All Entries Tagged With: "Bilal Powell"

Victor Anderson’s Season Over

...

Louisville Football Halfway There?

Thoughts going into the Louisville vs. Kentucky football game:

• Now we know exactly what Tom Jurich meant when he declared a little over a year ago that U of L football was in a rebuild mode, adding “I just hope we can get through it.” The negative talk directed at Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe is off the charts in some quarters (i.e., messsage boards).
• Would anything be sweeter than force feeding the garbage talk down the throats of the haters? Some sound a lot like Alabama fans going after Mike Shula a couple of years ago. But Shula had one 10-2 season and Alabama had five decades of tradition.
• Louisville’s opening game was the longest, most boring game the observer has seen in all of his years of watching U of L football. Maybe there was a reason for that, as in showing absolutely nothing to a hated arch rival. One can always hope. Make that one must hope.
• There’s a lot of talk about Louisville’s explosive backs. Victor Anderson is, for sure. But Bilal Powell didn’t show anything last season. And Darius Ashley has yet to set foot in a college football game.
• If U of L’s wide receivers are a strong point, we have yet to see that either. Scott Long and Trent Guy have spent almost as much time nursing injuries as playing games. Josh Chichester is far from being a proven receiver. Doug Beaumont has yet to find the end zone. Troy Pascley shows only flashes.
• How will Justin Burke respond to the UK wall of noise. There has been at least one estimate that 80,000 people will show up a Commonwealth Stadium. That would be standing room only in a 67,600-seat stadium. If Burke was nervous against Indiana State, he could be a basket case in Lexington.
• Ryan Tydlacka, brother of former U of L kicker Wade Tydlacka, kicking for Kentucky when Louisville’s kicking game is among the needy.
• U of L has 21 players from the Ville. Kentucky has 15. How long will it take them to overtake U of L at the current pace?
• Tom Jurich said two years for the rebuild. We’re just a little over the halfway point.

...

Special Teams & Redemption

By Paul Sykes

They get the least recognition on a football team, the players responsible for the kicking and return aspects of games. They are the special teams, and they can make you or break you.

Think about it.  Fans usually groan when we have to punt, hope our guy doesn’t fumble a punt, yawn through an extra point and argue about going for it on fourth down. We love the long breakaway runs when we create them, and shudder when the opponent does them.

Last season, remember, the University of Louisville football team created a lot of anticipation when special teams took the field. Not much of it borne from confidence.

Chris Philpott will likely handle the kickoff duties and placekicking in the game opener. The sophomore had less than a stellar season in 2008 but reports from practice indicate his leg is stronger. He’s also reaching the end zone on kickoffs with a little more regularity. Not much surveillance on his field goal accuracy, however.

Cory Goettsche, a senior punter, got off several boomers last year but needs to work on his coffin corner placement. At least Cory has experience and has played in front of all kinds of fan bases and in all kinds of weather.

Four different players may return kickoffs and punts. Speed burner Trent Guy and Doug Beaumont for punts and Bilal Powell and Vic Anderson on kickoffs. Guy is deceptive and dangerous in either role, the others quick enough to make something happen if blocking schemes work.

Fans likely won’t learn much about the effectiveness of the special teams against Indiana State, but there will be things to watch. How is coverage on the returner on punts? Are we reaching the end zone with consistency on kickoffs? Is the punt return team getting pressure on the punter? Is anything outside the 25-yard line a viable option for a field goal on fourth down?

Make it happen guys. Position is everything.

*    *    *

Former Lady Card Kristin Mattox is one of six former athletes selected for U of L’s Hall of Fame. See Sonja’s commentary here.

...

Louisville Running Backs May Be Key

By Tom Stosberg

In today’s style of college football, is it even possible to win a league championship or, for that matter, a single Big East game without a major, big time running back? Not just a fast back, but a durable one who can deliver 20-25 carries, get short yardage when needed and take a pounding weekly.

Does the University of Louisville have that durable back?

Victor Anderson? Great speed, exceptional moves, remarkable balance, excellent instincts and terrific work ethic.

Darius Ashley? Best running back in Ohio as a high school senior two years ago. A Victor Anderson clone?

Bilal Powell? Great freshman start, coming off an injury season, good attitude, excellent athletic ability, questionable durability.

Joe Tronzo? Big. Good blocking back. Big. Not much speed. Big. Great attitude. Big. Very hard worker. Big.

Hey, wait a minute. Tronzo,Victor, Pass, Pass, Victor, Tronzo, Ashley, Pass, Pass, Powell, Anderson …

Hmmm. You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?  Naw. But maybe … Naw … Ya think?

...

Victor Anderson: Ready Or Not?

Injuries to key personnel on the University of Louisville football team’s defensive side of the line have been well documented. Unless we missed it, however, there has not been convincing assurance from the coaching staff that Victor Anderson will be ready to go full speed against West Virginia.

The seemingly indestructible Anderson went down with a shoulder injury late in the Cincinnati game and never returned. Normally, no news would be good news. But over the past two seasons, UofL fans have been conditioned to expect the worst. Without Anderson around, the offense will struggle more than it has up to this point.

Anderson is Louisville’s most reliable offensive threat. Lately he had even been returning kickoffs, replacing Trent Guy, whose playing time has been reduced to a handful of plays.

One would hope that no news is good news. Just once would be encouraging.

Where is Walter Peacock when we need him?

* * *

Clueless Blackout – Still mystified as to why Saturday’s game has been designated as a “Black Out” game, as are at least two other Card fanatics Frankpos at Hell In The Hall and Mike Rutherford over at Card Chronicle.

As Frankpos puts it:

“I’d like to know the PR genius who came up with this gem. Calling for a Black-Out game against West Virginia is so wrong in so many ways. But the worst is that it vividly draws a comparison between one of the greatest moments in Louisville football history…and where we stand now.

“Asking/ordering pissed off fans to do this is one of the most asinine things I have seen during the Kragthorpe era…and lord knows, there have been some mighty PR blunders during his two-year reign.”

Rutherford is a little kinder, but not much:

“I have no idea when this decision was made, but I’m assuming it was at some point within the last seven days. That’s not nearly enough time for this to have any chance of looking respectable … The vast majority of the fan base is already all sorts of pissed off and far more likely to be annoyed by this type of request than in seasons’ past.”

The big question in this observer’s mind is who handles public relations for the football team. Does anyone? There’s a huge difference between a sports information director and a public relations person. Don’t see PR listed anywhere on the organization chart.

Don’t look now but it’s snowing. Mother Nature apparently doesn’t agree either.

...