Okay, let’s get one thing perfectly clear from the get go.
Charlie Strong made absolutely the correct decision to go for it on 4th and inches during Louisville’s possession in the OT. He was/ is not an idiot, and those who, thinking only in the short run, called him an idiot should find a mirror immediately, and see who the idiot is.
That call did not lose the game.
Two awful punts by a replacement punter contributed to the L. Special teams breakdowns contributed to the L. Though it came with six minutes to play in the first half, Lindsey Lamar’s length o’ the field kickoff return, directly after the Cards went up 14-3 was probably the death knell.
Two picks when the Cards were driving deep in Bulls’ territory contributed to the L. Some bad penalties that thwarted promising drives contributed to the L. Etc, etc . . .
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During the first half, when U of L’s defense held the Bulls to 3 points, I watched, amazed at what Strong and Bedford and this staff have done with the thin veneer of talent available. That the Cards lost because Strong, displaying great balls of fire, went for it at the end when the safe play would have been a FG, proves how good the team is going to be in the future.
Frankly, every game this season, even these at the end which might launch the Cards into some meaningless cold weather bowl, is played with an eye to the future.
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We should have figured it was going to be a strange day from the get go.
Five minutes before kickoff, on a glorious autumn afternoon, the stands were 1/3 full. Nice work, Cardinal Nation! Loads of empty seats, even after the stands “filled.”
Which negative energy might have trumped by Louisville radio icon Wayne Perky. Attempting to fire up the faithful before kickoff, he misspelled C*A*R*D*S. Ouch.
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Justin Burke had a mundane game under center. (Not that the L is his fault either.) The Cards last scoring drive, to tie the game at 21, was solid. Other than that, there seemed to be a lack of fire on the offensive end.
I must cut the QB some slack. He hasn’t played much in the last five seasons.
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Dominick Brown’s pick out of the WildCard, while the Cards were driving, explains, I suppose, why it was the first passing attempt out of the formation this season.
– Seedy K
3 Comments
The game should never have reached overtime. Louisville lost on penalties and special teams long before overtime. But the fourth down decision in overtime was absolutely NOT the right call. And even if the decision to go for it was the right call, the sneak was the wrong play. Powell could have launched himself over the pile for a yard. But in overtime,you do not come away empty. You take the three, trust your defense (and why not?)and let them need a touchdown to beat you. Actually, I’m surprised USF ran three plays before the kick. It’s all moot and not why we lost, but it was an overzealous decision and just bad judgment.
It’s impossible to pinpoint which play or factor “lost the game”, but I do think the turning point was definitely when USF was in punting situation with about 20 seconds left in the 3rd quarter. They were facing the strong wind, which played a huge factor in the kicking – and passing(?) game throughout. I was screaming for the Cards to call a timeout, to insure that USF would not be able to let the clock run out and benefit from the wind at their backs. We had all 3 left, but didn’t use one, and resulted in starting from our 12 yd line, going 3 and out and punting to our own 46.
South Forida quickly scored the go-ahead TD.
For the game, USF’s punter averaged 30 yards per punt into the wind (1st and 3rd quarters) and 47 with the wind (2nd and 4th quarters. Do the math!
Good point, Steve. I was sitting next to Paul Najjar in the press box and he was saying the same thing about the wind and field position.