You just know that many cynics and doubters among the local fan base were watching in disbelief, having convinced themselves that U of L had absolutely no chance against West Virginia. Yet the outcome was very much up in the air with less than two minutes on the clock. Maybe, just maybe, this coaching staff isn’t as bad as some people seem to believe.

Some impressions from the game:

— The defense has steadily improved as the season has progressed. One got the feeling they were finally getting the hang of it. With the exception of the Pat White escape at 1:36, they seemed to be actually having fun out there for a change.

— Chris Fowler, of the ESPN broadcast team, made an excellent point about the previous head coach over-recruiting on the offensive side. Some key players on the defensive side were offensive stars in high school and had never had to make tackles or disrupt passes. They are learning on the job.

— Rod Council does his job well, as was obvious on the pass deflection that was called pass interference and led to West Virginia’s second touchdown.

— Lamar Myles and Deon Palmer, now that is ferocity! Turned the Mountaineer offense into a bad juggling act at times.

— George Stripling showed some glimpses of why fans thought he would be special before last season. If he sees daylight, he is difficult to stop. However, he dropped several screen passes that could have keyed an upset. Also, he’s never going to run through or over anybody.

— Where was Bilal Powell? Were we just imagining how talented a runner he is or was that just wishful thinking on our part?

— Maybe Brock Bolen didn’t see more action because he was misreading blitzes and missing key blocks, putting Brohm in jeopardy. Let’s hope it was just a bad day. U of L needs his brawn in the backfield.

It’s too easy to nitpick the coaching decisions, particularly on offense where the play calling is much too predictable. One has to give the coaching staff credit for putting U of L in a position to win a game in which all the experts thought they were so outmatched.

Was the U of L defense that much improved tonight or were they merely pumped up with adrenaline playing a top 10 team? The answer to this question could help determine whether the Cards chalk up any more wins this season.

You just know that many cynics and doubters among the local fan base were watching in disbelief, having convinced themselves that U of L had absolutely no chance against West Virginia. Yet the outcome was very much up in the air with less than two minutes on the clock. Maybe, just maybe, this coaching staff isn’t as bad as some people seem to believe.

Some impressions from the game:

— The defense has steadily improved as the season has progressed. One got the feeling they were finally getting the hang of it. With the exception of the Pat White escape at 1:36, they seemed to be actually having fun out there for a change.

— Chris Fowler, of the ESPN broadcast team, made an excellent point about the previous head coach over-recruiting on the offensive side. Some key players on the defensive side were offensive stars in high school and had never had to make tackles or disrupt passes. They are learning on the job.

— Rod Council does his job well, as was obvious on the pass deflection that was called pass interference and led to West Virginia’s second touchdown.

— Lamar Myles and Deon Palmer, now that is ferocity! Turned the Mountaineer offense into a bad juggling act at times.

— George Stripling showed some glimpses of why fans thought he would be special before last season. If he sees daylight, he is difficult to stop. However, he dropped several screen passes that could have keyed an upset. Also, he’s never going to run through or over anybody.

— Where was Bilal Powell? Were we just imagining how talented a runner he is or was that just wishful thinking on our part?

— Maybe Brock Bolen didn’t see more action because he was misreading blitzes and missing key blocks, putting Brohm in jeopardy. Let’s hope it was just a bad day. U of L needs his brawn in the backfield.

It’s too easy to nitpick the coaching decisions, particularly on offense where the play calling is much too predictable. One has to give the coaching staff credit for putting U of L in a position to win a game in which all the experts thought they were so outmatched.

Was the U of L defense that much improved tonight or were they merely pumped up with adrenaline playing a top 10 team? The answer to this question could help determine whether the Cards chalk up any more wins this season.

Few rivalries in collegiate sports have reached such a high level of intensity in such a short period of time as Louisville versus West Virginia. You know what they say about rivalries, toss the records out the window. It’s that kind of rivalry.

The Cards also have something else going for them this time around: Nobody expects them to win. Have fun, play loose, anything can happen. Stranger things have already happened this football season.

Too many U of L fans, however, seem to have an unhealthy sense of dread about this matchup or as blogster Tom Heiser phrased it, “much like the anticipation of an approaching hurricane just hours away at sea.” Calm down folks, this storm, too, shall pass. There may even be a pot of gold out there somewhere. Why else would there be a gold rush?

Some things to watch for:

— Mountaineers will run a trick play or two. The magic acts have been so effective against the Cards this season, it would be foolish not to go for the rabbit. How about backup quarterback Jarrett Brown coming in as running back and throwing a TD pass to Pat White? Nah, too easy.

— Bilal Powell to be seriously involved in the U of L offense. If the ground game is going to be effective, the Cards must utilize the quickness and escapability of Powell to offset the predictability of Brock Bolen and Anthony Allen.

— Harry Douglas will be back, for real this time. He’s just too good to allow himself to become just another wide receiver in U of L record books.

— Brian Brohm wants to win this game, badly. Running, passing, whatever it takes. You don’t become a legend without achieving the seemingly impossible.

Memories of the first Big East football game between Louisville and West Virginia two years ago:

— Minutes before getting into the car to drive to West Virginia, learning that the Holiday Inn in Clarksburg had been flooded. Knowing that it was a bad omen

–Catching a bus ride to the stadium with a group of U of L fans from a hotel in Fairmont. They hadn’t slept the night before because another bus had broken down.

— The disastrous onside kick off in the third quarter that went to West Virginia. Sinking feeling, knowing that momentum had unalterably turned.

— The sound of fire trucks, one after another and another, after the three-overtime loss.

— Arriving back at the the bus with beer-soaked shoes, courtesy of a couple of Mountaineer fans.

— Shock at learning the bus would go back to Louisville on a route that didn’t include our hotel 40 miles away. We were on our own.

To Lee Corso: Predict that West Virginia will win the football game. Please. (Nobody can remember the last time he correctly predicted a Louisville game.)

To fans going to theaters to see the game: Take your own candy and popcorn. Movie concessions are more expensive than Papa John’s. (There’s a Walgreen’s directly across from Stonybrook.)

To Steve Kragthorpe:
Game plan should include Bilal Powell early and often in the first half. (No late game cameos.)

To Charlie Stubbs: Get the plays into Brian Brohm faster. Send Bilal Powell in with the plays. (He’s a good ball carrier, too.)

To the U of L Band Director: Watch how the Mountaineer band responds to game situations, and how the crowd feeds off the band. (They don’t have a cheerleader doing a monologue before the game either.)

To the guy who plays the boogie videos: They don’t play boogie music at Morgantown when the home team is behind. Not in good taste. (You’ll never live that one down.)

To Lee Corso: Predict that West Virginia will win the football game. Please. (Nobody can remember the last time he correctly predicted a Louisville game.)

To fans going to theaters to see the game: Take your own candy and popcorn. Movie concessions are more expensive than Papa John’s. (There’s a Walgreen’s directly across from Stonybrook.)

To Steve Kragthorpe:
Game plan should include Bilal Powell early and often in the first half. (No late game cameos.)

To Charlie Stubbs: Get the plays into Brian Brohm faster. Send Bilal Powell in with the plays. (He’s a good ball carrier, too.)

To the U of L Band Director: Watch how the Mountaineer band responds to game situations, and how the crowd feeds off the band. (They don’t have a cheerleader doing a monologue before the game either.)

To the guy who plays the boogie videos: They don’t play boogie music at Morgantown when the home team is behind. Not in good taste. (You’ll never live that one down.)

Darius Ashley continues to dazzle fans and opposing defenses in the Queen City. The Louisville football signee rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns Saturday evening in leading Cincinnati St. X to an easy 45-14 win over Cincinnati Elder in the first round of the Division One Ohio state high school playoffs — a convincing victory over a powerful rival.

Ashley has rushed for 1,014 yards and 12 touchdowns in seven games; he missed three games early on because of an ankle injury. He has had back-to-back 200-yard games, after rushing for 205 yards and a TD in last week’s 28-14 win over Cincinnati Moeller in the regular season finale. Cincinnati Enquirer

Darius Ashley continues to dazzle fans and opposing defenses in the Queen City. The Louisville football signee rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns Saturday evening in leading Cincinnati St. X to an easy 45-14 win over Cincinnati Elder in the first round of the Division One Ohio state high school playoffs — a convincing victory over a powerful rival.

Ashley has rushed for 1,014 yards and 12 touchdowns in seven games; he missed three games early on because of an ankle injury. He has had back-to-back 200-yard games, after rushing for 205 yards and a TD in last week’s 28-14 win over Cincinnati Moeller in the regular season finale. Cincinnati Enquirer

Fans across West Virginia are pumped up for the U of L-West Virginia football game next Thursday. They don’t seem to be too concerned about whether they will win, that seems to be a given for them. They do respect Louisville, however. and a capacity crowd of 60,000-plus is expected.

— Even though it’s a night game, visiting U of L fans may still need sunglasses. WVU football coach Rich Rodriguez is encouraging Mountaineers fans to wear gold. “I’d like everybody to wear something gold — a shirt, jersey, jacket, hat, scarf, shoes,” he said. “It would look impressive, particularly at night.”

— Members of the Mountaineer Maniacs, a group consisting of more than 4,500 students, are being encouraged to get to their seats 90 minutes before kickoff. They earn loyalty points for football based on home attendance. The more home games they attend, the better their chances of getting tickets for the big games.

— Mountaineer fans without tickets at the stadium can still see the ESPN broadcast on the big screen in theaters at theaters in Morgantown, Charleston and Beckley. The Morgantown theater also is giving away 120 free passes and is offering free food.

— The West Virginia defense, which takes a back seat to Pat White and Steve Slaton, is third nationally in total defense (262.13 yards per game), fourth in scoring defense (14.9 per game), third in turnover margin (1.38), tied for 11th in turnovers gained (22) and tied for 12th in fumbles recovered.

— Mountaineer Coach Rich Rodriguez on Brian Brohm: “He’s one of the best not only in the Big East but in the history of NCAA football,” he said. “I think it’s a great story for college football that he decided to come back (for a senior year). Obviously, he’s carried that team. He has stayed healthy this year. He’s competitive and a very good athlete.”

It’s Halloween, easily the most dizzily dissonant holiday of the year. Ancient tradition holds that Halloween is the time of year when ghosts of the past make contact with the physical world.

So we were not surprised to see the face of Bobby Petrino haunting various sections of Papa John’s last Saturday. Apparently he was a bit disturbed over some of the shots aimed his way since he vanished in January.

Actually that’s Erin Kenney behind the mask. I would have preferred her face to Petrino’s. Maybe next time …