Under the Lights
November 06, 2007 11:28 AM | General
November 6, 2007
GAME NOTES | GAME DAY INFORMATION
Special Game-Day Parking Note: Silver Lot parking for RVs and cars will open at 7 a.m. on Thursday. RV parking for the Red and Blue lots (limited number) will open at 9 a.m. on Thursday. All parking lots will open at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Any vehicle that is in the lots with a football parking pass before those times will be towed. All cars and RVs must be removed from the parking lots by 2 a.m. on Friday. Any vehicle that is in a lot after 2 a.m. will be towed.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Whatever problems Louisville may have had earlier this season stopping people, Rich Rodriguez says its looks to him like they have now figured it out.
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| Quarterback Patrick White is coming off a 156-yard rushing performance at Rutgers on Oct. 27.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
After giving up more than 40 points in games against Middle Tennessee State, Kentucky and Utah, Louisville (5-4) has not permitted more than 24 points in its last three games against Cincinnati, Connecticut and Pitt.
“I think Louisville is probably playing their best defense recently and they have figured out what those kids can do well,” Rodriguez noted. “I think earlier in the year you are always particular in finding out what schemes they can do well. At least watching them on film the last couple of weeks they are back to having their defense make a lot of plays.”
Even though a new coach came aboard in Steve Kragthorpe, the talk before the season in the Bluegrass State was Louisville contending for a national title in 2007. Kragthorpe was able to successfully recruit senior quarterback Brian Brohm away from the pros and with a supporting cast that includes Harry Douglas, Mario Urrutia, Anthony Allen and Brock Bolen, it appeared the Cardinals had enough offensive firepower to make a run at the title.
But the Louisville defense had its problems in early games against Middle Tennessee State, Kentucky, Syracuse and Utah, transforming a possible national title berth into a fight to remain bowl eligible.
“I think we’re doing a better job of getting lined up and we’ve done a better job the last couple weeks of tackling,” Kragthorpe admitted of his defense’s improved play.
Brian Brohm hasn’t had the kind of season he hoped for record-wise when he turned down the pros, but his passing numbers remain among the very best in the country.
The senior has completed 251 of 368 passes for 3,229 yards and 26 touchdowns in nine games so far this season. He threw for a career-high 555 yards in a 38-35 loss to Syracuse, and had 400-yard passing games against Middle Tennessee and Utah.
Last year against West Virginia, Brohm torched West Virginia’s secondary for 354 yards and a touchdown in a 44-34 Cardinal victory. And two years ago in Morgantown Brohm completed 31 of 49 passes for 277 and two touchdowns.
“The key guy is Brohm,” said Rodriguez. “He understands the game and is very accurate. It’s hard to confuse a veteran guy like him. You can’t give him the same look and you have to try and create some confusion.”
Different looks are exactly what Kragthorpe is seeing from West Virginia’s secondary after studying game tapes.
“They played a little bit of two-deep coverage on third down last year and they’re mixing it in a little more on first and second down,” Kragthorpe said. “They’re more multiple on the defensive side than they’ve been in the past.
“The two-deep coverage is a little bit of an anomaly with the odd-stack defense,” Kragthorpe explained. “Normally you’re going to play in the single-safety configuration. Now they’ve added the element of two safeties.”
A key difference in West Virginia’s secondary this year has been the play of Michigan transfer Ryan Mundy at free safety. Kragthorpe has certainly detected a difference.
“He’s a guy back there directing traffic,” Kragthorpe said. “He’s a very bright player and was a great player at Michigan. He’s come in and brought a lot of experience to that secondary. To me, that’s the real key to that defensive of having a free safety that can communicate and get everybody lined up.
“When we were good with our (odd-stack) defense at Tulsa that’s what we had and when we weren’t as good we didn’t have that guy,” Kragthorpe said.
Much like Louisville’s offense, West Virginia has its share of offensive weapons that will test Cardinal tacklers.
Quarterback Patrick White is coming off a 156-yard rushing performance against Rutgers on Oct. 27, and enters Thursday night’s game with 656 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. He has also completed 91 of 130 passes for 1,070 yards and nine TDs.
Steve Slaton’s rushing totals are a little off from last year, but the junior has still managed to run for 825 yards in eight games and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. However, Slaton’s touchdown production has remained constant. He’s scored 13 on the ground and added another one through the air this year, accounting for 51 touchdowns in 31 career games.
“These guys are unbelievable in terms of watching game film and watching things that people have done (to defend them),” Kragthorpe said. “They’ve had guys accountable for the quarterback and Steve and Owen (Schmitt), but they’re as good as anybody I’ve seen in the country at breaking tackles and avoiding tackles.
“It’s the old triple-option football where you have a guy on the dive, the quarterback and the pitch, but these guys are good enough to make you miss,” Kragthorpe said.
The one West Virginia player Kragthorpe has really been impressed with is senior fullback Owen Schmitt, calling him the “unsung hero” of the Mountaineer offense.
“Everything that he does, being able to play fullback, carry the football, being the option guy on the pitch, being able to line up at tight end … he’s a very versatile football player. To me, he’s the key cog in their offense.”
The last two times West Virginia and Louisville have played both defenses have had trouble stopping the other team. Last year the two teams combined for 1,008 yards of offense and 78 points.
Two years ago in a triple-overtime game in Morgantown, the two teams combined for 849 total yards and 90 points. Ironically, the team with the fewer total yards has managed to win both games – West Virginia in 2005 with 69 fewer yards and Louisville last year with 72 fewer yards.
More than likely on Thursday night the defense that can more effectively slow down the other team’s offense will determine the outcome of the game.
“You’re talking about one of the top offenses in the country and one of the top quarterbacks,” said Rodriguez. “Nobody’s really stopped them and the last couple years they had a lot of yards and points against us as well so it is a tremendous challenge and the biggest test we have faced defensively.”
Rodriguez has asked that all West Virginia fans coming to the game wear gold. If it’s cold and you’ve got a coat on, simply slip a gold t-shirt over top. The coach believes a stadium full of gold will look impressive on national television and also to recruits attending the game.
“It will be a rowdy crowd, particularly with it being a night game,” Kragthorpe said. “It will be fun going into that environment and compete. I know they’ve got the Gold Rush campaign going so it will be a great atmosphere.”
Kickoff is set for 7:45. ESPN will televise the game nationally (Chris Fowler, Doug Flutie, Craig James and Erin Andrews). MSN’s radio coverage begins at 7 pm with the Mountaineers Today. Fans can access the radio broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 123 or on the Internet through CSTV All-Access.
