Morning After: ‘Toppers, Racers Encouraged; Cards, Cats Regroup

I daresay Willie Taggert and Chris Hatcher are not the happiest of campers this morning. After all, their teams did lose last night to the commonwealth’s “major” football powers.

On the other hand, they held their own. A break and timely completion here and there and who knows what the outcomes might have been. If WKU QB Kawaun Jakes hits two wide open receivers in the end zone in the 1st, the boys from Bowling Green would have been up 14 nil, and who knows if UK’s sickly offense would have matched it?

If Murray State QB puts up his usual numbers against the Cardinals’ woeful secondary, that crowd might have thinned out even sooner than they did, during what was perhaps the most boring second half of football since Bo and Woody roamed the sidelines, spending autumn afternoons trying to ram the ball down each other’s throats. (Actually last night’s 2d half did match the abject boredom of The Worst: A Bernie Scruggs-led UK vs. IU snoozefest in Bloomington in the 70s on an afternoon saved only by the aftergame pleasure of Nick’s Pizza and vast quantities of cold beer.)

* * * * *

Louisville’s offensive line looked pretty porous to me. Too many False Start penalties were only part of the problem. The running game wasn’t helped by Jeremy Wright and Victor Anderson fumbles.

Last week I pondered where former redshirt Will Stein will fall on the Stu Stram/ Stefan LeFors scale? He was elusive at times like the latter. And rifled the ball to fellow Trinity alum Scott Radcliffe for a TD. After a stellar first half, he drifted back toward the small-handed Stram end of the scale in the 2d.

Other than the secondary, the Cards’ D wasn’t bad. Especially whenn considering some stalwarts up front were MIA.

Louisville does have some receivers. Really good receivers. Though inconsistent Josh Chichester doesn’t seem one of them . . . yet. DeVante Parker made a great TD grab in the first half, but showed his inexperience when slowing on a deep route that could have been a big gainer.

* * * * *

I can’t really assess what apparently was a way less than stellar performance by the Wildcats. I only heard the beginning on the radio, riding home from the U of L game. The announcers didn’t sound impressed. What I did observe during the part of the first half I did see wasn’t impressive. To say the least.

Morgan Newton does not appear to be the answer.

Frankly, I was wasted and went to bed at the half.

* * * * *

Louisville plays Sun Belt favorite Florida International on Friday. UK plays Central Michigan on Saturday.

Both should be interesting tests for the two underdeveloped squads. Neither game is a gimme for the good guys.

Looking beyond that, I see a very competitive, if not very accomplished, game on the 17th. I can’t wait to see who improves the most in the next two weeks?

– Seedy K

One Comment

  1. cbcard
    Posted September 3, 2011 at 10:40 am | Permalink

    Chichester seems to own a lock on the word “yet.”

    He quit running one deep route (presumably he was the decoy but ended up open) leading to Stein overthrowing him. His lack of finishing the route cost a big gain, perhaps one for a touchdown. Paul Rogers even called him out on it.

Post a Comment

Your email is never shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*