Back in the olden days, you know the Sixties and Seventies, one became accustomed to seeing the University of Louisville football team getting butt kicked week after week. There were a few glory years, with Orange and Sugar bowl wins sprinkled in, evoking visions of a football school.
Sorry friends, but the bad old days appear to be back. So much for the last season’s quick turnaround, the 8-5 won-lost record raising expectations all too quickly. The bad times are back, with Louisville losing its third game in a row. The latest loss, a 46-27 decision at Georgia Tech, confirming that the Cardinals’ struggles are going to be a season-long ordeal. The currently team bearing little resemblance to the one that won the Music City Bowl.
This was a game in which the Cardinals were favored to win, possibly the last one this season barring any unexpected improvements. A team with largely the same roster that greatly overachieved in year one of Coach Scott Satterfield’s tenure. A team many expected to compete for a spot in the ACC championship. A team seemingly headed in the opposite direction.
Louisville running backs losing three fumbles while Georgia Tech did not commit a turnover. The Cardinals getting off to a good start on its opening drive, seemingly ready to have an easy night. Not meant to be, the Yellow Jackets taking full advantage, scoring a touchdown and destroying the vibe.
Hawkins was credited with 155 yards for the Cardinals but his fumble in the fourth quarter was costly. Jordan Domineck’s recovery near midfield set up Sims’ scoring pass to Gibbs, who vaulted defensive back Isaiah Hayes at the goal line to give the Yellow Jackets a 32-27 lead.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham passed for 229 yards with two touchdowns and ran for two scores. Sounds better than it was, he was struggling most of the night.
An open date would have been nice next week. But it’s off to South Bend, Indiana on Oct. 17th for a nationally televised game against Notre Dame. Grin and bear it, expect another long day.
Charlie,
We well remember those losing years in the seventies because we helping recruit those players.The faculty wanted the school to drop football.It wasn’t until Bill Olsen coaxed Howard Schnellenberger that we started to climb the ladder.The only way to climb that ladder again is through recruiting.There is no quick fix.
We agree, Bill. The problem is that none of us are getting any younger. Going through this process over and over again is tiring for long-time UofL fans.
Jim Valvano said “Don’t give up,don’t ever give up” This applies to our fan base as well as our football team.
UofL played about 1 & 3 quarters of football. After halftime, it appeared that no offensive or defensive adjustments were made. UL got out-coached & out-played on both sides of the ball.
Is UofL headed for another 2-win season a la Bobby Petrino?
Cunningham should’ve been benched at the start of the 2nd half. He held the ball too many times for too long, then tried to run, but often would be thrown for a loss.
It looked like there was no defensive player assigned to keep an eye on Sims, who ran freely at will.
Defensive fundamentals, ha! One-handed arm tackling seemed to be the norm for UofL. There were more missed tackles than I could count.
ESPN needs to fire three announcers who spent more time talking about the Miami-Clemson game while UofL & GT was playing. Disgusting. I turned on mute. I watched the game, disappointing as it was, instead.
There were individual UofL players who made some outstanding plays on both offense and defense.
An interesting historical picture was shown of football being played at Georgia Tech in 1918. Everybody in the stands was wearing masks due to the Spanish flu. Evidently, mask-wearing was not the political issue that it is today. However, it appeared that they took more seriously the Spanish flu they were dealing with than some of this generation are taking about COVID-19.
Thanks for your comments, David. Some interesting observations about the Spanish Flu, which claimed a great grandfather of mine in 1919.