When Bobby Petrino came back to Louisville, everyone agreed Petrino was very good coach. What we wondered is when would the Cardinals begin to take on the identity we expect from a Petrino coached team. You know what it looks like – creative offensive play calling, and really good quarterback play. They’ve been pretty good under Petrino, but it didn’t look quite like a Petrino team yet.
I think the Petrino stamp on Louisville is starting to take shape.
The Cardinals started the year 0-3, but won 8 of their last 10 games that was culminated by rock solid bowl win over a Texas A&M. Sure the Aggies were dealing with multiple transfers at QB, but this was still a pretty talented team overall that was 8-4. It wasn’t a great team, but it was a credible one.
Louisville took the fight to them early. The Cardinals were the more physical team defensively, and the offensive line led the way for Louisville to rush for 291 yards.
Petrino has also found a star at quarterback. Lamar Jackson was brilliant against Texas A&M, and he’s only a freshman. As the year progressed he got better and better, and became a true dual threat QB.
The Cardinal’s were aggressive blitzing against Texas A&M. I like that, and that is something I would have like to seen from UNC and NC State in their bowl games. Take some chances on Defense, be aggressive, rather than read and react and get shredded to pieces. At least you give yourself a chance to pressure the QB.
The Cardinals are team that I believe should be ranked in the top 25 to start next year.
Louisville was brought in to deliver depth to ACC football. Last year they finished in the top 25, beat Notre Dame, and won 9 games. This year in an expected down year they won 8 games including this Music City Bowl win over Texas A&M. I’d say the Cardinals have delivered.
They don’t win every game they play, but the Cardinals have the right attitude. They expect to be able to compete in every game they play. That’s half the battle, and it shows.
It’s just a matter of time before Louisville puts together a 10 win top 15 type season.
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