Teddy Bridgewater proved in the Sugar Bowl win over Florida that he's got some serious game. (Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)
The transition of the Big East into the American Athletic Conference has been a scramble for all schools involved.
Now as the dust settles and we get ready to tee it up in four weeks, Louisville checks in at No. 9 in the first Coaches poll and No. 10 in Lindy’s preseason poll, and there’s no doubt it is going to challenge for an undefeated season. In an AAC that resembles a cross between what’s left of the Big East and the top of what has been Conference USA, what will be left for the Cardinals if they go 12-0 with a schedule that has no marquee opponents (well, maybe Cincinnati at season’s end might be)?
Louisville coach Charlie Strong begs to differ with that assessment of the new league of which the Cards stop in for a cup of coffee before settling in the ACC next season.
“By no means, do we think we are the top-level team in this league,” Strong said. “Each and every week, we are going to have to go out and prove it. And you think about Cincinnati, they were picked second. There’s Rutgers still in this league. There’s South Florida, Central Florida, Connecticut, SMU. Let’s not overlook anyone and think we are better than anyone else.”
Many speculate that the combination of two teams with one loss from the SEC, Big 12, Pac-12, and/or Big Ten could leave a 12-0 Cardinals team in the staggering BCS, but not playing for a national championship.
“It’s not so much that we have to worry about the opponent,” commented Strong. “Let’s worry about ourselves and take it game by game, which we will. Let’s make sure as a player, we are getting better and we’re giving every effort we have to make this program a good program.”
The story of Louisville under the fourth-year coach is interesting because in his first two years, the Cardinals were picked last in the Big East by the league’s media. But like last season, the Cardinals were again the pick to win the league entering 2013.
“Our players have worked really hard, but there has been some unrealistic expectations placed upon this football team,” Strong said. “A lot of questions have to be answered. Number one, will we be a team that can continue to focus, week in, week out? Can we be a team that is going to be prepared, week in, week out?”
The answers under Strong seem to be a resounding “Yes.” The recruiting and the hard work of everyone in the program has paid off in a short time and now Strong’s squad faces those “unrealistic expectations,” as he calls them.
First, scheduling is immediately mentioned as an issue as to why a 12-0 Louisville would not play for a national championship. The lack of playing a national power is not the Cardinals’ fault because of the quick shift and no available teams. Even though they settle into the ACC next year, the Cardinals can’t really do a whole lot about this season’s out-of-conference slate, which includes Kentucky, Florida International, Eastern Kentucky, and Ohio University, and an eight-game league schedule that features old C-USA teams and the remnants of what’s left of the Big East.
As Strong says, break into the AAC dates and you see that possibly, there are more challenges ahead than the national media cares to encompass. Road games at South Florida, Connecticut, and Cincinnati will be challenging, and a home date with good a Rutgers team could also be a test. Last season proved the moxie of this group of teams as Louisville rose to a 9-0 record before losing at Syracuse and dropping a tough triple overtime decision at UConn, 23-20, the next week.
After those back-to-back losses, Strong worked his magic with his talented squad and mentally reinvented them. This, of course, provided the springboard for why Louisville is so highly touted this season – the 33-23 whipping of Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
The game showed the nation the skills of Teddy Bridgewater and why he should be a Heisman Trophy candidate for 2013. Bridgewater was an efficient 20 of 32 passing for 266 yards and two touchdown passes as the Cardinals built an commanding 30-10 lead over the Gators at halftime.
Having a Heisman candidate that is well known like Bridgewater could be a key reason that the Cardinals may not be denied a national championship opportunity should they amass that elusive 12-0 campaign.
“I think Teddy is an amazing young man,” Strong said. “But he is surrounded by some amazing players himself. He’s a very humble young man and just watching him grow over the years, he is loaded with tons of athletic ability.”
All of those intangibles plus Bridgewater’s numbers equate to a Heisman scope. He completed 68.5 percent of his passes a year ago and averaging 286 yards per game through the air. Then, he had an amazing 27-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Such a Heisman winner or candidate would certainly place U of L in position.
“It would speak volumes for our program and where we’ve come and his individual effort and what he’s put into it,” Strong said of the potential for Bridgewater to win the Heisman, “We don’t have to push him for the Heisman because just how he plays is going to determine what he does and how this team plays with the Heisman Trophy and where it’s going to end up for him.”
The Cardinals will not come in under the radar as they did a year ago when they won 11 football games. That is in their favor as they start this year’s campaign. Louisville will be scrutinized closely if it piles up the wins, but Strong’s team can only control what it can control.
Strong drew comparison of this year’s Louisville team to the 2009 Florida team that he was the defensive coordinator of. He doesn’t want to see the same mental approach affect his Cardinals the way it affected the Gators when they seemed to breathe a sigh of relief every time they won a game. He noted Florida going undefeated throughout that season until Alabama routed the Gators 32-13 in the SEC Championship Game.
“I think about that ’09 team when Tebow made that announcement that he was coming back and on defense that year, we had 21 of 22 players returning at Florida,” Strong remembered. “Offensively, you had Tebow, you had Percy Harvin, you had the Pounceys, and Riley Cooper. What happened with that team, which I don’t want to see with our team, is that when it became a sigh of relief and it was like you win a game, you’re like, ‘Ah, we won the game,’ and you want to get on to the next one.”
Similar to those Gators, Louisville returns 18 starters on both sides of the ball including, of course, Bridgewater, and leading rushers Dominique Brown and Senorise Perry, whose season was cut short after rushing for 705 yards and 11 TDs a year ago through 11 games.
Receiver DeVante Parker is a highlight reel on the outside. He averaged 18.6 yards per catch and caught 10 touchdowns in ’12.
In addition to Parker, Damian Copeland returns to a deep and talented receiver corps after two years of battling injuries.
Strong’s calling card has always been on defense, with his extensive experience as coordinator a combined 10 years at South Carolina and Florida. His main talent other than the Xs and Os is that he doesn’t get caught up in trying to win games with just defense. He has already proven that he can recruit elite talent on the offensive side of the ball and he allows his offensive coaches as much leverage as they need to build a high-powered offense.
Defensively, the Cardinals returns leading tackler Preston Brown, leading sack artist Lorenzo Mauldin (4.5), and cornerback Terrell Floyd, who led the team in interceptions with three. Safety Calvin Pryor was a major physical presence as he ranked second on the team in tackles and had five forced fumbles.
“We’re nowhere near where we should be and we can get better,” Strong said. “I tell them all the time, ‘Guys, the measuring stick of this team is going to be measured to that Florida game. Now, everyone is going to expect you to play each game the way you played that game and it is not going to happen.’”
