Pittsburgh vs. Louisville
Tonight, in about an hour and a half (as I begin this blog), there will be a Big East matchup between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Louisville Cardinals. And you know, if you actually DID put a panther in a cage against a cardinal…well, talk about bite-sized snacks….
And this matchup could possibly go this route…or can it? Let’s look at these two teams and see who has the advantage.
Pittsburgh comes in this game after a 9-4 record last year, living big time off a strong running game, but missing key components of that team from last year. The Panthers suffered a humiliating loss to Bowling Green at the beginning of the season, losing 27-17. They then went on a 5 game winning streak, beating teams like Buffalo, Iowa, South Florida and Navy before losing big to Rugters.
Pittsburgh won their next two games over Notre Dame and Louisville before losing on the road to Cincinnati, then finished the season beating West Virginia and Connecticut before losing 3-0 in a bowl game to Oregon State…
(ONLY 3 points in the game…what’s up with that?)
The Panthers come in after losing a road game to NC State, but is still 3-1, which isn’t so bad. Beating Buffalo and Navy again shows that this team is still in the mix for the Big East, but losing on the road is how they lost 2 regular season games, and the bowl game. You gotta win on the road if you wanna be a champion.
But what has happened to Louisville? Was it not just a few years ago when they were the darlings of the Division I? Did they lose ALL their swagger the same year when Michael Bush broke his leg early that season a couple of years ago? They haven’t been the same since.
Last year the Cardinals finished only 5-7, which was a mystery when this was one of the highest scoring teams in the nation a couple of years ago. You’d have called me a liar the way they started last year, losing to Kentucky 27-2. But they rallied by beating Tennessee Tech 51-10, then beating Kansas State before losing to Connecticut. Four home games in a row and splitting them 2-2.
Things looked pretty good when they won the next two games, beating Memphis 35-28 and then Middle Tennessee 42-23...but one had to wonder…why was so many points being given up? And a heck of a lot of those games were in very close confines… the first 6 games were either in Kentucky or Tennessee… hmmmm….
The Cardinals were 4-2 before beating South Florida at home, bringing the record to 5-2...and still playing only in the tight confines of two states. So is it any reason to wonder why they lost AT Syracuse and AT Pittsburgh? Louisville limps back home with a 5-4 record only to play…and lose, to Cincinnati, then another home loss to West Virginia before a mammoth beat down AT Rutgers.
This year, so far, Louisville is 1-2, beating Indiana State but losing AT Kentucky 31-27 and AT Utah 30-14. Like Pittsburgh, you can’t be a champion until you can win on the road. And with 4 more road games, they better get it together quick.
South Florida was the Cardinal’s only credible win last year, and that was a home game, it is critical that they have this game tonight…it is past critical. A loss here makes Louisville 1-3 and will be wiped off the face of any BCS bowl contention. But IF there is a chance, it can happen here, against Pittsburgh.
Now I know Pittsburgh beat Louisville last year 41-7, but the Panthers have to establish a new running game. Pittsburgh didn’t play so hot on the road last year, and Louisville can make it a game while in that Papa John’s Stadium…..
Mmmmm…pizza…..
Anyway, I think the advantage goes to Pittsburgh, but this is one of those games where the home team has a very slight advantage. I am very tempted to say Louisville CAN win this game…because Pittsburgh isn’t that threatening, but I am going with Pittsburgh by 3 points. My gut says that Louisville needs this win like a pizza needs extra cheese, sausage, mushrooms and a liter of some ice cold soda….
And friend with me to enjoy the game tonight!
Showing posts with label Louisville Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Louisville Football. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Where are the Big East teams???
Has ANYBODY seen the Big East?
I was looking for something before the college football games started today, and I had a hard time finding it. But it wasn’t nearly as hard as finding a Big East team in the top 25.
What’s going on here?
I am not saying this as a complaint to the pollsters, I say that to the conference that apparently does not have one team good enough to be in the top 25 at the beginning of the season. And to think, just a couple years ago people were singing the praises of Rutgers and West Virginia. Now, what’s up with that?
Didn’t Cincinnati finish 11-3 last year? Didn’t Uconn once have a 5-game winning streak and finish 8-5? Louisville was once one of the highest scoring teams a couple of years ago. Pittsburgh won 9 games last year!
Rutgers went 8-5 last year and it wasn’t too long ago when South Florida was in the top 3 in the NATION. West Virginia won 9 games last year and Syracuse…
Well, they can’t all be steaks, as my professor once said.
This is almost disturbing that a “power conference” can be snubbed for lack of power. But there are obviously some reasons for it, one being that it is a small conference, and lacks the competition that the other conferences have. Last year I personally felt that the Mountain West Conference, with Utah, BYU, TCU and Air Force, was more competitive than the Big East.
But come on, surely ONE Big East team ought to have made the top 25, right?
Six out of 8 teams made post season, it has to count for something, right?
Right?
Well, let’s look at the conference as of last year and see why nobody put a Big East team in the preseason top 25.
Let’s start with Syracuse…
Uh…let’s not. Moving on…
West Virginia had a 9-4 record, but a soft Big East schedule (and a short one), coupled with the embarrassing loss to ECU hurt them. Losing to Colorado didn’t help either, even though West Virginia did beat UNC at the end of the season. But losing Pat White means rebuilding, which may be a problem.
South Florida was one of those teams that almost had the nation at their feet. I kinda wonder why this team wasn’t at least near the bottom of the top 25 this year, they beat Kansas last year, won their bowl, and had a pretty good year. They have some of the star players back, but many say there are holes in the team. Four of their 5 losses came from teams with a winning record, so I guess there would be some beef as to why South Florida wasn’t at least considered in the bottom half of the top 25. It might be because the last two years, they started out great, but fizzled at the end.
Rutgers went 8-5 and no longer have their ace QB. I bet they wish they still had Ray Rice. For a team that started 1-5, they salvaged the season pretty well. They beat everybody in the conference except Cincinnati and West Virginia, but I suppose if you take those two out, the competition might not be so hot. Still, some pollsters put Rugters just out of the top 25, so a win or two early might get them back in. But they gotta get by Cincinnati, first on their list.
Pittsburgh loses their two main rushers from last year and needs to step it up a bit. A 9-4 record is cool, but losing to Bowling Green off the top in 2008 didn’t look so good. Losing that bowl game to Oregon State 0-3 left a lot of question marks as well, but if you factor out the conference schedule, they did beat Buffalo (MAC Champions), Iowa and Notre Dame. That is not a bad resume. Looking at their schedule, it is possible for Pittsburgh to be 5-0 and get on that top 25 list…watch for it.
What happened to Louisville? A 5-7 season, with a loss to Kentucky and several conference foes. This season does NOT look good for them, having lost their star QB, and AT Kentucky, AT Utah, AT Connecticut, AT Cincinnati, AT West Virginia and AT South Florida…ugh! I don’t see any hope here folks.
Connecticut to me is one of those decent teams that can sneak up on you based on their weak strength of schedule. Not saying anything bad about the Huskies, I like their style. But often times when it is time to prove, they fall a little short. Yeah they beat Virginia last year, and started out 5-0, but that changed quickly as they finished 3-5, although beating Buffalo in a bowl game. Playing Baylor, Ohio and Rhode Island might give them 3 wins, and I can see 6 wins easy but a top 25 ranking…not quite sure. They might sneak up there for a minute or two before dropping out.
And Cincinnati, why aren’t they in the top 25? They finished 11-3, come on, give a Bearcat some love! Their three losses were to Oklahoma, Connecticut and losing at the end of season to Virginia Tech. They return a lot of key offensive weapons, and their schedule is quite favorable. They don’t play Oklahoma or Virginia Tech this year, and Connecticut has to come see them….this could be a pretty favorable schedule for Cincinnati, and maybe the Big East privately lays hopes on them making some noise and bringing some credibility back to the conference.
Of course, all the preseason polls are purely speculative, but one has to wonder why not even one Big East team is on the top 25...the conference has something to prove, and they better get started quickly, lest they lose all respect from the other teams and conferences in the nation. The only way to get that respect is to do one thing…win… and win today.
I was looking for something before the college football games started today, and I had a hard time finding it. But it wasn’t nearly as hard as finding a Big East team in the top 25.
What’s going on here?
I am not saying this as a complaint to the pollsters, I say that to the conference that apparently does not have one team good enough to be in the top 25 at the beginning of the season. And to think, just a couple years ago people were singing the praises of Rutgers and West Virginia. Now, what’s up with that?
Didn’t Cincinnati finish 11-3 last year? Didn’t Uconn once have a 5-game winning streak and finish 8-5? Louisville was once one of the highest scoring teams a couple of years ago. Pittsburgh won 9 games last year!
Rutgers went 8-5 last year and it wasn’t too long ago when South Florida was in the top 3 in the NATION. West Virginia won 9 games last year and Syracuse…
Well, they can’t all be steaks, as my professor once said.
This is almost disturbing that a “power conference” can be snubbed for lack of power. But there are obviously some reasons for it, one being that it is a small conference, and lacks the competition that the other conferences have. Last year I personally felt that the Mountain West Conference, with Utah, BYU, TCU and Air Force, was more competitive than the Big East.
But come on, surely ONE Big East team ought to have made the top 25, right?
Six out of 8 teams made post season, it has to count for something, right?
Right?
Well, let’s look at the conference as of last year and see why nobody put a Big East team in the preseason top 25.
Let’s start with Syracuse…
Uh…let’s not. Moving on…
West Virginia had a 9-4 record, but a soft Big East schedule (and a short one), coupled with the embarrassing loss to ECU hurt them. Losing to Colorado didn’t help either, even though West Virginia did beat UNC at the end of the season. But losing Pat White means rebuilding, which may be a problem.
South Florida was one of those teams that almost had the nation at their feet. I kinda wonder why this team wasn’t at least near the bottom of the top 25 this year, they beat Kansas last year, won their bowl, and had a pretty good year. They have some of the star players back, but many say there are holes in the team. Four of their 5 losses came from teams with a winning record, so I guess there would be some beef as to why South Florida wasn’t at least considered in the bottom half of the top 25. It might be because the last two years, they started out great, but fizzled at the end.
Rutgers went 8-5 and no longer have their ace QB. I bet they wish they still had Ray Rice. For a team that started 1-5, they salvaged the season pretty well. They beat everybody in the conference except Cincinnati and West Virginia, but I suppose if you take those two out, the competition might not be so hot. Still, some pollsters put Rugters just out of the top 25, so a win or two early might get them back in. But they gotta get by Cincinnati, first on their list.
Pittsburgh loses their two main rushers from last year and needs to step it up a bit. A 9-4 record is cool, but losing to Bowling Green off the top in 2008 didn’t look so good. Losing that bowl game to Oregon State 0-3 left a lot of question marks as well, but if you factor out the conference schedule, they did beat Buffalo (MAC Champions), Iowa and Notre Dame. That is not a bad resume. Looking at their schedule, it is possible for Pittsburgh to be 5-0 and get on that top 25 list…watch for it.
What happened to Louisville? A 5-7 season, with a loss to Kentucky and several conference foes. This season does NOT look good for them, having lost their star QB, and AT Kentucky, AT Utah, AT Connecticut, AT Cincinnati, AT West Virginia and AT South Florida…ugh! I don’t see any hope here folks.
Connecticut to me is one of those decent teams that can sneak up on you based on their weak strength of schedule. Not saying anything bad about the Huskies, I like their style. But often times when it is time to prove, they fall a little short. Yeah they beat Virginia last year, and started out 5-0, but that changed quickly as they finished 3-5, although beating Buffalo in a bowl game. Playing Baylor, Ohio and Rhode Island might give them 3 wins, and I can see 6 wins easy but a top 25 ranking…not quite sure. They might sneak up there for a minute or two before dropping out.
And Cincinnati, why aren’t they in the top 25? They finished 11-3, come on, give a Bearcat some love! Their three losses were to Oklahoma, Connecticut and losing at the end of season to Virginia Tech. They return a lot of key offensive weapons, and their schedule is quite favorable. They don’t play Oklahoma or Virginia Tech this year, and Connecticut has to come see them….this could be a pretty favorable schedule for Cincinnati, and maybe the Big East privately lays hopes on them making some noise and bringing some credibility back to the conference.
Of course, all the preseason polls are purely speculative, but one has to wonder why not even one Big East team is on the top 25...the conference has something to prove, and they better get started quickly, lest they lose all respect from the other teams and conferences in the nation. The only way to get that respect is to do one thing…win… and win today.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Speedblog: Louisville vs Memphis
Speedblog: Louisville vs. Memphis
Well, since I was too lazy to write this last night, I better blog about this quick, as I am writing this, there is about 30 minutes before the games begin. Texas vs. Oklahoma will be a big one..
Last night Louisville beat Memphis 35-28, and I gotta tell you, the Cardinals might be in some serious trouble. True, a win is a win, and you take any victories you can get, but 3 of those touchdowns came from special teams or defense. Louisville was known in the last few years as one of the best offenses in the country….what’s up with that?
But at 3-2, they are still on pace to make a bowl, then maybe contend for the Big East Championship. They’re already one game down, losing to Connecticut, and after their next game vs. Middle Tennessee State, they begin a grueling 6 games against conference foes.
It’s gonna be close, but I think Louisville can win enough to earn a bowl bid, because we are assuming they can beat Middle Tennessee State. That would give them a 4-2 record before the conference run. I don’t see them sweeping, in fact they may split those games, ending up with maybe a 7-5 record. But if the offense does not step up, they may drop an extra game, making this very hard to call for post season play.
Memphis at 3-4 however, has to really dig in. With 5 games left on their schedule, and a loss already to Marshall, they would most likely have to sweep all their games AND hope that Marshall loses 2 games in order to get to the Conference USA Championship. A tie with Marshall is not good, because the Thundering Herd gets the nod in case of a tie.
What this also means is that the Tigers must win out, including defeating once ranked ECU and a tough Central Florida team. Best case scenario, Memphis COULD finish 8-4...but nobody is buying that line.
Memphis defeated Nicholls State earlier, does that count towards the 6 wins to qualify for a bowl? If it does, then Memphis needs 3 more wins out of the remaining 5. I think they still have a chance. The ECU game will be in Greenville, but the Pirates have fallen hard lately, so that could be a toss up game. IF Memphis can beat ECU AT Greenville, they have a good chance to win 7 games…maybe even 8, though not likely.
A rebuilding So. Miss team, then against SMU could give Memphis two wins, but the Central Florida game may be tough. They finish against Tulane, but by then they could be already promised a bowl.
But a lot will be made when they play ECU. It could determine if this team is going bowling…or just watching it on tv like the rest of us….
Anyway, gotta fly, games coming on in 20 minutes (see how fast I type?)
Well, since I was too lazy to write this last night, I better blog about this quick, as I am writing this, there is about 30 minutes before the games begin. Texas vs. Oklahoma will be a big one..
Last night Louisville beat Memphis 35-28, and I gotta tell you, the Cardinals might be in some serious trouble. True, a win is a win, and you take any victories you can get, but 3 of those touchdowns came from special teams or defense. Louisville was known in the last few years as one of the best offenses in the country….what’s up with that?
But at 3-2, they are still on pace to make a bowl, then maybe contend for the Big East Championship. They’re already one game down, losing to Connecticut, and after their next game vs. Middle Tennessee State, they begin a grueling 6 games against conference foes.
It’s gonna be close, but I think Louisville can win enough to earn a bowl bid, because we are assuming they can beat Middle Tennessee State. That would give them a 4-2 record before the conference run. I don’t see them sweeping, in fact they may split those games, ending up with maybe a 7-5 record. But if the offense does not step up, they may drop an extra game, making this very hard to call for post season play.
Memphis at 3-4 however, has to really dig in. With 5 games left on their schedule, and a loss already to Marshall, they would most likely have to sweep all their games AND hope that Marshall loses 2 games in order to get to the Conference USA Championship. A tie with Marshall is not good, because the Thundering Herd gets the nod in case of a tie.
What this also means is that the Tigers must win out, including defeating once ranked ECU and a tough Central Florida team. Best case scenario, Memphis COULD finish 8-4...but nobody is buying that line.
Memphis defeated Nicholls State earlier, does that count towards the 6 wins to qualify for a bowl? If it does, then Memphis needs 3 more wins out of the remaining 5. I think they still have a chance. The ECU game will be in Greenville, but the Pirates have fallen hard lately, so that could be a toss up game. IF Memphis can beat ECU AT Greenville, they have a good chance to win 7 games…maybe even 8, though not likely.
A rebuilding So. Miss team, then against SMU could give Memphis two wins, but the Central Florida game may be tough. They finish against Tulane, but by then they could be already promised a bowl.
But a lot will be made when they play ECU. It could determine if this team is going bowling…or just watching it on tv like the rest of us….
Anyway, gotta fly, games coming on in 20 minutes (see how fast I type?)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Connecticut vs Louisville
Big East Title Decided Tonight?
Before I get started, let me get this out…
USC LOST???
I watched that game while bouncing back and forth from it and the Mississippi Valley State vs. Alabama State U on ESPNU. And I keep wondering why EPSN never talks about the BLACK college games on the other EPSN stations.
I mean, if you interrupt the MVS/ASU game to update everybody about the big Pac 10 game, that’s cool, but why is it that the game on EPSN never even mentioned that there WAS in fact another game on their family of networks.
It’s like the SWAC and MEAC teams are the proverbial “red head step child”.
Don’t get me wrong, the USC vs. Oregon State game was very entertaining, and on the scope of National Championship Title hopes, quite immense. But do you totally ignore even an UPDATE of the game on your other network? Come on ESPN, that sounds pretty….well…bigoted to me.
But that USC game was AWESOME, and it shakes everything up…even for the Big East. And there are two undefeated teams there, one is South Florida, who will play NC State, and then there is Uconn.
Tonight Uconn travels TO Louisville to determine if that 4-0 record is for real, or just “smoke and mirrors”. I have actually been to Louisville and it is a great city (is the Gault House still there?) and the last few years Louisville has been an explosive offensive team…problem is, their defensive is IMPLOSIVE.
So let’s size it up. Connecticut has scored about 123 points this year, and allowed 50. Sounds nice, but the Hofstra game was not impressive, and the Temple game may have shown some weakness in the Huskies with that overtime win.
Overtime…against TEMPLE?
The beat down against Virginia seems legit, unless we find out that Virginia finishes like 3-8, but I will give Connecticut credit for a good win. The Baylor game was good too, but it seems that the Huskies can handle their business at home pretty well. That overtime win against Temple was on the road…maybe a flaw…..
Now with Louisville, this team seems to have fallen a bit since they had Michael Bush (and the broken leg game that broke my heart). This was supposed to be the team that scares the BCS big boys. This was the team that started making noise a few years ago with that game vs. Florida State in the pouring rain. They need that…I hate to say this word…SWAGGER…back.
And they can get it with a win against Connecticut.
I’m not gonna count the Kentucky loss too much against them, the SEC is very tough and when it comes to state rivals, throw everything out the window….ask ECU about that when they played NC State.
Still, it was an embarrassing loss, losing 27-2. Still, they picked it up with a win against Tennessee Tech 51-10, although I can’t say it was very impressive. The game against Kansas State however, was pretty good. A 38-29 win against a Big 12 team is not bad. So is this team ready to take on the Huskies and win?
The Huskies has this cat (Brown) that looks like he can get 2000 yards this year. Connecticut is number 6 in the nation in rushing and Louisville is 26th. We’re talking about a difference of 80 yards per game so it’s a little closer than you think. But when it comes to passing…ugh!
Louisville is in the 70’s in the nation, and Connecticut is in the 90’s. I can see why Uconn is so low since they focus much more on running, but you’d think Louisville would be much higher.
A lot of stats are pretty even for these teams, from passing yards to penalty yards, so you might toss a coin to decide who can win this. But there is a flaw with Connecticut. Last year they lost 4 games, and during the regular season, all 3 were AWAY games, losing by a margin of 110-40.
But Louisville went 6-6 last year and lost some key games. Losing to Utah is ok because those guys are pretty good, but losing to Syracuse….yikes! And those losses INCLUDE one to Connecticut by a score of 21-17.
This game is huge because on a national spotlight, the Big East needs to show that it is worth of the BCS chat, especially with Southern Cal falling down hard. It’s up for grabs now, with the SEC likely to beat each other up. Can Oklahoma run the tables? Whether they can or not, Uconn is in a perfect position to go undefeated…but not unless they get by the Cardinals of Louisville.
This is gonna be good! But in the end, I think home field advantage helps Louisville and they win a much needed boost by a touchdown. We’ll see, and oh, don’t forget to check out my “Greatest Running Backs EVER” blogs.
Before I get started, let me get this out…
USC LOST???
I watched that game while bouncing back and forth from it and the Mississippi Valley State vs. Alabama State U on ESPNU. And I keep wondering why EPSN never talks about the BLACK college games on the other EPSN stations.
I mean, if you interrupt the MVS/ASU game to update everybody about the big Pac 10 game, that’s cool, but why is it that the game on EPSN never even mentioned that there WAS in fact another game on their family of networks.
It’s like the SWAC and MEAC teams are the proverbial “red head step child”.
Don’t get me wrong, the USC vs. Oregon State game was very entertaining, and on the scope of National Championship Title hopes, quite immense. But do you totally ignore even an UPDATE of the game on your other network? Come on ESPN, that sounds pretty….well…bigoted to me.
But that USC game was AWESOME, and it shakes everything up…even for the Big East. And there are two undefeated teams there, one is South Florida, who will play NC State, and then there is Uconn.
Tonight Uconn travels TO Louisville to determine if that 4-0 record is for real, or just “smoke and mirrors”. I have actually been to Louisville and it is a great city (is the Gault House still there?) and the last few years Louisville has been an explosive offensive team…problem is, their defensive is IMPLOSIVE.
So let’s size it up. Connecticut has scored about 123 points this year, and allowed 50. Sounds nice, but the Hofstra game was not impressive, and the Temple game may have shown some weakness in the Huskies with that overtime win.
Overtime…against TEMPLE?
The beat down against Virginia seems legit, unless we find out that Virginia finishes like 3-8, but I will give Connecticut credit for a good win. The Baylor game was good too, but it seems that the Huskies can handle their business at home pretty well. That overtime win against Temple was on the road…maybe a flaw…..
Now with Louisville, this team seems to have fallen a bit since they had Michael Bush (and the broken leg game that broke my heart). This was supposed to be the team that scares the BCS big boys. This was the team that started making noise a few years ago with that game vs. Florida State in the pouring rain. They need that…I hate to say this word…SWAGGER…back.
And they can get it with a win against Connecticut.
I’m not gonna count the Kentucky loss too much against them, the SEC is very tough and when it comes to state rivals, throw everything out the window….ask ECU about that when they played NC State.
Still, it was an embarrassing loss, losing 27-2. Still, they picked it up with a win against Tennessee Tech 51-10, although I can’t say it was very impressive. The game against Kansas State however, was pretty good. A 38-29 win against a Big 12 team is not bad. So is this team ready to take on the Huskies and win?
The Huskies has this cat (Brown) that looks like he can get 2000 yards this year. Connecticut is number 6 in the nation in rushing and Louisville is 26th. We’re talking about a difference of 80 yards per game so it’s a little closer than you think. But when it comes to passing…ugh!
Louisville is in the 70’s in the nation, and Connecticut is in the 90’s. I can see why Uconn is so low since they focus much more on running, but you’d think Louisville would be much higher.
A lot of stats are pretty even for these teams, from passing yards to penalty yards, so you might toss a coin to decide who can win this. But there is a flaw with Connecticut. Last year they lost 4 games, and during the regular season, all 3 were AWAY games, losing by a margin of 110-40.
But Louisville went 6-6 last year and lost some key games. Losing to Utah is ok because those guys are pretty good, but losing to Syracuse….yikes! And those losses INCLUDE one to Connecticut by a score of 21-17.
This game is huge because on a national spotlight, the Big East needs to show that it is worth of the BCS chat, especially with Southern Cal falling down hard. It’s up for grabs now, with the SEC likely to beat each other up. Can Oklahoma run the tables? Whether they can or not, Uconn is in a perfect position to go undefeated…but not unless they get by the Cardinals of Louisville.
This is gonna be good! But in the end, I think home field advantage helps Louisville and they win a much needed boost by a touchdown. We’ll see, and oh, don’t forget to check out my “Greatest Running Backs EVER” blogs.
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