"If we can't get an inch, we don't deserve to win the game."

Charlie Strong's post-game.

Cards downed on 4th, fall in OT

When anyone asks me, "What would you do?" in a field goal or go-for-it choice. my answer is always the same: "Lombardi always took the points." That should end the discussion.

There's no sugarcoating it, Charlie Strong blundered in his decision to go for it on 4th and inches in OT in a game where his defense had showed near total control. You take the points, you trust your D, you score on the next possession.

But the poor decision was matched by equally poor execution. A bland QB sneak where Justin Burke gave a pathetic effort, getting stood up with no drive in his legs. Blech.

A terrible performance from Burke, who looked like more of a high school QB than D-1 for most of the day. He just doesn't exude any leadership out there and seems to make his reads based on how the play should be unfolding, on paper, rather than what is actually on the field. His INT was costly, and it was really just a matter of time, he was making dangerous throws all day.

A tough loss to stomach. A strange game the Cards should have won. My first major disagreement with Charlie on an in-game decision. I feel ill.

and predictions...

Gotta be quick, I'm running late for tailgaiting. I think the Cards win this one with relative ease, based on the playmaking of its defense.

USF quarterback BJ Daniels is capable of making big plays, but he's also mistake prone. I think the Cards secondary will come up with multiple INTs and the line will come through in containing his scambles.

Burke commands the offense ably, once again, though it's clear that the coaching staff wants to win this one on the ground. Cards 34. USF 20. Book it.

Predictions, predictions...

If Louisville can win the turnover margin, and Burke doesn't manage to teeter any of those iffy throws into interceptions this time around, and if Jeremy Wright can net at least another sixty yards running even with Bilal Powell returning to duty, and -- oh what the hell -- if Johnny Patrick returns an INT for a touchdown, then call this one for the Cards over South Florida, 38-28. Player of the game: Hakeem Smith. Unless Johnny actually returns the INT. In which case it's Johnny.

Cards tune up, run over Wesleyan 96-54

I don't know if the Cards have what it takes to defeat Butler on Tuesday, but I certainly feel a lot better about the prospect after last night's exhibition.

The Cards looked much more comfortable in the frenetic pace and sprinted past Wesleyan with ease. I think playing this style is more of a mindset. Even players like Van Treese, not known for speed an athleticism, was effective simply by crashing to the basket with abandon.

It certainly doesn't look like Big East basketball, that's for sure. But what it does do is put our players in the position to do what they do best. Mike Marra gets open looks. Siva has space to create. Kuric and Smith are in position to rebound despite being undersized. Spreading the ball around until it's in hands of an open shooter.

It worked last night to perfection against an obviously overmatched team, but one most expected to give Louisville a little bit better game. Whether it can work against the big boys? We shall know soon enough.

What to watch for tonight

* Can Stephan Van Treese be an effective player? The sophomore forward will get his first start tonight, and it'll be interesting to see what he does with the opportunity.

* Turnovers. The Butler game is right around the corner, so there needs to be rapid improvement shown in running this new style of blitzkrieg basketball lest the beginning of the season be extremely rocky. Turnovers will be up this season, I fully expect that, but they can't become an epidemic.

* Where Crazy Old Guy that hates the refs sits in the new arena.

* How 'bout this Chris Smith character? Perhaps the most overlooked Cardinal is Manhattan transfer Chris Smith. He impressed in the first exhibition with a slashing drive and off-balanced layup, but I think we'll learn tonight just what we can expect on a nightly basis. He seems to have the "scoring gene" that most of the players on our roster lack. He'll get the start as well.

* Peyton Siva's leadership. Pretty self-explanatory.

* Defense. All the Pitino's teams that have been successful at Louisville were defense-obsessed, nearly cult-like in the manner they would harp on it in post-game interviews. It was priority 1, 2, and 3, and if they did their job, scoring would take care of itself.

When it came to reasons for optimism for the upcoming season, the defenders we have are what I hung my hat on. Peyton Siva has the quickness that Sosa lacked to truly annoy and attack the point guard. Preston Knowles is a bulldog. Jennings brings much more physicality to the post than Samardo did last year.

But, I admit, I'm extremely skeptical of the new hi-octane basketball Pitino wants to play. I'll be watching closely to see if the defense suffers under the system. 

Bilal Powell Back

He practiced yesterday, and appears ready to resume his stellar season against South Florida this Saturday. And just for good measure...

Quote of the Day

"Some of you--for some reason--doubted that we would get this class. I don't know why, because they've been the most rock-solid group I've ever had"



-Rick Pitino, yesterday

This may just be Pitino's sense of humor, but it's hard to tell, it didn't seem that way at the presser. If not, it's one of the reasons for fan discontent with his leadership of our basketball program at the moment. To not acknowledge the trials and bumps that happened along the way of putting together this class, as if everything went precisely as he planned, to continue to speak in only superlatives, it's getting a little old.

Just shoot straight with people, Rick! The press and the fans. It'll engender much more support than relentless spin and coachspeak. For me, anyways, it comes off as faux-confidence and makes him appear disengaged.  

David. Charles. Baker.

Police have made an arrest in the vandalism case of 40 plus vehicles that were damaged following the UofL-UK in September.

David Charles Rogers Baker faces 17 counts of criminal mischief for damaging the property of car and bicycle owners, lashing tires and etching defamatory statements onto their property.

I'd advise wearing a protective cup every day for the rest of your life, Mr. Rogers Baker. Not all justice is delved out in a courtroom.

theHoff's Top 25 breakdown

Note: theHoff is a special contributor to Cardinal Laws

What up kiddos?? I'm off my soapbox for the time being. Last week was fun. Plenty of close games to keep ya watching and some big movers both up and down. With the weather warming up just enough this week it feels, smells, and tastes like football. It's glorious!! The noon games are still chilly, but by the end if you're lucky enough the sun is a warming comfort. The late games are brisk enough to want the big fat guy next to you to stand that creepily close. Football, football, FOOTBALL!!

1	Oregon	9-0
2	Auburn	10-0
3	TCU	10-0
4	Boise State	8-0
5	LSU	8-1
6	Stanford	8-1
7	Wisconsin	8-1
8	Nebraska	8-1
9	Ohio State	8-1
10	Oklahoma State	8-1
11	Michigan State	9-1
12	Alabama	7-2
13	Iowa	7-2
14	Utah	8-1
15	Arkansas	7-2
16	Oklahoma	7-2
17	Missouri	7-2
18	Arizona	7-2
19	Mississippi State	7-2
20	Virginia Tech	7-2
21	Nevada	8-1
22	Florida	6-3
23	South Carolina	6-3
24	Kansas State	6-3
25	Texas A&M	6-3

#1- Oregon- The Ducks still look damn impressive. The offense flows better than 10W40, but their defense is the surprising side of this team. They tackle, and when I say tackle I mean that they fly to the ball and finish every tackle. Who would have thought? For my money there isn't a better team to watch in the country. I'm totally on the bandwagon. Until they get upset at Oregon St the last game of the year; then we can all talk about how overrated they are. Another question: Why would any team schedule a rivalry game at the very end of the year?? It doesn't make sense to me. I understand the very beginning of the year, and maybe even the middle of a conference schedule. We all know that in this format you had better lose early. Now playing a road game with rivalry emotion... you know what they say, anything can happen.

#2-Auburn- We've all heard the story(ies) by now. Cam Newton is a cheater. Auburn cheats. Want to know the real truth? Cam Newton is very good. Auburn is pretty damn good. None of these stories you have heard/read would exist if Newton wasn't the Heisman front runner and Auburn had 2 losses. Do I think Newton asked for money to sign? I don't know. Do I believe the 'informants' coming forward? Even less. In today's reactionary, gotta-be-the-first, social media-obsessed culture, pure gossip becomes news. Until I've seen proof one way or another (he-said, she-said doesn't count), I don't give a damn about it. What is true is that Newton had an issue at Florida. He left the team. Auburn knew of this and took a chance just like any major program does. Auburn, just do me this favor. Acknowledge the story, acknowledge if there is an ongoing investigation. Other than that, I don't want to see your coach ranting and raving about rumors, and I don't need your AD or President lecturing me on how great of a student Newton may or may not be. Just shut up and play football. And if you happen to play a Big Ten team in a bowl, please crush them!

#3- I honestly don't know what to take out of the Horned Frogs 47-7 destruction of #5 Utah. They went into the #5 teams house and took their women and children. The first thing I thought was 'damn, Utah must have been WAY overrated'. Looking back, the Ute's only quality win was a season opener against Pitt, in overtime. Let's just discount Utah's #5 rating and consider them a top 15 team. I'm ok with that. That being said, I guess TCU is good. I'm still not convinced that their non-conference schedule is strong enough to warrant a BCS title game, even undefeated. I'd put a 1 loss LSU in front of them no questions asked.

#4- Boise State- Well they're still hanging around at #4. Similar to my questions last week regarding bye teams dropping or gaining ground, at what point does the number of games you have played become a factor? BSU is the only team in the Top 25 that has played 8 games to this point. Almost all have played 9 and a couple 10s. They took out Hawaii last week pretty handily, so there went my upset special. Don't worry. If they do get knocked off in the next three weeks you'll be able to see it on a Friday night on the Worldwide leader.

#5- LSU- Les Miles' grass eatin' mojo keeps plugging away. Quite an impressive win against 'Bama at home this past Saturday, and they are just waiting for Auburn to slip up. If anyone out there knows how they keep winning games let me know, I've got some swampland I want to sell you. Their D is stout, but they still are able to keep the 75th best offense in the win column. Simply mind blowing.

BCS Bowl Prediction Week 11:

Rose Bowl: Oregon vs Wisconsin

Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska vs Boise St

Orange Bowl: Va Tech vs Stanford

Sugar Bowl: LSU vs Syracuse

National Title Game: Auburn vs TCU

Signing Day!

Jody Demling's favorite day of the year.

He just posted on his blog that Chane Behanan has made it official. Angel Nunez will this afternoon, Zach Price at a ceremony at his high school at 6:00 this evening, and Wayne Blackshear at a similar event tomorrow.

Here's what Blackshear had to say about the persistent rumors that he'd decommit from Louisville...

I just laughed at all the rumors. I told people where I was going and I never wavered. I knew from the beginning I wanted to be a Louisville Cardinal. A lot of people thought I was going to decommit because of where my friends were going. But I never thought about that. Now, once I sign on the dotted line it will make it real.

Kudos to Rick Pitino and staff for weathering some bumps and bruises, and still making good on his loud promises of a monster 2011 class. There are solid pieces here that can get us where we want to go.

Ricky Bobby presents: highlights from Louisville-Syracuse

I had to watch Wright's touchdown run a few extra times. Watch him turn on the jets...

That young man justs wants to go fast. Kinda like this guy...

Who's the Man? cont'd

The CJ had a special section on Cardinal basketball yesterday. I love the Sunday CJ, and I love it more after an extra hour of sleep and a football win.

So with typical relish I poured over the Special Preview of Cardinal basketball, but while I enjoyed it, I was a little confused by the headline. It asked "Who's the Man?" with a big blown-up shot of Peyton Siva, and the gist of the article was wondering which Cardinal was going to step up and be "the man" next season, ala Francisco Garcia or Terrence Williams.

I'll save you the suspense. No one. None of these Cards, even Siva, are "leading man" quality in the true basketball sense. That's why I was confused by the article, at some times it seemed to acknowledge this fact, and at others it kept asking which player was going to be the next Reece Gaines.

It's a team with good players, none great. If Kuric takes the proverbial "last shot" one game, and Siva the next, then Knowles the next, that's not a bad thing. That's the formula.

LeBron: What should I do? T-Will: Eat floor!

T-Will and LeBron got into a mini-controversy over the weekend, when the local legend sent the commercial-legend sprawling into the stands during their game Saturday, after Williams got fed up with the Heat's showboating (Miami drubbed the Nets 101-89),

Click here and scroll to the 2:10 mark to see the foul, which does seem to be a bit overblown.

Gotta love T-Will's post-game quotes though...

"At the end of the day I’m a New Jersey Nets basketball player and you have to put your foot down somehow in a basketball game. It’s nothing against LeBron, but at the end of the day I’m a basketball player. Falling in the stands is a little much."

The man knows about theatrics, so if he says there was some acting, I'm inclined to believe him.

Recappin

Thumbs UP: Having difficulty keeping with this UP/DOWN format, cause I'm so damn proud of this team.

Thumbs DOWN: The Syracuse "key waggling". I know other schools do it, more often in basketball, but Syracuse seems to have tried to turn it into their "thing". It's really stupid, especially when busting it out while losing 21-20. Really, you want us to go home now? OK, but I think that means you lose.

Thumns UP: YAK. Or yards after catch. Or Katch. The Cardinal receivers had the back of backup QB Justin Burke on Saturday, fighting for key yards after snagging the ball. Two plays in particular stick out. One, Josh Bellamy pulling out some backyard-style juke moves to will his way past the 1st down marker in the 3rd quarter. Second, tight end Cameron Graham's incredible stiff-arm on a Syracuse linebacker that sprung him for another 9 yards are so. Among the numerous things the Cards did better that day, they simply wanted to win more. You could see it in the way the receivers ran with tenacity.

Oh, three plays, actually. Doug Beaumont also had a slippery move where he ducked under a tackler and then scrambled to move the chains. It almost looked choreographed, like ducking under the clothesline of a wrestler.

Thumbs DOWN: Our gunners on punt coverage. Nitpicky, I know, but could be important down the road. I've been impressed with the steady improvement of our special teams, and our guys are doing well getting down the field and getting in position to make a play. But it doesn't do much good if you continue missing the first tackle and let the returner slip to the second level.

Thumbs UP: Justin Burke. He overcame some hitches in his 2nd quarter giddyup, and continued to make plays. The toughest throws to make for a backup, one trying desperately not to make a mistake, are the clutch passes. Burke didn't let any fear of failure overcome his duty of making the necessary passes for his team, and came through in the clutch. And he's a tough sonofabitch too, shaking off one of the more hellacious hits I've seen put on a QB this season. But...

Thumbs DOWN: Justin Burke. Let's not let our jubilation cloud our minds too much. I didn't see anything Saturday that would make me rethink putting Froman back there as soon as he's ready. Burke's arm strength is evident, but all too often he throws off his back foot, negating that advantage. He also seems much more comfortable only throwing to the right side of the field. I think Froman has more field vision at this point, and doesn't have his mind made up of where he wants to throw before the play unfolds. Several times it seemed like that was the case with Burke.  A fine performance. But a fine performance from our backup, still.

Thumbs UP: Jeremy Wright. Whispers from those that have watched him dominate in practices have swirled around Wright for awhile. We finally got to see it in action. He was a blur once he powered past the first level, and even the safeties were taking the wrong angles to get him, unable to adjust to his speed. Just wow.

Thumbs DOWN: Doug Marrone's mind-numblingly stupid decision to challenge the spot on a call that actually favored his team, essentially throwing away a precious timeout in the final minutes. What's more, replays showed that Vic may, may have actually stretched to the marker before his knee hit. If Marrone had challenged a call that already favored him, only to have the refs give the Cards the first down, I would have been apoplectic. Charlie Strong says thanks for the trophy though, Doug.

Thumbs UP: I could go on and on, but like I said, I don't have any more downs to feature. Andrell Smith making a spectacular touchdown grab. Vic Anderson showing why he's still a force to be reckoned with in this offense. Daniel Brown forcing a gamechanging fumble and delving out punishment all over the field. Vance Bedford dialing up some of the best-timed blitzes I've ever seen from the Cards, when a player would be in their backfield a microsecond after the ball is snapped.

I can't wait to welcome this team home on Saturday.