Louisville Preview
October 31, 2006 08:01 PM | General
October 31, 2006
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| Slaton | White |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Both West Virginia and Louisville are sailing into uncharted waters Thursday night. The Mountaineers have never beaten a Top 5-ranked team on the road and Louisville has yet to knock off a Top 5 team under Coach Bobby Petrino, 1-4 at Louisville against nationally ranked teams.
Something has got to give on Thursday.
“The more you win the more is at stake,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, whose record is 7-11 versus ranked teams. “Being undefeated, it just raises the stakes even higher.”
Louisville has recorded a win over a top-five team at home just once in its history, knocking off No. 4-ranked Florida State in 2002 26-20 in overtime. The Cardinals have been virtually unbeatable at home winning their last 15 games and posting a 19-1 record there since 2003.
Louisville’s last home loss was against Memphis on Nov. 15, 2003. A six-point victory over Cincinnati earlier this year was the closest result at Papa John’s Stadium in three years.
West Virginia has been rated a slight underdog for the game despite being ranked higher in the polls.
“They’re playing at their place and they’re healthier than they’ve been in several weeks,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of that whether you’re favored or not is not a big deal to the players. For our guys, they may relish being the so-called underdog. Whether you’re an underdog or a favorite, going to Louisville in that environment and in that setting is going to be a big challenge.
“We know we have to play our best game of the year to win.”
As in past years, Louisville once again fields a high-powered offense that ranks second in the country in yards per game (496.1), sixth in scoring (38.7) and seventh in rushing yards per game (216.0).
Quarterback Brian Brohm is its catalyst. In five games Brohm has completed 83 of 136 passes for 1,269 yards. However, the junior has only thrown four TD passes this year – two more than he had in last year’s West Virginia game.
An injury to his right thumb sustained in the Miami win has hindered his development. After sitting out the Kansas State game, Brohm returned to pass for 324 yards and a touchdown against Cincinnati and added 203 yards in the Syracuse win.
“He makes so many great decisions and he can make all the throws,” Rodriguez said. “The fact that he’s intelligent and he reads defenses so well, he can find a hole in the defense and if you’re not in the right spot and you don’t break on the ball correctly he’ll just tear you up.
“There are a lot of good quarterbacks in the country and certainly Brian Brohm belongs among the elite,” Rodriguez said.
Kolby Smith and George Stripling have taken up the slack at running back in place of injured All-American candidate Michael Bush. The pair has combined to rush for 806 yards and 11 touchdowns. A third back, Anthony Allen, has added 244 yards and five TDs while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
“They’re very balanced,” said Rodriguez. “They run the football well and they obviously throw it well so there is not one thing that you say if we take this away then we’re going to be OK. Their balance gives us some issues and their skill level is very high.”
Six-six, 228-pound sophomore wide receiver Mario Urrutia presents a big-time mismatch in the secondary going up against West Virginia’s pair of starting corners standing 6-1 and 5-9. Urrutia is averaging 19.3 yards per catch and is second on the team with 27 receptions for 520 yards.
Harry Douglas leads the team with a career-high 35 receptions and is coming off a six-catch performance in Louisville’s last game against Syracuse.
The one aspect of Louisville’s offense that is sometimes overlooked is the talent and depth it has along the offensive line. Rodriguez is extremely impressed with a group that starts a pair of seniors in Renardo Foster at right tackle and Kurt Quarterman at right guard.
“What is overlooked is how good their offensive line is and to be able to be as balanced as they are and to be able to run block and pass block,” Rodriguez said. “It’s going to be a challenge for our guys up front to be able to stop some of the things they do.”
Louisville’s defense also presents challenges.
Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye is an NFL prospect and leads the team with 10 tackles for losses to go with 31 tackles. Middle linebacker Malik Jackson has a team-best 32 tackles. Strong safety Brandon Sharp is the veteran of the defense appearing in 40 career games. He had nine tackles in the Miami win earlier this year.
Former JC transfer Nate Harris has 26 tackles, six tackles for losses and a pair of sacks coming off the bench.
Defensive tackle Willie Williams and defensive end Brandon Cox made their first career starts against Syracuse while free safety Latarrius Thomas is the first true freshman to start under Petrino.
“Their defense is so athletic and sometimes when you have such a high-powered offense like Louisville their defense gets overlooked, but not by us,” said Rodriguez. “We’ve got great respect for their athletes on defense, how well they run and the playmakers they have. Their defensive front does a great job of getting pressure.”
Briefly:
“It’s more critical now that you don’t dig yourself a big hole,” he said. “I don’t want to say you have to take more risks early but you’ve certainly got to be conscious of picking your pace up if you get behind early because the number of possessions will be limited in the second half and at the end of the game.”
“If it’s a high scoring game it’s certainly not going to bode well for us,” he said. “They’re built more toward throwing the football with Brohm and the skill guys at wide receiver than we are. If we’re giving up a lot of points and letting them go up and down the field it’s going to be tough, particularly in that environment.
“We’ve got to make some stops defensively and keep their offense off the field.”
“I refer to it every week as to how we’re supposed to play and being physical is part of that,” he said. “I kind of keep that as my personal trophy.”
This year, WVU is averaging 40.9 points, 459.3 yards, 319.0 rushing yards and 140.3 passing yards per game. You think Patrick White and Steve Slaton have had something to do with that?
