By Paul Sykes

It was only fitting that Justin Burke falls down on the final Cardinal possession. The stumbling began early for the University of Louisville and never seemed to let up.

Running plays that never get untracked. Receivers tripping with clear sailing ahead. I wonder if those yellow and blue lines we TV viewers get to see during broadcasts aren’t actually out there and players are tripping over them.

The Cardinal football team seemed to have a hard time staying vertical.

Give Utah credit for the stumbles. They hit hard, they play aggressive football.  They were almost down to asking asking someone in the student body to go in at running back. But they still managed to out-gain UofL 416-261 in total yards and outrush the Cards 214-80.

Terrance Cain almost outgained the Cards with his 253 total yards of offense. Matt Asiata, the other Ute that worried me before the game, took to the sidelines after being injured, but wasn’t missed.

Too many wide sweeps around slow Cardinal secondary defenders. Too many blown chances in the red zone. Too many punts, although the Cards did look pretty good in that category. Too many arm tackles that failed.

At least Darius Ashley got a few carries. But, it took a “dinged up” Vic Anderson to create that opportunity.

Falling down. The road gets no easier next week against Pitt. The stumbling looks like it could continue Friday night.















Share this

By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

2 thoughts on “Uptight And Vertically Challenged”
  1. Watching Louisville in the first half Saturday night was painful. Good drives that fell short because of errors or the inability to complete. The potential is there, we all see it. The need to finish, though, is huge.

  2. We are very slow. And many of the attempted arm tackles are because of that. Our guys just don’t get to the spot in time. The effort is there but the talent is questionable and the coaching…..well, I’ve been there already.

Comments are closed.