By Paul Sykes
Adam Froman will call signals when Louisville lines up against Southern Miss tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The Cards need to do several things to win the football game.
- Third down conversions. The 31% conversion rate on third down is pitiful. One would expect Victor Anderson to benefit in this situation, since the Golden Eagles defense has allowed three 100-yard rushers in the past three games. They allow 236.2 yards per game thru the air. Scott Long, Doug Beaumont, Trent Guy and Cameron Graham need big games. If Froman can’t get it done, Kragthorpe must give Justin Burke a chance. Too many good wide receivers to waste on inaccurate throws.
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- Eliminate the long pass . Louisville got absolutely torched against Pitt’s passing attack and Southern Miss, despite having a QB that is only starting for the second time, does like to stretch the field with long passes.
- Put points on the board. Louisville’s 20.2-point average for the first four games is the lowest average since the Ron Cooper years. The Cards have enough talent to be a big scoring threat, but the offensive ingenuity and imagination has been sub-par most of the season.
- Play four quarters. Louisville has yet to put together four quarters of solid football. The Utah game saw the Cards stumble out of the gate in the first half. They couldn’t score in the second half against Pitt. Continuity and some long, ball-controlling drives will be necessary if the Cards are to beat USM.
- Come together as a unit. With the coaching soap opera this week, one could hardly blame the Cards being distracted this week, That issue must be left in the locker room. UofL must come out sharp, intense and focused on the task at hand.
The stakes are high here and a loss to a Conference USA foe will only intensify the Steve Kragthorpe hot seat. Kragthorpe is 2-0 against Southern Miss lifetime, beating the Golden Eagles twice while he was head coach at Tulsa.