Louisville Preview
November 18, 2010 11:21 AM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two teams with a lot to play for will hook up on Saturday afternoon when West Virginia travels to Louisville to face the 5-5 Cardinals in a Big East game at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
West Virginia, now 6-3, 2-2 after last Saturday’s 37-10 rout of Cincinnati, still has its sights set on at least a share of the Big East title should Pitt, Syracuse and Connecticut stumble down the stretch. And although Louisville is no longer in the conference title hunt, it can become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2006 with a win in one of its remaining two games against West Virginia or Rutgers.
Since a 2006 appearance in the Orange Bowl, the Cardinals have just a 20-21 record, including this year’s 5-5 mark under first-year coach Charlie Strong.
“You are at a point (in the season) for something to play for,” said Strong. “We’ve got five wins so we’ve got two to play for.”
Strong has brought a new attitude and toughness to a Louisville program that had fallen on hard times under former coach Steve Kragthorpe. Strong has one of the top runners in the Big East Conference in senior Bilal Powell, whose 1,207 yards on the ground so far this year puts him sixth on the list of UofL’s top single season rushers.
Powell has more than doubled his previous three season’s worth of work on the ground, going for 153 in the opener against Kentucky, running for 204 and 209 in back-to-back games against Memphis and Cincinnati, and adding 140 during last week’s 24-21 overtime loss to South Florida.
Powell missed part of the Pitt game with an injured knee that also kept him out of Louisville’s win at Syracuse on Nov. 6. Louisville has the best rushing offense in the Big East, averaging 192.3 yards per game.
Overcoming injuries has been a theme for Louisville this season. In addition to Powell, starting quarterback Adam Froman has missed the last two games with a deep thigh bruise and he is questionable for Saturday’s game against West Virginia. Eight different players have been lost to injury, forcing Strong to play 10 freshmen this year.
Playing the last two weeks at quarterback is 6-foot-3, 226-pound senior Justin Burke, who has thrown for 289 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games against Syracuse and South Florida.
“They both are big guys,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart of Louisville’s top two quarterbacks. “They are bigger than our linebackers; they are both strong-armed and they both have a great feel for releasing the football.”
Strong said earlier this week that he is not sure who will be under center on Saturday against the Mountaineers.
“If we don’t get Froman back then I feel really comfortable with Burke in there,” he said. “The way we approach it is we don’t need our quarterback to go out there and win the game. We just need him to manage it.”
Before going down against Pitt, Froman was completing better than 60 percent of his pass attempts for 1,633 yards and 11 touchdowns. Froman’s best performance was a 308-yard, three-TD effort against Arkansas State on Oct. 2.
Strong will also employ the Wildcat formation frequently with several different players lined up behind center.
Louisville’s top receiver is senior Doug Beaumont, who leads the Cardinals with 33 catches for 378 yards and a touchdown. Josh Bellamy (25 catches for 362 yards and five touchdowns) and tight ends Cameron Graham and Josh Chichester (a combined 52 catches for 664 yards and seven touchdowns) are also big weapons in the passing game.
“This is another explosive offense,” said Stewart. “They are talented and can score from anywhere.”
Defensively, Louisville has made dramatic improvement under Strong. The Cardinals limited South Florida to just 259 yards of offense last Saturday – the fourth straight game Louisville has held the opposition to less than 300 total yards. In fact, outside of two long plays, South Florida was limited to only 142 yards from scrimmage last weekend.
For the year, Louisville is surrendering 306.5 total yards, including just 163.6 yards per game through the air. And during its most recent four-game stretch Louisville’s defense is giving up an average of 241.2 yards, which is slightly better than West Virginia’s most recent four-game stretch when it has given up 251.8 yards per game.
“I see Charlie Strong’s personality (on defense),” said Stewart. “They have a wide range of players. They tackle really well in open field and that’s what I saw them do when they shut out UConn.”
Strong has three freshmen playing on the defensive line, including a pair of true freshmen in Brandon Dunn and B.J. Butler.
“We said from day one that B.J. Butler was going to be an outstanding player,” said Strong. “Each game he has gotten better.”
Saturday’s contest could very well be a game of field position and turnovers. WVU’s defense is the only one in the country that has yet to allow more than 21 points in a single game this year. And only Marshall has produced more than 300 yards of offense (364) against the Mountaineers through nine games.
West Virginia is third in the country scoring defense (13.2), fourth in total defense (253.3), fourth in sacks (28), seventh against the run (94.9), seventh against the pass (208.4) and first in third down conversions, opposing offenses successful on just 22.4 percent of its third down tries. Last week, Cincinnati was 0 for 12 against West Virginia on third down.
“When you look at their defense they are in the top 10 in each category: rushing defense, scoring defense, total defense … they are just a really solid football team on defense,” said Strong.
Strong, who played some 3-3-5 stack when he coordinated Lou Holtz’s defense at South Carolina, says West Virginia’s odd-stack alignment can be difficult to block.
“It’s a defense you don’t really see on first down a lot,” Strong said. “It’s more of where they are aligned and where they place their backers and they try to dictate the flow of the game. We’ve got to do a good job of putting a hat on people and just blocking.”
During last year’s game in Morgantown, a 17-9 West Virginia victory, the Mountaineers had trouble moving the ball against the Cardinals. WVU finished the afternoon with 273 yards of offense - 173 of those coming on the ground. Jock Sanders was WVU’s leading ground gainer with 66 yards.
Speaking of Sanders, he needs three catches to become the school’s career leader for receptions, passing David Saunders’ 191 catches made from 1995-98. Sanders shows 52 catches for 508 yards and four touchdowns this season, and is third on the team with 723 all-purpose yards.
Tavon Austin has 44 catches for 528 yards and five TDs and has 801 all-purpose yards heading into the Louisville game.
“Offensively they have a lot of speed,” said Strong. “They have enough playmakers to where they like to get the ball into their hands.”
Noel Devine, who passed Amos Zereoue to move into third place on West Virginia’s career rushing list with 4,151 yards, ran for 77 yards and scored a touchdown last week against Cincinnati. Devine has only had four 100-yard games in 2010 and only one (Syracuse) since bruising his foot at LSU on Sept. 25. Devine still needs 230 yards in his remaining three games to produce a third-straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith rebounded from two subpar games against Syracuse and Connecticut to complete 15 of 25 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Bearcats. In nine games Smith has thrown 19 touchdown passes, while completing 65.2 percent of his pass attempts for 1,870 yards. With 130 more yards through the air, Smith can become just the second WVU quarterback since 1998 to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Jarrett Brown passed for 2,058 yards last year.
Louisville will recognize 24 seniors playing in their final home game on Saturday against West Virginia. The Cardinals wrap up the regular season on the road at Rutgers on Nov. 26.
“It’s going to be a battle and a true test for us because (West Virginia is) a really good football team,” Strong said.
Game time is set for noon. The Big East Network (Mike Gleason, John Congemi and Eamon McAnaney) will televise the game. MSN’s radio coverage begins with The Mountaineers Today at 11 p.m. Satellite radio listeners can access the MSN broadcast on Sirius channel 121 and the Best of XM channel 141.
West Virginia, now 6-3, 2-2 after last Saturday’s 37-10 rout of Cincinnati, still has its sights set on at least a share of the Big East title should Pitt, Syracuse and Connecticut stumble down the stretch. And although Louisville is no longer in the conference title hunt, it can become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2006 with a win in one of its remaining two games against West Virginia or Rutgers.
Since a 2006 appearance in the Orange Bowl, the Cardinals have just a 20-21 record, including this year’s 5-5 mark under first-year coach Charlie Strong.
“You are at a point (in the season) for something to play for,” said Strong. “We’ve got five wins so we’ve got two to play for.”
Strong has brought a new attitude and toughness to a Louisville program that had fallen on hard times under former coach Steve Kragthorpe. Strong has one of the top runners in the Big East Conference in senior Bilal Powell, whose 1,207 yards on the ground so far this year puts him sixth on the list of UofL’s top single season rushers.
Powell has more than doubled his previous three season’s worth of work on the ground, going for 153 in the opener against Kentucky, running for 204 and 209 in back-to-back games against Memphis and Cincinnati, and adding 140 during last week’s 24-21 overtime loss to South Florida.
Powell missed part of the Pitt game with an injured knee that also kept him out of Louisville’s win at Syracuse on Nov. 6. Louisville has the best rushing offense in the Big East, averaging 192.3 yards per game.
Overcoming injuries has been a theme for Louisville this season. In addition to Powell, starting quarterback Adam Froman has missed the last two games with a deep thigh bruise and he is questionable for Saturday’s game against West Virginia. Eight different players have been lost to injury, forcing Strong to play 10 freshmen this year.
Playing the last two weeks at quarterback is 6-foot-3, 226-pound senior Justin Burke, who has thrown for 289 yards and five touchdowns in his last two games against Syracuse and South Florida.
“They both are big guys,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart of Louisville’s top two quarterbacks. “They are bigger than our linebackers; they are both strong-armed and they both have a great feel for releasing the football.”
Strong said earlier this week that he is not sure who will be under center on Saturday against the Mountaineers.
“If we don’t get Froman back then I feel really comfortable with Burke in there,” he said. “The way we approach it is we don’t need our quarterback to go out there and win the game. We just need him to manage it.”
Before going down against Pitt, Froman was completing better than 60 percent of his pass attempts for 1,633 yards and 11 touchdowns. Froman’s best performance was a 308-yard, three-TD effort against Arkansas State on Oct. 2.
Strong will also employ the Wildcat formation frequently with several different players lined up behind center.
Louisville’s top receiver is senior Doug Beaumont, who leads the Cardinals with 33 catches for 378 yards and a touchdown. Josh Bellamy (25 catches for 362 yards and five touchdowns) and tight ends Cameron Graham and Josh Chichester (a combined 52 catches for 664 yards and seven touchdowns) are also big weapons in the passing game.
“This is another explosive offense,” said Stewart. “They are talented and can score from anywhere.”
Defensively, Louisville has made dramatic improvement under Strong. The Cardinals limited South Florida to just 259 yards of offense last Saturday – the fourth straight game Louisville has held the opposition to less than 300 total yards. In fact, outside of two long plays, South Florida was limited to only 142 yards from scrimmage last weekend.
For the year, Louisville is surrendering 306.5 total yards, including just 163.6 yards per game through the air. And during its most recent four-game stretch Louisville’s defense is giving up an average of 241.2 yards, which is slightly better than West Virginia’s most recent four-game stretch when it has given up 251.8 yards per game.
“I see Charlie Strong’s personality (on defense),” said Stewart. “They have a wide range of players. They tackle really well in open field and that’s what I saw them do when they shut out UConn.”
Strong has three freshmen playing on the defensive line, including a pair of true freshmen in Brandon Dunn and B.J. Butler.
“We said from day one that B.J. Butler was going to be an outstanding player,” said Strong. “Each game he has gotten better.”
Saturday’s contest could very well be a game of field position and turnovers. WVU’s defense is the only one in the country that has yet to allow more than 21 points in a single game this year. And only Marshall has produced more than 300 yards of offense (364) against the Mountaineers through nine games.
West Virginia is third in the country scoring defense (13.2), fourth in total defense (253.3), fourth in sacks (28), seventh against the run (94.9), seventh against the pass (208.4) and first in third down conversions, opposing offenses successful on just 22.4 percent of its third down tries. Last week, Cincinnati was 0 for 12 against West Virginia on third down.
“When you look at their defense they are in the top 10 in each category: rushing defense, scoring defense, total defense … they are just a really solid football team on defense,” said Strong.
Strong, who played some 3-3-5 stack when he coordinated Lou Holtz’s defense at South Carolina, says West Virginia’s odd-stack alignment can be difficult to block.
“It’s a defense you don’t really see on first down a lot,” Strong said. “It’s more of where they are aligned and where they place their backers and they try to dictate the flow of the game. We’ve got to do a good job of putting a hat on people and just blocking.”
During last year’s game in Morgantown, a 17-9 West Virginia victory, the Mountaineers had trouble moving the ball against the Cardinals. WVU finished the afternoon with 273 yards of offense - 173 of those coming on the ground. Jock Sanders was WVU’s leading ground gainer with 66 yards.
Speaking of Sanders, he needs three catches to become the school’s career leader for receptions, passing David Saunders’ 191 catches made from 1995-98. Sanders shows 52 catches for 508 yards and four touchdowns this season, and is third on the team with 723 all-purpose yards.
Tavon Austin has 44 catches for 528 yards and five TDs and has 801 all-purpose yards heading into the Louisville game.
“Offensively they have a lot of speed,” said Strong. “They have enough playmakers to where they like to get the ball into their hands.”
Noel Devine, who passed Amos Zereoue to move into third place on West Virginia’s career rushing list with 4,151 yards, ran for 77 yards and scored a touchdown last week against Cincinnati. Devine has only had four 100-yard games in 2010 and only one (Syracuse) since bruising his foot at LSU on Sept. 25. Devine still needs 230 yards in his remaining three games to produce a third-straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
Sophomore quarterback Geno Smith rebounded from two subpar games against Syracuse and Connecticut to complete 15 of 25 passes for 174 yards and four touchdowns last week against the Bearcats. In nine games Smith has thrown 19 touchdown passes, while completing 65.2 percent of his pass attempts for 1,870 yards. With 130 more yards through the air, Smith can become just the second WVU quarterback since 1998 to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Jarrett Brown passed for 2,058 yards last year.
Louisville will recognize 24 seniors playing in their final home game on Saturday against West Virginia. The Cardinals wrap up the regular season on the road at Rutgers on Nov. 26.
“It’s going to be a battle and a true test for us because (West Virginia is) a really good football team,” Strong said.
Game time is set for noon. The Big East Network (Mike Gleason, John Congemi and Eamon McAnaney) will televise the game. MSN’s radio coverage begins with The Mountaineers Today at 11 p.m. Satellite radio listeners can access the MSN broadcast on Sirius channel 121 and the Best of XM channel 141.
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