s to make plays down field directly from under center he closely resembles another FL QB who goes by the name Grossman.
Defensively, we just need a TO. The TO’s have been the on the field snake bite that the off field injuries have become. Get one, hopefully early, and let’s see if it mentally boost the spirits of what is shapong up to be a decimated corps. Looking for Littleton Wright and Matrel Brown today. I’ve already checked my milk carton but it still seems to be a mystery of their whereabouts.
After watching the TOB show from this last week I was surprised at how good the D did look at times and it looked like we moved the ball pretty well on offense in the first half. I agreee with Boknows, Louisville ain’t Clemson or BC and we could have come out of BC with a win. WIll we win this one? Probably not but maybe this week some things start to click and we don’t give it away on turnovers (ala BC). This team is capable of winning games against some top 25 teams but they have to settle down and be consistent. Consistent play at QB would be a great start and I think the Cardinals are ripe for Brown to rip some big runs and free up Blackmon for big plays. We’ll know in a few hours! Hey, WVU was unbeatable supposedly if you listened to the talking heads!
Speaking of the WVU game, who could have predicted at that Bowl game in Charlotte a little over a year and a half ago that THe USF Bulls and NC State Wolfpack were headed in drastically different directions at such break neck speeds.
As TOB so eloquently put it ” We just aren’t a good footall team. I think we proved that today”. USF looks like a complete squad, with a confident and competent QB and a red hot head coach. For some perspective, about the time CTC left FSU to coach here, USF was starting a football program. Maybe the extra team in South Florida threw off our plans to farm out the state Sunshine State understudies.
In my heart of hearts, I see no reason to believe we can hold Louisville under 800 yards and 70 points.
I just hope there is plenty of water in the stadium for their poor mascot, who should be cock diesel around 6:30pm EST.
Pack wouldn’t even win with a mini-Ditka… Yessir, they’d need a full-size Ditka to pull this one out.
Seriously… It would be a step in the right direction to consistently get 4 yards per carry and be able to effectively use the play-action pass. It would certainly play into Beck’s strength (arm) to be able to do that.
Wow – this must be what its like to hang out on death row – the sense of doom is so pervasive. I guess I am lucky that the wife has use going to B’ham shopping and eating out for her birthday – and naturally here in Alabama the only updates I’ll be getting will be from what I hope is a smacking of Bama by FSU.
The D needs to bring its A game and slow L’ville down, offense needs to keep turn overs down, and Beck has to have a big game. All obvious.
Difficult? Yes. Damn Difficult. Impossible – not in the least. I’ll be sending good mojo all day – hope I get to read good things when I get home after the game. Go Pack!
Oh – Louisville’s attitude might be the wild card – they are either pissed, or demoralized. If we come out big in the first half, that is going to mess with their minds. There is self-doubt in their heads, lets fed it and use it to our advantage.
7-0 VPI over the Holes.
Hope springs eternal in the fairy tale land that is Wolfpack athletics, where despite not winning a revenue sport championship in 20 years, we consistently sellout season ticket sales and talk of “this week things will be different – just watch.”
Only at the University of South Carolina is there a similar blindness to pervasive, perennial futility.
72-10 Louisville.
Being a fan is having faith. Faith is believing the unprovable and unbelievable. I have faith in the Wolfpack, Ole Miss and App State. Except for App, faith is about I’ve got most years with the first two.
I don’t know how much Doc Walker paid for broadcasting lessons, but he didn’t get his money’s worth.
I’m also reasonably certain that if you went to Long Beach and opened up the cargo hold of a container ship and pulled out a chinese peasant and put THAT guy in the booth, he would be a more informative color man than Walker.
(Come On Feel The) Illinois – 14
Penn State – 3
As much as I like watching Penn State lose, I hate Illinois with an absolute passion…
BJD: Why is it we’re never “pissed” after a loss?
Noah: the Chinese peasant wouldn’t keep talking about big dogs, at least.
^There is half a Corona on my monitor now Beo…
Doc Walker is awful, indeed, but JP could televise an evening game in Baton Rouge and it would sound like a morgue. Do they even mic the crowd?
And why is it that you could be watching Duke at Maryland and somehow hear the Wake male cheerleaders and the Ga Tech drum section?
Carolina only being down 7-3 isn’t easing my surly mood, I’ll say that much. Purdue is bitch-slapping Notre Dame, at least.
I’m thrilled to have chores so I don’t have to watch these awful early games. Why ESPN chose the stinkers it did over Penn State/Illinois, I’ll never understand.
Probably because they have field mics right by those guys. They have two parabolic microphones to get the “hits” of the game. Usually, those people are confined to certain sections of the sidelines.
It’s annoying.
Almost as bad as “mic man” at Carolina games in the 80s and 90s.
Speaking of the Irish, I read someone around here talking about all the “talent” and great recruits that ND had brought in.
Aside from Clausen…uhh…who are they? I see less talent in ND uniform than I’ve ever seen (and I remember Gerry Faust).