Since the first time I heard the name, “Katina Powell” I’ve had numerous conversations with friends and family members about what all of this could mean. Inevitably, no matter who I find myself picking over the details with we both come back the same familiar refrain. “It just sucks.” After processing where we stand after the self-imposed ban last week, and engaging in new conversations about what it all means, inevitably, I found myself back at that same old conclusion after all available analysis had been exhausted. It just sucks.

This got me thinking about that phrase. It’s not exactly easy to define, but at the same time it’s unambiguous in that everyone you talk to roundly agrees that this does indeed “Suck.” This made me mull over other contexts for the phrase and I immediately came to the only other one I know and realized that it’s a fair comparison and an apt analogy for where we all are with this thing right now.

When I completed Navy basic training and “A School” in the summer of 2000, my ship was on deployment in the Persian Gulf. So, Uncle Sam flew me and a fresh batch of bright eyed bushy tailed Gung-ho “booters” to Bahrain and then landed us on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. There I was, Airman O’Bryan, a 19 year old kid from the sticks who had been told by his recruiter that, “If you go in as an Un-designated Airman you can pick whatever job you want once you get to your ship.”

I believed him, and I’m sure the look on my face was priceless when they introduced me to my Division Officer and I asked him when I got to “pick my job.” He smiled at a grizzled old Senior Chief saltier than Neptune himself, turned back to me and said four words I’ll never forget. “Welcome to The Suck.” As it turns out, recruiters often lie to 19 year old kids. My ass belonged to the United States Navy and V-1 Division on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and that was that. My life would consist of 14-16 hour work days in a part of the world where the heat of the sun alone was enough to break a man’s spirit. Now factor in that you’re on a metal deck 10 stories above the ocean with searing hot jet blast all around you in one of the most dangerous environments known to man, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
​
The Urban Dictionary defines “The Suck” as: 

Yeah, I think that about sums it up, but there’s more to it than that. Being “In the Suck” is about being in the emotional place described above, yes.  However, to truly understand the magnitude of it you have to not only be there, but also have no control over it.  See, that’s what it’s like when you’re on deployment. You’re in a foreign and hostile environment, all of the circumstances are about as uncomfortable and undesirable as they could possibly be, and you can’t do a damn thing about it. You’re stuck. You’re there, and whatever comes down the pipe from the people who are in control of your situation you just have to take it and carry on. You have no good options and it, well, it SUCKS.
​
Following his experiences in Iraq II, Col. Austin Bay wrote a book called, “Embrace the Suck.” He describes The Suck itself as a friction, saying that: 

​It’s a way of telling someone else who is experiencing exactly what you are, in all of its suckitude, that you’re right there with them and so is everyone else. It’s not easy and everyone recognizes it. Now accept it so we can deal with it and move on. So, if I had one piece of advice for my fellow Cards fans right now it would be to just Embrace the Suck.  Because you're here and there's nothing you can do about it. 

But, I'll tell you something else about being in maximum suckitude.  It won't last forever.  That's another element of being in The Suck. You're there and you know there's more to the experience than what you have at this moment. You know that at some point it will end and things will be better, and that's one of the things that keeps you going. 

As if you needed it to get fired up, Res4Six now presents all the greatest Governor's cup games, beat-downs, and highlights available on youtube. 

Get things rolling with footage of the dust-up from last year. 

Watch Chris Redman lead the Cards to a 38-14 victory in Lexington back in 1996. 

Watch Redman and Arnold "Action" Jackson get revenge on Tim Couch for christening Papa John's Cardinal Stadium with a 68-34 loss the year before.  The Cards won this one 56-28 in Commonwealth. 

The 2000 Governor's Cup was one of the strangest and most exciting editions of the rivalry.  After a lengthy delay due to rain and lightning, the Cards pulled it out in overtime on a Tony Stallings touchdown run. 

In 2003 Bobby Petrino and Rich Brooks faced off for the first time in their first games as head coaches of these programs.  Stefan LeFors out dueled Jared Lorenzen 40-24 in Lexington.  

In the only shutout of the modern series, UK never crossed mid-field during the first half and Louisville rolled to a 28-0 victory at home. 

In 2005 Louisville was on the rise and they opened the season in Lexington.  Andre Woodson went toe-to-toe with Brian Brhom.  Woodson would  fumble near the goal line late in the 4th quarter while UK was driving for the tying touchdown.  Cards win, 31-24.

In 2006 Louisville was firmly in the national championship conversation at the beginning of the season.  In one of the most dominant performances in the history of the rivalry, Louisville throttled Kentucky 59-28 and controlled the game from the start.  

After suffering through three long years of the Kragthorpe era and losing to the Cats at home in Charlie Strong's opener, the Cards marched into Lexington determined to bring the Cup back to Louisville. 

Will Stein started the game and tossed a touchdown early, but after a shoulder injury sent him to the sidelines the Teddy Bridgewater era was underway.  The freshman came off the bench and threw two touchdowns as the Cards won 24-17. 

In a game that could've been a lot worse if Charlie Strong hadn't taken his foot off the gas, Louisville moved the ball with ease on their way to a 32-14 win before going into "kill the clock" mode early in the 4th quarter. 

Fresh off a win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl, the Cards were once again being talked about as a Dark Horse contender to play for a national championship.  The game wasn't the blow-out many thought it would be, but the Cards walked out of Lexington with a 27-13 win and their third straight over the Cats.

​On Saturday the Louisville Cardinals travel to Lex-ghanistan for their annual match-up with the University of Kentucky.  Like most fans of both programs, I’m not old enough to remember any of the six football games before series took a long hiatus in 1924.  For all intents and purposes, much like UK’s first four Championships in basketball, those games are completely irrelevant to me.  I do however remember the first “Battle for the Governor’s Cup” in 1994.   
​
With Howard Schnellenberger as the coach Louisville had been the more relevant program in the years preceding that game.  The Cards had throttled Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl in 1991 and taken down Michigan State in the Liberty Bowl in 1993.  Mixed in there were wins against Texas, Arizona State, and Pittsburgh.  Louisville seemed like a program on the rise.  

Meanwhile, to the east, Kentucky had been doing exactly what they'd been doing since before I was born. Struggling to make it to 6-6 and mostly failing.  The Wildcats were coached by Bill Curry but they'd finished over .500 just three times since the 1977-78 season when they went 10-1 and were then promptly smacked by the NCAA for cheating to do it.   Not much has changed for Kentucky football, by the way.  As we sit here now, 21 years removed from the renewal of the rivalry, Kentucky still hasn't finished over .500 in the SEC since wrapping up the 1978 season.

Basketball school, or something like that. 

I couldn’t tell you who was favored heading into the game back in September 1994, but 14yr old me had talked so much trash to my UK fan cousins and friends that I was a nervous wreck by the time the game kicked off in Lexington. 

I still don't like you, or your stupid yet glorious football name, Jeff Speedy. 

The good guys, of course, lost the first Governor’s Cup game to a UK team that would finish 1-10 on the  year, and I had to eat a lot of crow at Thanksgiving dinner that fall.  Twenty years later, having won four in a row, Louisville now owns a 13-8 lead in the modern series.  With the exception of three years when the program was lost in the wilderness that was Steve Kragthorpe, the Cards have dominated the Battle for the Governor’s Cup by most statistical measures.

Louisville holds winning streaks of 2, 3, 4, and 4 since 1994.  On the flip side, UK has posted streaks of 2 and 4 (three coming against Kragthorpe, which really doesn't count, right? Right).  Since 1994 Louisville has outscored Kentucky 636—441 and some of those games were absolute beat-downs.  Louisville has bested Kentucky by 16 or more points on seven occasions.  By contrast, Kentucky has beaten Louisville by 16 or more just twice.  Louisville also holds the distinction of pitching the only shutout of the modern era by winning 28-0 in 2004.
​
No Louisville coach has owned Kentucky quite like Bobby Petrino.  The Mad Scientist is 5-0 against UK between both stints on the Louisville sideline and he hates UK just as much as any fan you know, if not more.  You can read several stories about Bobby’s disdain for the Blue & White over at the Card Chronicle, but my personal favorite is this one from Jeff Tackett:

So yeah.  There's that. 

The image above is from last year, which was undoubtedly one of the more entertaining games in the series.  It was a game that saw lots of points, lots of drama, and ended with UK unable to score the go-ahead touchdown with the final possession.  Be that as it may, the low-brow/ bush-league antics from Kentucky players before the game were nothing less than disgraceful.  It was exactly the sort of behavior every Louisville fan has heard Kentucky fans accuse Louisville players of exhibiting.  Couple that with their fight at an EKU bar and the air-soft gun incident that saw their campus placed on lock-down, well....

You don’t have to like your rival, you don’t have to give them a hand up when they’re lying on the ground, hell, you don’t even have to shake their hands after the game if you don't want to.  I’m fine with all of that. It's a rivalry and you don't have to do anything except go out there and try to win the game.  But last year was nothing more than an weak attempt from UK players to prove something to themselves.  More to the point, it was an attempt to prove something to the Louisville football team.  For some odd reason, and it still baffles me as I type these words, the "Big Brother" felt the need to show the "Little Brother" that they weren’t scared. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the "Little Brother" who's supposed to have something to prove?  

I'm not wrong, by the way.  I have a little brother, and I had older cousins who used to smack me around. Never once did my older cousins need to tell me they weren't scared of me.  Never, not once, did I need to tell my little brother I wasn't scared of him.   Why?  

Because I knew that he knew I wasn't scared of him.  And he knew that I knew that he knew that I wasn't scared of him.  See, that's how it works.  The Alpha dog knows he's the Alpha dog in a pack.  He knows his place and so do the other dogs.  He only needs to check a Beta if he gets out of line.  But he doesn't tell them he's not scared before he does it.  He just does it because he can.  

​Rule of thumb: Despite what Bone Crusher tells you, if you’re really not scared, you don’t need to say it. 

I don’t expect to see anything like that from the Cats this year because, honestly, they don’t have much to fear.  If they win, the Cards and Cats both finish the game at the apex of mediocrity.  At 6-5 the Cards need a win to finish above .500 and become the first team since 1994 to grab hold of a five game winning streak.  Just like last year, Kentucky comes into the game needing a win to finish 6-6 and assure themselves of a bowl bid for the first time since Teddy Roosevelt took San Juan Hill. 

The way I see it, UK has more to play for. That, more than anything, worries the hell out of me.

I expect a competitive game but there’s no need for in-depth analysis here.  It all comes down to which Louisville team shows up.  If we get the team that played #1 Clemson to the wire that means we brought our "A game" and we should win.  If we get the team that played the first half at Pitt it’s gonna be a long off-season in the Bluegrass state if you like Red and Black.

On offense we all know what this is.  We have enough to get it done at the skill positions.  How many points we score all comes down to how well the offensive line plays.  Personally I’d like to see Bolin start the game just so we can try to get the running game going.  It would be big to give the guys up front a little confidence and then mix in Lamar.  If it doesn’t look like the line is going to get it done, if we’re getting stuffed in traditional run sets and Bolin is getting brutalized, then bring in Lamar and hope his ability to make something out of nothing carries the day.  UK hasn’t exactly looked good against running QBs this year, so even if Bobby gives Lamar the start I’m okay with it.

On defense I expect a focused group after the lackluster effort we saw against Pitt.  It looks like Drew Barker will get the start for Kentucky, which pleases me when I think about the exotic blitz packages Grantham can bring.  For what seems like the 5th year in a row, UK’s wide receivers haven’t been reliable catching the ball.  That’ll definitely be something to watch on Saturday.  The Cats' real threats on offense are their running backs.  Boom Williams has "take-it-to-the-heezey" speed and he's the real deal.  Stopping him will be key.  I expect Grantham to load up the box and dare Barker and to beat us with his arm. 

With an 8-4 finish off the table this game takes on a different meaning than it did a week ago.  I do think UK has more to play for but I don’t think Louisville goes into this thing unmotivated.  Pride is a hell of a thing, after all, and you’ll have a group of guys walking into Commonwealth Stadium who've never walked into the Schnellenberger Football Complex and NOT seen the Governor’s Cup.  You have a group of guys walking into Commonwealth Stadium who will remember how UK acted in their house last year.  Finally, you’ll have a coach leading them out of the tunnel who has never lost to Kentucky and will almost certainly have his team locked in.

On a side note, with finals right around the corner and the Kentucky Bar coming up in February, my posts here at Res4six will be few and far between for a few months. 

Beat UK  

​If you watched the entire game yesterday, I can only hope for your sake that you were drinking heavily.  Louisville scored 34 points and held Pitt to just 3 in the second half, which would normally be enough to get the win.  Alas, a disastrous first half on defense proved too much to overcome.  During the second quarter the Louisville defense was butter and the Pitt offense was a hot knife.  Specifically, the Panthers' QB, Nathan Peterman, was the one doing the slicing as he threw 4 touchdown passes while building a 42—24 lead. 

​There really aren’t’ enough adjectives to describe just how bad things were on the defensive side of the ball in the first half.  There were missed tackles all over the field.  Guys weren’t running to the ball, and I honestly have no idea where Josh Harvey-Clemons was, but it certainly wasn’t Pittsburgh.  Every TD pass thrown by Perterman in the 2nd quarter had Clemons' name on it. 

Bolin didn't look terrible in leading the offense to 17pts; but, after a pick-6 late in the 2nd quarter Petrino pulled Kyle Bolin in favor of Lamar Jackson.  The freshman then promptly tossed a 49yd touchdown pass to Jamari Staples to cut the lead to 18 heading into the locker room.  Jackson took the snaps for the rest of the game and played well, but it just wasn’t enough to make up for the large deficit he inherited.  It’s not as if there weren’t opportunities, but the running game managed -1yds and the Pitt defense racked up 7 sacks.  Seven. Sacks. 

Seven sacks is ridiculous.  As is stands, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see some turnover on the coaching staff in the off-season.  After yesterday Louisville is now the nation’s worst team in terms of sacks allowed, and that makes me incredibly sad.  In my mind it reinforces the notion the the offensive line hasn't gotten any better from the start of the season until now.  It also makes me think that offensive line coach Chris Klenakis is a prime candidate to be replaced. 

I think most people saw everything we lost to the NFL after last season and thought there would be some struggles this year.  When you look back on this season the game that’s really going to stick out is the loss to Houston.  They turned out to be a pretty good team, but that loss at home was one that never should’ve happened.  In all likelihood, assuming we beat Kentucky, it will also prove to be the difference between 7 and 8 wins.  I don’t think it’s pushing the envelope to say that 6 or 7 wins is not an acceptable result; and I’m pretty sure that, to a man, Bobby Petrino would tell you the exact same thing.

As I sat in my living room last night, hours after the game had ended, I was still shaking my head at how poorly we had played in a game that really meant the difference between a season that was “Meh” or “WTF?”  Then, after the Kentucky game had ended I saw this:

And so it begins.  It reminded me that next weekend we have an opportunity to  finish above .500 and deny Kentucky bowl eligibility for the second year in a row.  It may not be what we all wanted to be playing for in the finale, but it’s all we’ve got.  So, I’m going to embrace it.  Rivalry week is here.

Time to beat the Cayuts and end this thing on a high note. 

After a foreign trip to Puerto Rico and two domestic exhibitions, the University of Louisville will get things rolling in a game that counts on Friday night.  Given everything that’s been swirling around the program I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have basketball games that mean something on my mind instead of, well, you know.  I promise, you won’t get another word from me about the scandal in this post, but it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge that there are some unknowns right now with respect to whether the Cards will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.  

For now, I'd rather talk about what's going to happen on the court because I think this team will be a lot of fun to pull for over the next few months.  Here are my thoughts on the 2015 season...

For the first time in a long time Louisville is going to field a group of players that, for the most part, we haven’t been watching develop for the better part of 2-3 years.  The Cards will head into Friday’s season opener missing 84% of their points from last year.  In other words, we are a very young team aside from Mangok and the two 5th year transfers.

Through the exhibition season (Puerto Rico trip included), I think we’ve seen this group display an important hallmark of all Pitino coached teams. Simply stated, they play hard and give us everything they have.  There’s a lot of young talent that needs to develop quickly, and the success of this season will depend on how well that talent can blend with experienced but new players.  

Freshmen:  Donovan Mitchell, Deng Adel, and Ray Spalding.  

There's little doubt that all three of these guys are going to play this year and I couldn't be more excited about what that means for the long-term prospects of the program. 

Donovan Mitchell looks like a kid who’s been in a college weight training program since he came out of the womb.  Seriously, I don’t remember 18yr old kids looking like that when I was in high school.  He's a freakish athlete who has the ability to be a lock-down defender under Pitino’s tutelage.  He also has the ability to compile a Twill-esk highlight reel by the time he leaves Louisville.  Mitchell committed to Louisville very early on in the recruiting process and never wavered.  He wanted to  be here as much as any kid in recent memory.  

Much like Twill was when he first arrived on campus, Donovan is still very raw.  The more minutes he gets the more instinctual he will be on the floor instead of thinking about playing the game and what to do. Once that happens his athleticism alone will allow him to impact games on both ends of the floor. 

​Deng Adel is a player I’ve been waiting to see in a Cardinal uniform since the day he committed.  He is long, skilled, athletic, and he plays hard.  There’s not a lot to dislike about him, but if I had to pick something it’d be that he doesn’t have a college ready body like Mitchell.  Still, Adel is going to contribute this year and will likely start a lot of games on the wing.  Deng could be regarded as a very special player at Louisville by the time he leaves.  

​Ray Spalding is a local kid (Trinity) with great size and length.  He’s a little light in the pants for a post, but he’s athletic enough that you can tell he belongs in a big-time program.  When you watch him play you can tell he has a high basketball IQ and a great feel for the game.  Those things will serve him well and earn him minutes this year.  I really like his game, but Pitino’s assessment that he needs to get a little meaner and bring it on every play seems accurate. ​ If that happens, the competition is gonna have a problem on their hands because, well...

​Sophomores: Quinten Snider, Chinanu Onuaku, Anas Mahmoud, Jaylen Johnson, and Matz Stockman

Generally speaking, the biggest jump in production for Pitino coached players comes in their second year.  I attribute much of this phenomenon to two things.

First, guys tend to play a lot better under Pitino  in the second year simply by virtue of knowing what to do.  Rick puts a lot of time and effort into constructing complicated game plans and defenses.  This tends to be an information overload for most 18yr old kids, and you can often tell by watching them that they are thinking instead of simply reacting.  Usually, once a player knows what they’re doing, their talents and abilities translate into production.  I expect each and every one of the second year players to make strides this year based on nothing more than familiarity with the system.  

Second, most players who come to Louisville are just not ready for the rigorous physical demands of Pitino’s pressing style.  We all hear Rick talking about body fat percentages and conditioning; he talks about those things for good reason.  I won’t go as far as saying Louisville players are in better condition than any other group in the country, but they’re 1(a) or 1(b) at worst.  Players are usually in much better shape by the time their second season starts because they’ve had a full off-season in the Louisville conditioning program.

When you look at Snider, Onuaku, Stockman, and Johnson, it’s obvious to the naked eye how much they’ve slimmed down. They all look quicker and more fluid on the floor. 

Quinten Snider has looked like he’s going to pick up right where he left off in the NCAA tournament with a firm grasp on the offense and an ability to create shots for his teammates.  He will need to show that he is a threat to knock down a shots from deep, or at least a mid-range jumper, otherwise defenders are going to lay back and clog the lanes all year.  Q is an important piece this season, especially early on as he has more experience at the point than anyone else on the team. 

Chinanu Onuaku has been much more active during the exhibition games than he was at any point last year; and, again, I attribute that to him being in better shape.  He hasn't shown an ability to be a consistent scoring threat but that’s something that will have to change.  At the very least, he has to be able to  catch the ball cleanly and finish around the rim when one of the guards manages to set him up.  Chinanu is a big bodied dude who got a lot of tick for team USA over the summer, and I think he is someone who will take a big step forward this year.  We really need him to be a solid rebounder who can move people out of the lane so others can make their way to the rim freely while chasing down missed shots.

Jaylen Johnson has shown us flashes of his play-making ability.  This year we need him to find the on-switch and leave it there.  Like Chinanu, Jaylen has really worked on his body.  I think I heard him say during media day that he's down to 8% body fat and it shows.  He just looks lighter on his feet and quicker to the spot.  Last year you could see that Jaylen had a nose for the ball, but he would ALMOST get to that loose ball, or ALMOST beat his man off the dribble.  I see him making a lot of those plays this year and I'm pretty stoked about his potential as he gets more game minutes. 
 
Anas Mahmoud is a guy who can give the team added value on both ends of the floor.  He’s a very good passer with a nice touch around the rim.  I don't know how effective he can be defending heavier post players who know how to get into his body, but he's a legitimate threat to block shots when giving help. When you look at Anas you can tell he’s put on some much needed weight; he came into the program at 7’1”, but he was only 177lbs.   I find that completely ridiculous because I'm 35yrs old and I haven't bee 177lbs since I was in 6th grade. According to Pitino Anas is up to 210lbs, which still isn’t a lot for a guy his height, but it’s a major improvement from where he was this time a year ago. 

Matz Stockman is, well, to be honest we still haven’t seen a lot of Matz.  So, I don’t exactly know what to make of him right now.  Pitino says he’s been doing great things in practice and needs to settle down when the lights come on.  I’ll buy that.  You can bet there will be a few games this year when he makes his presence known.


Juniors: Mangok Mathiang and David Levitch

With transfers, and Terry Rozier playing for the Celtics, the Junior class from 2013 is non-existent in terms of scholarship players.

Mangok Mathiang is a red-shirt Junior.  At this point in his career I think we know what we’re going to get from Mangok.  He’s going to play extremely hard.  He’s going to be active on defense, and he’s going to block some shots into the 19th row then emphatically scream in some dude's face and I'll love every second of it.  Anything else you get from him is just gravy, so take it and like it. 

I would love, LOOOOVE, to see Mangok develop a reliable baby-hook; or, in the alternative, just become a consistent garbage man when he gets an offensive rebound.  I’m not really counting on it but it’d be nice to see Mangok grab an offensive rebound and immediately feel like it's going to be two points. 

David Levitch will see the floor this year in the old familiar role of a Pitino walk-on who makes you wonder why he's on the floor until he does something that makes you glad he was out there in that moment.  I don't know how many minutes he'll play, but Rick has a lot of confidence in him and he always seems to do something positive when he comes into the game.  He also knows what's happening on defense, so that alone will be enough for Pitino to send him to the scorer's table when someone else misses an assignment. 


Seniors: Trey Lewis and Damion Lee

I have no doubt these guys are going to prove their worth, if they haven’t already by bringing along the young’ens into the proper mind-set for what it takes to play D-1 basketball. 

You can tell that both of these players have a knowledge and a feel for the game that can only come with four years of game experience.  The main issue I see right now for both is the same issue most first year players have under Pitino.  They’re thinking instead of just playing.  Some of that is uncertainty about what they should be doing, and some of it is not having a good feel for how their teammates play.  But, I expect that to remedy itself as the season rolls on.

Both Lee and Lewis came in with reputations as scorers, and even though that wasn't readily apparent in the last two exhibition games, I think they will eventually settle in and earn those reputations.  I can't say this enough, but I think we will all be really happy these two guys decided to come here for their "one-and-done" season by the time March rolls around. 
​
Final take on 2015-2016: 

I can’t honestly say I was overly impressed with the performances against Bellarmine and Kentucky Wesleyan.  I realize that Bellarmine and Kentucky Wesleyan are two of the better exhibition foes a team can schedule.  I just expected the team to be a little further along given the fact they had all those extra practices and games in Puerto Rico.  After all, that's what the foreign trip was all about, right?

 But, there again, I think those performances are evidence this group is very young and the two seniors are playing in Pitino’s system for the first time.  I also see those games as evidence that the team might struggle early.  That said, while I wouldn’t be surprised to see this group drop a game or two against teams they should probably beat, likewise, I won’t be the least bit surprised to see them win a game or two they probably shouldn’t. 

Even though they're young, there's a lot of talent in this group and I am very optimistic about what I’ve seen from last year’s freshmen crop.  This team has the potential to be playing in the second weekend come March, but that all depends on the answer to one question: Will they be playing their best basketball at the end of the year?

This is a characteristic common among nearly every Pitino coached team I’ve ever watched play, and I see no reason why it can’t be the case in March of 2016.

My final take here is that this team has a lot of potential and talent.  They also have a lot of experience when you add in Lee and Lewis.  The issue is that it hasn't all been mixed together into a lethal concoction by the Mad Scientist.  Separately, the talent and experience will keep the Cards in a lot of games.  At the same time, until it all comes together the lack of continuity will keep them from winning some of those games.  

I know Lee and Lewis are here to mitigate the deficiency in experience, and I think the more games they play in Rick's system the more likely it becomes they can do just that.  My concern is that, unless we get some big-time point (and rebounding) production from the younger guys, Lee and Lewis won't be able to carry that load.  If they can, I’ll be happy as a lark that I'm wrong.  Maybe we get that production from the younger guys.

As it stands, I think there are great things on the horizon, but this year is probably a “bridge” to next season when Louisville will be back in the Final Four/ National Title conversation.  Still, there is enough there to make me think this can be a successful rebuilding campaign. 

Predictions:
Regular Season: 22-9
Tournament: Sweet 16
 

​While teams from other Power5 leagues were losing and struggling with less talented teams, Louisville dominated Samford 86 – 45 Friday night in a game that had an oddly subdued vibe emanating from the crowd.  This was likely due to events still unfolding in Paris as the game tipped-off.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France.  On to the game.

I predicted a 21—9 record in my season preview, and while I’m not ready to adjust that number just yet, I’m pretty much ready to adjust that number.  I know we beat a bad team Friday night, but man, they way the team played from start to finish was more than I expected.  We'll know a lot more about our team after we play St. Louis and Michigan State, but for now everyone should be very pleased with what we saw. 

Louisville shot 53% from the field, 47% from 3, and had 19 assists on 30 made shots.  While it’s hard to take a lot away from a win against a sub-par opponent those numbers tell an obvious story.  By comparison to last season, these are incredibly positive signs if the trends continue.  When you compare the story of those numbers to last year's team, a couple of things really give me hope for the 2015 season. 

First, we all know shooting was an issue last season.  It was painful to watch open shot after open shot go begging.  Any game is going to be more pleasing to the eye when shots are falling and last night was extraordinarily enjoyable when you think about the shooting woes of yesteryear.  One game is not enough to declare Louisville a “good” shooting team, but that first game was encouraging.

Second, the passing we saw last night was, for lack of a better term, downright sexy if you're a Louisville fan.  Last year we were so dependent upon one-on-one or “hero ball” that the offense sometimes looked like four guys watching one.  If Terry, Wayne, or Chris Jones weren’t creating shots for themselves, and making them, the offense was stagnant.  A lot of that had to do with missing when the offense created good looks; but, the bottom line is that we were reliant on guys getting their own shots.  That perpetuated itself all year long, right through the Michigan State game when Terry felt like he had to single-handedly carry the scoring load.

From an individual player perspective, Friday night gave me warm and fuzzy feelings.  Here are a few of my thoughts on what we saw:

I don’t think it’s an over-exaggeration to say the center position looked like more of an offensive threat than it did at any point last season.  They were impressive running the floor, see Onuaku’s breakaway dunk.  They were, for the most part, able to catch the ball cleanly and finish around the rim when set up by a perimeter player.  Onuaku made a jumper and looked very comfortable doing it.  Also, on defense, between Mathiang and Onuaka we blocked 8 shots, altered many more, and committed just 4 fouls. 

Damion Lee picked up two early fouls and was relegated to the bench for almost the entire first half.  He didn't seem to have any rhythm on offense for much of the second, but I blinked and he'd finished the game with 14pts in just 20min.  Trey Lewis also looked a little shaky offensively, but he got to the line enough to finish with 7pts while dropping 6 dimes.  I both of these guys are going to be very productive as soon as they settle in and get things rolling. 

Quinten Snider finished the game with 12pts on 5-8 shooting (2-4 from deep), and his shot looks noticeably different from last year.  Rick has talked about Q needing to get more arc on his shot and it looks like the work he put in over the summer is paying off.  He also dished out 4 assists while committing only one turnover. 

The Freshmen played very well and showed exactly why they were a highly touted class.  Mitchell scored 14 points in 17 minutes without missing a shot from the field. He also added 3 steals and 3 rebounds.  That kid’s going to be a good one.  

Adel scored 6 points and grabbed 4 rebounds, but he turned it over 4 times.  He needs to be a lot stronger with the ball, especially when he tries to use the “rip-through” move.  On a couple of those turnovers he had the ball taken right out of his hands.  Still, he was ridiculously active on defense while harassing Samford’s perimeter players. The box-score didn’t give him credit for any steals, but I’d bet he had nearly half-a-dozen deflections.  At one point I wrote down: “He’s everywhere, EVERYWHERE.”

Again, all of this must be taken with a grain of salt because we were playing Samford. Be that as it may, I went into the game looking for Louisville to treat a lesser team the way we “should.”   I wanted to see definite signs of improvement from last year’s players, I wanted to see the freshmen display an ability to be better than a group of upperclassmen, and I think we got all of those things in spades.  ​

Junior College Defensive Tackle Chris Williams has committed to the University of Louisville.  Williams was a highly sought after 3-Star prospect out of high school who committed to Ole Miss while holding offers from Tennessee, South Carolina, Ohio State, and Michigan State.  At the time, 247Sports listed him as the 28th best DT prospect in the country. 

​Williams spent this season playing for N.E. Mississippi Community College.  This is pretty big get for Louisville because we lose three seniors after this year, including Sheldon Rankins who will be taking snaps on Sundays next season. 

Louisville will take on their ACC cross-division “Rival” on Saturday.  I don’t really like calling UVA a “rivalry game” since it’s nothing more than an arbitrarily manufactured "rivalry" the ACC had to set up so we would have an annual game against a Coastal Division team.  That’s not to say that the University of Virginia can’t eventually be thought of as our rival, but there’s just not enough history there for me to not gag a little when I hear them referred to as a rival.  That said, they did beat us last year and the game got a little chippy before all was said and done.  

Anyway, back to the lecture at hand.

If it seems like every team we’ve played for the last month was a team desperate for a win to keep post-season hopes alive, it’s because that's exactly the case.  Virginia is no different.  The Wahoos (and yes, they call themselves the “Wahoos”) come to town with just three wins and three games remaining. This means a loss on Saturday guarantees Virginia will finish 2015 below .500 and will not be bowl eligible.  In other words, they’re not very good; but, any given Saturday and all that, I guess.

UVA comes into the day as a 14 point underdog, and for good reason.  Out of 128 teams, the Wahoos rank 98th in the FBS in points scored/ game, and 91st in points allowed.  They give up over 6 yards/ play and opponents are scoring on nearly 80% of their red-zone trips.  By contrast, the team we thumped last week, Syracuse, ranks 76th in points/ game and 96th in points allowed.  So, much like the last three teams on our schedule this is a game we should win.

What I’m watching for:

(1) I’ll be looking for the offense to continue humming along with Bolin under center.  Last week we saw something that looked like a Bobby Petrino coached offense for the first time since his return.  I want to see the team improve upon that performance.  What I’ll be looking for isn’t necessarily an increase in the point production, it’d be nice, but I’d like to see the offensive execution sharpened to a fine edge heading into the Pitt game. 

I’ll be looking for Bolin to continue distributing the ball to the play-makers.  I want to see the offensive line continue opening holes for the running backs, and the running backs hitting those holes then running through tackles.  I’d like to see a decrease in penalties and miscommunication between QB and WRs.  

(2) I’ll be looking for the defense to get pressure on the QB and force some errant throws.   Virginia is giving up 2 sacks/ game, which is good for 62nd in the FBS.  They rank 125, nearly dead last, in interceptions thrown/ game.  Louisville got back to taking the ball away last week and there’s good cause to think they can build on that against a team that can’t protect their QB and likes to give it away.

On the flip side, I want to see the offense limit their own give-aways.  Even though the Cards forced three turnovers last week against Syracuse they gave the ball away four times for a -1 margin.  They were playing a pretty bad team so it didn’t influence the final outcome.  It likely wouldn’t be damning this week either, but there are more difficult games coming and I want to see Louisville win that battle decisively against UVA.

(3) I’ll be looking for the fans, again.  Saturday is Senior day and there are a bunch of guys playing their last game at PJCS who have given a lot to this program over the last four years.  They have been one of the most successful classes in the history of the school.  They won a Sugar Bowl, they won Conference Championships, and they helped bring our program out of Realignment Hell and into the ACC.

 Sheldon Rankins, James “Keep Their Heads Ring’n” Burgess, Jermaine Reve, Corvin Lamb, John Wallace, and Josh Appleby just to name a few.  These guys have earned every penny of their scholarships, they never lost to Kentucky, and they provided all of us something to be proud of over the last four years.  I can’t speak for the rest of the fan base but I’ll be in my seat early to see them honored.  They deserve a big turnout. Make it happen.

With a win tomorrow Louisville will be bowl eligible for the 6th year in a row, and take another step towards an impressive turnaround for a season that looked like it was going to be a complete disaster four games in.  Get this done and you can turn your attention towards two tough road games and an opportunity to end the 2015 season on a high note. 

See you out there…

Louisville put a beat-down on Syracuse this past Saturday in a game that was aesthetically pleasing on many levels.  First and foremost, what went down on Saturday was the closest thing to “Bobby-Ball” that we’ve seen since the prodigal son returned to the helm. Even though it was against a bad football team, it was fun to see the offense move the ball up and down the field at-will.  Also, it was encouraging because Louisville has played several “bad” teams this year and we’d yet to see a blowout victory. Here are a few things I took away from the game:

(1) One could easily dismiss the offensive production against Syracuse out of hand because of the level of competition; but, that would be doing a disservice to what we saw. Like I said, we’ve played some bad teams this year and hadn’t seen that level of execution and production. The biggest variable between those games and the one we saw on Saturday was, of course, Kyle Bolin leading the way against that bad team.
 
(2) You simply can’t ignore that the offense looked better than it had all year with a traditional look (QB under center). The running game was effective, which helped play-action calls work the way they should.  Bolin’s grasp of the offense was also apparent as he was able to read defenses and work through his progressions to find open receivers. Bolin’s performance raised a pretty big question in my mind, one that I’ve heard and seen others echo since Saturday.

(3) When you think back to Bolin’s other start and performance against Clemson, the current #1 team in the CFB playoff rankings, we only lost by 3 points. After that game Kyle was demoted to #3 on the depth chart behind Jackson and Bonnafon. Couple that with what we saw on Saturday and you have to wonder why Bolin didn’t, at the very least, get an opportunity after Clemson. Whatever the reason(s), Petrino has said Bolin will get the nod this week against Virginia, and I’m more than okay with that.

(4) The defense got back to doing what they did for most of last year: Taking the football away and giving the offense extra possessions. The two interceptions were fantastic plays by guys reading the play, being in the right spot, and just as important, making the play when it was there.
​
It was another ACC win, and it got to 5-4 on the season. It also moved Louisville to 9-1 in ACC play against teams not names Florida State and Clemson. Not too shabby. We get a chance to become bowl eligible this weekend and avenge that one loss to non-Clemson/FSU teams this weekend when UVA comes to town. 

​It was another ACC win, and it got us to 5-4 on the season. It also moved Louisville to 9-1 in ACC play against teams not names Florida State and Clemson. Not too shabby. We get a chance to become bowl eligible this weekend and avenge that one loss to non-Clemson/FSU teams this weekend when UVA comes to town. 

1/9/2015 1:00PM
by Ambrose O'Bryan & Dave Lackford

Five new plaintiffs, being represented by  ​Louisville lawyer Nader G. Shunnarah, have claimed that they were misrepresented and defamed by Breaking Cardinal Rules. These new plaintiffs were added to the previous lawsuit filed on behalf of Kyle Hornback, against Katina Powell. This first amended complaint adds new counts on behalf of five women who were identified, by mention, and through photos, in Katina Powell’s book.  The women claim they did not give their permission for anyone, including Powell, the Indianapolis Business Journal, or Dick Cady to use their likenesses in the book.  The women also claim Powell’s allegations that they had sex with University of Louisville basketball players and recruits for money are untrue.  

In a statement to Reservations For Six, Shunnarah said:

In her book, and in an interview with Outside The Lines, Powell alleges that roughly two dozen girls attended the sex parties at the University of Louisville's Minardi Hall, and that all but about "roughly five or six" engaged in prostitution.  These five new plaintiffs, deny ever having sex with players, recruits, or parents, and that the use of their image gives an impression otherwise.  They are now pursuing money damages on a number of new counts, which were added to the lawsuit today.  

Read the Complaint Here: