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Big East Preview: Louisville Cardinals
By Jason Collette | July 5, 2008
The best thing you can say about the 2007 season for the Cardinals is that it is over. There was so much fantasy potential for this team last year but the team was an overall disappointment because the defense absolutely killed this team. They got off to a hot start destroying Murray State. Then Middle Tennessee State gave them a great game and put up 42 points on them. It was all downhill after that.
Louisville ended the year 6-6 and only Brian Brohm, Harry Douglass, and Gary Barnidge came through with the expected above average production last year. To make matters worse, all three are gone from the program. If you thought the news couldn’t get worse, you would be mistaken. This squad loses more than anyone else in the conference as they lose their quarterback, top rusher, top four wide receivers and stud tight end. There are a bunch of new names to learn here so read carefully.
The schedule is not particularly easy this year since Duke backed out of a contract so the out of conference schedule includes Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Kansas State, Memphis, and Middle Tennessee State.
Quarterback has been solid for the Cardinals with Brian Brohm but with him gone, longtime understudy Hunter Cantwell is ready to take over. Cantwell is no slouch and is a big pocket passer at 6′5″ and 235 lbs. The talent at quarterback is not in question here; who Cantwell will throw the ball to this year is a gigantic question mark. If Cantwell goes down, the offense is in trouble as the current depth chart shows two sophomore’s ahead of senior Bill Ashburn . With three seniors on the offensive line, Cantwell should see solid protection.
Runningback will be mostly new faces this year. Anthony Allen and George Stripling are gone - taking with them 1340 yards and 11 touchdowns. Brock Bolen is the most experienced player in the backfield as he accounted for 580 yards and 8 touchdowns running and receiving last season. The player to watch will be sophomore Bilal Powell . He averaged 7.8 ypc carry last season in limited time and is now the second guy on the depth chart. One thing is clear in Kragthorpe’s offense - there is no feature back. Given their sizes, expect Powell to be the guy in between the 20’s while Bolen is the man as the team gets closer to the goal line.
Receivers were loaded with talent last season, but only Harry Douglass and Gary Barnidge met or exceeded expectations. The receivers were all tall, athletic, and fast. This year’s group lacks the size advantage that the 2007 crew enjoyed. Everyone is 6′3 or shorter save power forward freshman Josh Chichester who measures in at 6′8″ but will likely redshirt. The most experienced receiver on the depth chart is Scott Long who had 27 receptions last season but failed to score. After him would be Trent Guy who had eleven receptions but found the end zone twice. The experience factor at wide receiver is extremely slim and I see this aspect of the passing game struggling once again. There is not a WR1 fantasy option on this team and considering someone here as a WR2 is a stretch.
The Kragthorpe offense has been very favorable to tight ends. In the past, he made Garrett Mills and Gary Barnidge fantasy studs, but this year will be a challenge. The TE depth chart features a senior with zero career receptions and two underclassmen.
The kicking game suffers the huge loss of twelve year senior Art Carmmody who seemingly kicked for Louisville since the Schnellenberger days. The depth chart shows freshman Chris Philpott . With this offense likely struggling, it is tough to count on Philpott as we leaned on Carmmody in the past.
Defensively, you could not do worse than the 2007 Cardinals. They gave up ground quicker last year than France in a war. Kragthorpe picked Ron English out of the Big Ten to help out this defense. English has a reputation for featuring aggressive defenses at Michigan and will have to do something to make quarterbacks feel uncomfortable in the pocket in 2008.
Schedule wise, while the matchups are tough, Louisville has a favorable schedule with eight home games in 2008. Their four road games are at Memphis, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers. If they can go 2-2 on the road (as they should) and split their home games, they return to the bowling season. If they do not, Kragthorpe is gone and will go back down in the ranks to help revive a lower-tier program.
Topics: Big East, College Football, Jason Collette, Preview |
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