At one point during U of L’s dismal performance last night against a seriously bad Indiana State team on which the Cards should have scored at will, I turned to some fellow scribes within whisper shot and asked: “How are they going to spin this performance?”

To his credit, Steve Kragthorpe kept the sugar coating in cupboard. Sort of. He called his team’s play “sloppy.”

A most generous observation.

I’m not the first to point out two glaring statistics. U of L converted only 1 of 9 third down plays against a team that has now lost 52 of its last 53 games. And they committed 14 penalties for 128 negative yards. Every time I looked up when the Cards were on offense, one zebra was throwing a yellow flag, and the one in charge was grabbing his wrist and signaling holding.

Louisville won by 20. The margin should have been three times that with Will Stein and Zack Stoudt under center the last third of the game. Under the previous regime — yes, I’ll name names, that of Bobby Petrino — U of L would have hung 8, 9, 10 TDs on the Sycamores while inserting the water babes in at cornerback in the 4th quarter. If Bobby had been in an especially nasty mood, he might have gone Ramblin’ Wreck. (As in college football’s most lopsided game: Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland Zip.)

Just for giggles, let me point out that Petrino’s back up QB at Arkansas, Tyler Wilson, threw for 138 yards and 2 TDs yesterday. Okay, I’m losing focus. Bobby Petrino ain’t walking through that Schnellenberger Complex door.

But Steve Kragthorpe is. The question is: For how long? If Louisville doesn’t improve dramatically and quickly, it’s liable to go ofer the rest of the season. I haven’t been to the message boards yet (I haven’t properly inoculated my hard drive for the viral rants I’m sure are there.) But I know the fans are restless. Tom Jurich is standing by his man, but I swear I don’t know how he can spin last night’s performance.

If the Cards play no better than last night, the Cats will smack ‘em down worse than last year in a couple of weeks in Lexington. And, from there, it could get real U*G*L*Y. If Kragthorpe’s got game, it will have to show in the next three weeks. Otherwise, he’s cold toast. Even TJ won’t be able to stand by his man.

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Speaking of UK, they looked like you expected them to look. Miami wasn’t that much of an opponent. It took the Cats a quarter to get their measure, then they steamrolled.

They were disciplined. Kentucky committed 3 penalties, costing them only 20 yards. The playmakers made plays. (Except Trevard Lindley, who inexplicably dropped two sure picks, even though he ran another one back for a score.) Mike Hartline looked surprisingly improved. And the Big Blue’s defense kept Miami in check as they should have.

How UK will fare once they get into league play remains to be seen? But if they don’t control the game two weeks hence against U of L, it will be a serious turn of events.

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Indiana Hoosier fans and Western Kentucky Hilltopper fans  are counting down the days until the beginning of basketball practice.

Perhaps even those football fanatics in Norman, OOOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma are looking ahead too. Okay, that’s pushing it too far. Every single Sooner was in church this a.m., praying for Sam Bradford’s shoulder to heal.

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I didn’t hear Charlie Weis’s postgame press conference. The sound on the monitors in U of L’s press box was off. But he sure looked smug. The Fighting Irish now travel to Ann Arbor, for what is among the most telling of early season matchups. Should the Golden Domers prevail handily, the Big East will have one less bowl bid to worry about, come the post season. If Michigan wins, Louisville’s most verbal Michigan alum — Sorry, Doug James — Bill Stone will have to eat some words.

Nevada isn’t much. But Notre Dame prevailed like a team with something to prove. So too the Wolverines.

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I was only able to watch Oklahoma State’s and Alabama’s wins peripherally. But both are impressive. Beating a big time team on opening day is always tough. Though not always a harbinger of success for the whole season, it certainly bodes well.

One has to assume they were the most impressive Ws of the day.

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Unless you consider how BYU’s defense stifled the Sooners. I tell you some games worth looking forward to: TCU/ Utah, Utah/ BYU and TCU/ BYU, all of which come in late October and November. Who knows, there might be two BCS contendas among that trio?

– Seedy K