Possible Upset of Louisville ?

[phenderson]

I agree with you! The main difference between us and Louisville is Jackson! No matter who would replace him (Bolin, Bonafan, etc.), we would be a whole lot closer in talent level!

Lets take this in context:
UK has 1 Elite playmaker on their roster... BAM Williams.
Cards have 1 Elite playmaker on their roster... Lamar Jackson.

If you take away BAM, UK loses horribly, going by conventional Wisdom... which almost stands up, considering BAM re-aggravated his arm, last year year, during the late stage fo the 1st quarter.

If you take away Jackson, UofL loses horribly, going by conventional Wisdom... which almost stands up, considering Jackson arrived, late in the 1st quarter...

But wait.. lets look again

Didn't Louisville beat UK, 2 years ago, without Jackson and with Williams running for over 100+ yards?
Didn't Louisville beat UK 2 years ago, with Bolin as the QB? Was it attributed to Devante Parker being the Elite Play Maker on offense? But didn't UK have an Elite PLaymaker on defense in Bud Dupree? Is that what evened out the game, and allowed Louisville to win? But how does UK have Elite play makers on defense and offense, and Louisville only had Parker, and still won?

You guys keep saying "Take away Jackson", but Petrino has proven that he can win without Jackson. I think Jackson is worth 14-28 points... but The offensiveline has improved tremendously... as have the skill players... Jackson being missing, means the offense gets transformed to more pro-sets with a PROVEN commodity in Bolin.

 

[WildcatofNati]

LOL at this thread...Louisville is going to beat you as bad as Petrino wants.

Reported, and blocked.

 

[Bill@ModernThirst]

Well reasoned post ... you focus on "who has the better prospects to be a pro player", while I tend to focus on who is more effective in how they will be used in the game we play on November 26th.

Boom Williams and Benny Snell may be better pro prospects than Brandon Radcliff and Jeremy Smith. They have definitely looked very good against NMSU, South Carolina, Vandy, and Mississippi State. And you are correct that there is no doubt that UofL's running backs benefit greatly from the defense keying on Lamar Jackson. My point (again, responding to someone who said that UK's backs are better than UofL's), was that UofL has three top running backs (you've got to include Jackson, because he is not just a quarterback - he's the most effective wildcat formation running back in college football right now) that are far and away better (more effective, not necessarily better pro prospects) than UK's top three or four (if you want to include UK's Johnson and Kemp).

Good luck against Mizzou this Saturday!

No. Lamar is not a running back. When he lines up in the Wildcat, the defense is scheming for the RPO. He's a QUARTERBACK. PERIOD. Running plays can be called for any offensive player, that doesn't mean they play the RB position. He is not and should not be counted as a running back. Just like how a receiver can be graded on their ability to not only run routes and catch passes, but also gain yards after the catch, QBs are judged not only on how well they pass, but whether or not they are a threat on the ground.

To make this real simple for you: Lamar Jackson is a QB, not a RB. QBs can run, and his ability there has been duly praised. We're not comparing "overall running games," we're comparing the RB position. End of story.

 

[PushupMan]

No. Lamar is not a running back. When he lines up in the Wildcat, the defense is scheming for the RPO. He's a QUARTERBACK. PERIOD. Running plays can be called for any offensive player, that doesn't mean they play the RB position. He is not and should not be counted as a running back. Just like how a receiver can be graded on their ability to not only run routes and catch passes, but also gain yards after the catch, QBs are judged not only on how well they pass, but whether or not they are a threat on the ground.

To make this real simple for you: Lamar Jackson is a QB, not a RB. QBs can run, and his ability there has been duly praised. We're not comparing "overall running games," we're comparing the RB position. End of story.

Well, I was comparing the effectiveness of each team's running games. You may continue to debate whether Boom, Benny and Jojo are better than Radcliff and Smith if you wish. If we're debating which of those players have a future in the NFL, your topic is on point. In this case, we're debating UK chances of beating UofL on November 26th. For that topic, the effectiveness of each team's running games is much more important than whether Boom, Benny or Jojo are better than Radcliff and Smith.

 

[Michigan Fan]

Lets take this in context:
UK has 1 Elite playmaker on their roster... BAM Williams.
Cards have 1 Elite playmaker on their roster... Lamar Jackson.

If you take away BAM, UK loses horribly, going by conventional Wisdom... which almost stands up, considering BAM re-aggravated his arm, last year year, during the late stage fo the 1st quarter.

If you take away Jackson, UofL loses horribly, going by conventional Wisdom... which almost stands up, considering Jackson arrived, late in the 1st quarter...

But wait.. lets look again

Didn't Louisville beat UK, 2 years ago, without Jackson and with Williams running for over 100+ yards?
Didn't Louisville beat UK 2 years ago, with Bolin as the QB? Was it attributed to Devante Parker being the Elite Play Maker on offense? But didn't UK have an Elite PLaymaker on defense in Bud Dupree? Is that what evened out the game, and allowed Louisville to win? But how does UK have Elite play makers on defense and offense, and Louisville only had Parker, and still won?

You guys keep saying "Take away Jackson", but Petrino has proven that he can win without Jackson. I think Jackson is worth 14-28 points... but The offensiveline has improved tremendously... as have the skill players... Jackson being missing, means the offense gets transformed to more pro-sets with a PROVEN commodity in Bolin.

Everyone focused on the Louisville Offense but the difference has been the defense ...Louisville has 3 very good players on that side of the ball in Fields, Kelsey and Brown and a emerging as you say Elite Player in the secondary in Jaire Alexander...that defense is currently Top 10 and held FSU RB Dalvin Cook to a season low 54 rushing yards.

 

[Bill@ModernThirst]

Well, I was comparing the effectiveness of each team's running games. You may continue to debate whether Boom, Benny and Jojo are better than Radcliff and Smith if you wish. If we're debating which of those players have a future in the NFL, your topic is on point. In this case, we're debating UK chances of beating UofL on November 26th. For that topic, the effectiveness of each team's running games is much more important than whether Boom, Benny or Jojo are better than Radcliff and Smith.

No, you weren't. You were trying to say louisville had better running backs because Lamar is a running back. don't backtrack because you got called on your BS. It was a discussion about specific positions. And I never mentioned prospects as a pro player.

Boom and Benny are better than Radcliffe and Smith. Right now.

Hikuitini is better than Conrad. Right now. Though it's a little harder to compare them due to usage.

 

[Bill@ModernThirst]

Everyone focused on the Louisville Offense but the difference has been the defense ...Louisville has 3 very good players on that side of the ball in Fields, Kelsey and Brown and a emerging as you say Elite Player in the secondary in Jaire Alexander...that defense is currently Top 10 and held FSU RB Dalvin Cook to a season low 54 rushing yards.

I'd say they have more than 3 very good players + an emerging elite player on that side of the ball. Yes, Louisville's defense is very good.

 

[Soupbean]

Absolutely no way we beat them. Praying they don't score 60 on us.

We are finally winning games against even competition and that's good.

UL is on another plain.

But almost solely because of Jackson.

Sorry late to this discussion

 

[BMo643]

Obviously Lamar is a massive reason why UL will be heavily favored...I mean he has 450 more total yards by himself than UK does as a team so he's obviously a vital part of the discussion but if you think UL is simply Lamar then you haven't watched the defense.

Also...as far as whether or not Lamar is a RB...listen, it doesn't matter what you classify him as...Lamar is a running football player that defenses have to account for. UL has rushed for 660 more yards than UK and Lamar has 300 more rushing yards than UKs best RB and even if you take away all of Lamar's rushing yards UK has only rushed for 289 more yards than UL and UKs offense runs it on 65% of their plays compared to around 55% of ULs plays. So it doesn't matter what you classify Lamar as...the fact remains that he's averaging 130 rushing yards per game and around 40 more rushing yards per game than Boom Williams.

If we take Lamar out of the discussion when talking about RBs then you're really just comparing Radcliff and Wright to Williams and Snell. Kemp has only ran the ball on 14% of their run plays. Williams and Snell combine for 1,108 yards, 8 TDs at 6.5 YPC on 170 attempts. Radcliff and Wright combine for 819 yards,11 TDs, at 7.7 ypc on 106 attempts. So its a pretty good matchup to be honest. Boom and Snell have more yards but have also ran the ball 64 more times. (If we gave Radcliff/Wright 64 more carries at their current YPC they would combine for an additional 493 yards)

 

[CardHack]

Any of us that are Louisville fans should concede in a heartbeat that you can't just give Radcliff and Smith numbers and not recognize that those heavy yard per carry averages are the clear byproduct of Lamar Jackson's presence and the attention a defense has to devote to him. He probably has robbed Radcliff in particular of some carries with misreads on zone plays or they could be even better. I would say with regard to our running backs on a sheer personnel level...I'm a little surprised Bonnafon hasn't been used more out the flexed position in a Pistol out of the backfield except in some very uncommon instances; he had a big gainer against FSU in it and I would have thought we'd have come back to it by now. He has been used quite a bit in jet read plays, but seems to be exclusively in a shadowing or decoy capacity. I think we've missed LJ Scott out of that Pistol flex position this year; he's played sparingly since getting injured the first game.

 

[Crankdatmustard_rivals66299]

Do Louisville fans HAVE to refer to every player by first name?

"Lamar"
"Bobby"
"Rick"
etc

 

[BMo643]

Any of us that are Louisville fans should concede in a heartbeat that you can't just give Radcliff and Smith numbers and not recognize that those heavy yard per carry averages are the clear byproduct of Lamar Jackson's presence and the attention a defense has to devote to him. He probably has robbed Radcliff in particular of some carries with misreads on zone plays or they could be even better. I would say with regard to our running backs on a sheer personnel level...I'm a little surprised Bonnafon hasn't been used more out the flexed position in a Pistol out of the backfield except in some very uncommon instances; he had a big gainer against FSU in it and I would have thought we'd have come back to it by now. He has been used quite a bit in jet read plays, but seems to be exclusively in a shadowing or decoy capacity. I think we've missed LJ Scott out of that Pistol flex position this year; he's played sparingly since getting injured the first game.

Does that matter though? Lamar isn't going anywhere..God willing he'll be on the field for every snap against UK...so those current YPCs are the YPCs they've racked up against defenses much better than what UK will bring. I feel like this is similar to the argument of not classifying Lamar as a RB...ok..in a vacuum that may work, but Lamar's going to be running the ball whether or not call him a RB or not the same way that Radcliff and Wright are going to be running with Lamar at QB and it doesn't matter if that "inflates" their YPC because thats the reality of the game.

 

[CB3UK]

Can we worry about Missouri, Georgia, and Tennessee first?

 

[Gary4UK]

We are playing with more heart every week. And, we always play them tough each year regarding how we both are ranked. It is a rivalry game.

I think we could surprise them this year. It will be closer than many on here think.

Just think if they are 10-1 and we beat them, dashing their hopes for a Playoff, along with getting us to a better bowl at 7 or 8 wins.

It would surprise me if we beat them this year, but it wouldn't shock me... This team is getting better each week and we had them on the ropes last year... This is a rival game and we'll be in a much better shape to play them this year.....

I have my eye out for next year... They lose 9 starters on offense and 4 starters on defense... We'll be playing at CWS and our team is growing older by the year.. We'll be ranked when we play them next year... IMO

 

[phenderson]

It would surprise me if we beat them this year, but it wouldn't shock me... This team is getting better each week and we had them on the ropes last year... This is a rival game and we'll be in a much better shape to play them this year.....

I have my eye out for next year... They lose 9 starters on offense and 4 starters on defense... We'll be playing at CWS and our team is growing older by the year.. We'll be ranked when we play them next year... IMO

• Offensively we lose 3 OL... no getting around that. But the ones who are behind them, have played in mop-up duty alot, and have now been in the system 2-3 years.
• We lose James Quick, and I have to say that he is not a Devante Parker-type WR... he has never shown himself to be an Elite play maker at this level of College Football.
• We lose Brandon Ratcliff... but he is a product of the offense. He is good... but he is not game breaker good... Jeremy Smith is a better back... and we have several GOOD backs behind both of them. In fact, Ratcliff is our only back smaller than 6'0"... and we have a "Boom Williams\Dalvin Cook" -type RB coming in next year. B-Rad's numbers a product of Jackson and the improved offensive line.
• We lose Col H., the Tight End... but, hey, that is a plug in position for Petrino. We have Micky Crum who is just as versatile (Scored TD against A&M, and against Clemson last year).
• We lose Jamari Staples... who is good, but once again, none of these guys put "Scares" in defenses like Devante Parker and Seth Dawkins... Dawkins, as a 3-star who was being pursued HOTLY by UK, is an elite WR with NFL size, and Megatron-like Catch Radius... As a TRUE freshman, he has played and scored 2 TD's... while 2 other higher ranked WR's have been red-shirted...
• That is literally all we lose on offense...7 guys... who, honestly, will be replaced by better talent.
• On defense, that is where I fear, we will take a beating. We lose Elite playmakers in Josh Harvey Clemmons, Devonte Fields, and De-Angelo Brown.... Yes, Johnathan Greenard has stepped up, and hopefully, prayerfully, we should get back the guy who had better numbers and was more disruptive than Fields, in Trevon Young... But our Defensive Backfield will be stinging... because Chucky Williams is not versatile enough to play that LB\Safety combo position like JHC...

When I look at the games... over past 5 years, against UK, I can sum then up as this:

1. 2011 Was Teddy's coming out party. UK knocked the Walk-on starting QB, Stein out of the game, in 1st quarter. In come's Teddy, and Cards take the lead for entire game and hold on with Ball Control and defense. Bridgewater became that Elite, playmaker QB, in the clutch. He was the difference, and our defense sacked a very bad situation at QB for UK. Strong's defense basically stymied UK's offense for most of the 2nd half...
2. 2012 Was a "grind-out" game where Cards got the lead, and used Ball Control and some timely defensive plays, to maintain that lead. Stats are very misleading...half time score was 22-7, and then in 3rd quarter, it was 32-7 before UK tacked on another TD.
3. 2013 was another grind it out game, this time, where UK just could not match the Cards on the offensive side of the ball. Stoops first game was a decent battle, where Louisville, once again, led for most of a grind it out game.
4. 2014 was a disaster... From the pre-kick off activities, to the quick start by UK... Just like with last year, its not that UK dominated the opening half... its that UK punched Louisville in the mouth, and the Cards had to adjust. Interception, -5 yard drive, PUNT, by Louisville offense shows how UK DID managed to dominate the first part of the 1st quarter. But then, Louisville seemed to remember who they were... 10 plays led to 2 TD's sandwiched around a defensive stop... was all it took, from Bolin... (keep in mind, that, for the 2nd time in this series, UK knocked a Louisville QB out, and the replacement came in and Led the CARDS to victory). From the moment, UK lost the lead, at 14-13, only Turnovers kept the CATS in hte game as the Louisville defense dominated from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 3rd quarter. 4rth quarter went back and forth... but Cards pull out the win.
5. 2015, started out like 2014... but when you look between the lines, UK only had 2 sustained drives in the entire 1st half... 1 for a FG and 1 For a TD... this is telling...as UK gained 229 total yards in the 1st half... while Louisville threw 3 INT's that led to 2 TD's and a FG for UK... (17 points off of turnovers). 2nd half was a night mare as UK generated only 62 yards of total offense...and was literally dominated...

Here are some observation notes from past 5 games of this entire series

• 4 different coaches have coached, Joker, Strong, Stoops, and Petrino. UK's total offense has never been ranked inside of the top 94 (via ESPN stats).
• 4 different OC's at UK... during this 5 year period, and none of them have compiled more than 376 total yards against Louisville's defense. Last year, and 2011, the total was 290...
• 3 different OC's at Louisville during this 5 year period (Sanford, Watson, McGee) have averaged no less than 466 yards of total offense against Kentucky defenses that have never been ranked inside the top 40, top 30, or even top 20...
• AS it stands, UK's defense is not built to stop Louisville's offensive. 426 yards allowed per-game, 202 yards on the ground... 3 of the teams UK has beaten have put up 141-242 yards on the ground on UK regardless of who the DC was. Louisville averages 280-300+ yards on the ground.To Stop Louisville, you will need to have an Alabama or NC State, or FSU, or Clemson like defensive line...which is just not available to UK at the moment, regardless of if we use Jackson or Bolin at QB... We run the ball very well...and we pass the ball, very well...
• total weirdness... Jokers last 2 teams, finished the season ranked 41 in Total Defense... With Missouri, UGA, UT, Austin Peay, and Louisville coming up... I don't see UK's currently ranked #72 defense, finishing near the top 40...
• According to stats, in regards to YPG, Louisville has faced the following offenses
  • Syracuse #23
  • FSU #25
  • Will face Houston at #32
  • Clemson #35
  • NC State #72
  • Charlotte # 87
  • Marshall #88
  • Will face UVA at #90
  • Duke at #92
  • Will face UK at #98
  • Will face WFU at #119
  • Will face BC at #124
• UK has faced
  • Will face Missouri #11
  • Alabama #15
  • Southern Miss #19
  • New Mexico State #46
  • Florida #52
  • Will face UGA #74
  • Miss. State #77
  • Will face UT #80
  • South Carolina #123
  • Vandy #125
  • Louisville #2

3 top 30 offenses Louisville has gone against... and gone 2-1. We did not strangle Syracuse, but we did hold them 70+ yards below their average. FSU was basically dominated... And Clemson went over their averages... So far, UK has played 2 top 30 offenses and is 0-2...

 

[Gary4UK]

• Offensively we lose 3 OL... no getting around that. But the ones who are behind them, have played in mop-up duty alot, and have now been in the system 2-3 years.
• We lose James Quick, and I have to say that he is not a Devante Parker-type WR... he has never shown himself to be an Elite play maker at this level of College Football.
• We lose Brandon Ratcliff... but he is a product of the offense. He is good... but he is not game breaker good... Jeremy Smith is a better back... and we have several GOOD backs behind both of them. In fact, Ratcliff is our only back smaller than 6'0"... and we have a "Boom Williams\Dalvin Cook" -type RB coming in next year. B-Rad's numbers a product of Jackson and the improved offensive line.
• We lose Col H., the Tight End... but, hey, that is a plug in position for Petrino. We have Micky Crum who is just as versatile (Scored TD against A&M, and against Clemson last year).
• We lose Jamari Staples... who is good, but once again, none of these guys put "Scares" in defenses like Devante Parker and Seth Dawkins... Dawkins, as a 3-star who was being pursued HOTLY by UK, is an elite WR with NFL size, and Megatron-like Catch Radius... As a TRUE freshman, he has played and scored 2 TD's... while 2 other higher ranked WR's have been red-shirted...
• That is literally all we lose on offense...7 guys... who, honestly, will be replaced by better talent.
• On defense, that is where I fear, we will take a beating. We lose Elite playmakers in Josh Harvey Clemmons, Devonte Fields, and De-Angelo Brown.... Yes, Johnathan Greenard has stepped up, and hopefully, prayerfully, we should get back the guy who had better numbers and was more disruptive than Fields, in Trevon Young... But our Defensive Backfield will be stinging... because Chucky Williams is not versatile enough to play that LB\Safety combo position like JHC...

When I look at the games... over past 5 years, against UK, I can sum then up as this:

1. 2011 Was Teddy's coming out party. UK knocked the Walk-on starting QB, Stein out of the game, in 1st quarter. In come's Teddy, and Cards take the lead for entire game and hold on with Ball Control and defense. Bridgewater became that Elite, playmaker QB, in the clutch. He was the difference, and our defense sacked a very bad situation at QB for UK. Strong's defense basically stymied UK's offense for most of the 2nd half...
2. 2012 Was a "grind-out" game where Cards got the lead, and used Ball Control and some timely defensive plays, to maintain that lead. Stats are very misleading...half time score was 22-7, and then in 3rd quarter, it was 32-7 before UK tacked on another TD.
3. 2013 was another grind it out game, this time, where UK just could not match the Cards on the offensive side of the ball. Stoops first game was a decent battle, where Louisville, once again, led for most of a grind it out game.
4. 2014 was a disaster... From the pre-kick off activities, to the quick start by UK... Just like with last year, its not that UK dominated the opening half... its that UK punched Louisville in the mouth, and the Cards had to adjust. Interception, -5 yard drive, PUNT, by Louisville offense shows how UK DID managed to dominate the first part of the 1st quarter. But then, Louisville seemed to remember who they were... 10 plays led to 2 TD's sandwiched around a defensive stop... was all it took, from Bolin... (keep in mind, that, for the 2nd time in this series, UK knocked a Louisville QB out, and the replacement came in and Led the CARDS to victory). From the moment, UK lost the lead, at 14-13, only Turnovers kept the CATS in hte game as the Louisville defense dominated from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 3rd quarter. 4rth quarter went back and forth... but Cards pull out the win.
5. 2015, started out like 2014... but when you look between the lines, UK only had 2 sustained drives in the entire 1st half... 1 for a FG and 1 For a TD... this is telling...as UK gained 229 total yards in the 1st half... while Louisville threw 3 INT's that led to 2 TD's and a FG for UK... (17 points off of turnovers). 2nd half was a night mare as UK generated only 62 yards of total offense...and was literally dominated...

Here are some observation notes from past 5 games of this entire series

• 4 different coaches have coached, Joker, Strong, Stoops, and Petrino. UK's total offense has never been ranked inside of the top 94 (via ESPN stats).
• 4 different OC's at UK... during this 5 year period, and none of them have compiled more than 376 total yards against Louisville's defense. Last year, and 2011, the total was 290...
• 3 different OC's at Louisville during this 5 year period (Sanford, Watson, McGee) have averaged no less than 466 yards of total offense against Kentucky defenses that have never been ranked inside the top 40, top 30, or even top 20...
• AS it stands, UK's defense is not built to stop Louisville's offensive. 426 yards allowed per-game, 202 yards on the ground... 3 of the teams UK has beaten have put up 141-242 yards on the ground on UK regardless of who the DC was. Louisville averages 280-300+ yards on the ground.To Stop Louisville, you will need to have an Alabama or NC State, or FSU, or Clemson like defensive line...which is just not available to UK at the moment, regardless of if we use Jackson or Bolin at QB... We run the ball very well...and we pass the ball, very well...
• total weirdness... Jokers last 2 teams, finished the season ranked 41 in Total Defense... With Missouri, UGA, UT, Austin Peay, and Louisville coming up... I don't see UK's currently ranked #72 defense, finishing near the top 40...
• According to stats, in regards to YPG, Louisville has faced the following offenses
  • Syracuse #23
  • FSU #25
  • Will face Houston at #32
  • Clemson #35
  • NC State #72
  • Charlotte # 87
  • Marshall #88
  • Will face UVA at #90
  • Duke at #92
  • Will face UK at #98
  • Will face WFU at #119
  • Will face BC at #124
• UK has faced
  • Will face Missouri #11
  • Alabama #15
  • Southern Miss #19
  • New Mexico State #46
  • Florida #52
  • Will face UGA #74
  • Miss. State #77
  • Will face UT #80
  • South Carolina #123
  • Vandy #125
  • Louisville #2

3 top 30 offenses Louisville has gone against... and gone 2-1. We did not strangle Syracuse, but we did hold them 70+ yards below their average. FSU was basically dominated... And Clemson went over their averages... So far, UK has played 2 top 30 offenses and is 0-2...

Well, you might not like your starters as much as your coach, because he plays 9 starters on offense that won't be there next year..
Then you have to deal with your loses on defense.. No matter how you spin it, you're losing a lot.. Kentucky will almost return this years team, which are growing up.... Next year we'll be full grown and playing at home...
I'm not counting this years game as a loss, not yet.. You'll have to beat us and we have power and speed too..

 

[Michigan Fan]

You don't have the talent of Florida State...no RB On the Kentucky roster is Dalvin Cook and nobody on the front seven is as good as DeMarcus Walker...you saw what happened in Papa John's and you saw what happened this past Saturday against a team going into that game had only given up 3 rushing TD in NC State.

 

[Gary4UK]

You don't have the talent of Florida State...no RB On the Kentucky roster is Dalvin Cook and nobody on the front seven is as good as DeMarcus Walker...you saw what happened in Papa John's and you saw what happened this past Saturday against a team going into that game had only given up 3 rushing TD in NC State.

This team is getting better... Hey, we've got talent...

 

[Michigan Fan]

You don't have FSU Talent...

 

[Gary4UK]

You don't have FSU Talent...

I have to agree Enemy.... We've got UK talent... I'll stick with these OLE boys down here in Lexington...

 

[rickypandjohnl]

Gary, you tried this in the other thread....saying we loose 33 seniors only to be proven wrong....now, even though you just had it explained to you, you come back and again say we loose 9 starters on offense....we don't....I would not be at all surprised to see our offense be BETTER next year with what we have coming back...

 

[Gary4UK]

Gary, you tried this in the other thread....saying we loose 33 seniors only to be proven wrong....now, even though you just had it explained to you, you come back and again say we loose 9 starters on offense....we don't....I would not be at all surprised to see our offense be BETTER next year with what we have coming back...

Hey, don't bait me... You lose 9 starters on offense and 4 on defense.. Now, go somewhere and cry over that...

 

[rickypandjohnl]

We loose 7 on offense....but like the other poster explained, we have depth at all of those positions.....plus the best player in the country coming back....I think we'll be just fine...

 

[Michigan Fan]

Louisville officially has 20 Total Seniors-(one is a medical Redshirt in Trevon Young who is expected back for 2017)

3 Returning Starters on the OL-( 7 out of 10 in the 2 Deep)...5 out of 6 Returning on the exterior DL-(Losing Brown)...3 out of 4 Edge Rushers expected to return-(Fields is gone) and 7 out of 8 in the 2 Deep. At the Inside Linebackers 3 out of 4 are expected to return-(Losing Kelsey)

Here is the official roster from the official website from Louisville with the actual number of Sr including Walkons...it is 20

http://www.gocards.com/roster.aspx?path=football

 

[phenderson]

Louisville officially has 20 Total Seniors-(one is a medical Redshirt in Trevon Young who is expected back for 2017)

3 Returning Starters on the OL-( 7 out of 10 in the 2 Deep)...5 out of 6 Returning on the exterior DL-(Losing Brown)...3 out of 4 Edge Rushers expected to return-(Fields is gone) and 7 out of 8 in the 2 Deep. At the Insider Linebackers 3 out of 4 are expected to return-(Losing Kelsey)

Here is the official roster from the official website from Louisville with the actual number of Sr including Walkons...it is 20

http://www.gocards.com/roster.aspx?path=football

And, to follow up... 10 overall seniors\red-shirt seniors on that list get any kind of SERIOUS playing time on either the offense or the defense. Petrino, on offense, incorporates different principals and sets. Therefore, he will start a certain set of Skill players against a certain opponent, like UNC State. Radcliff was not the starter against NC State or Duke... I believe it was Jeremy Smith, who to me, is every bit as good as Snell. I have always felt like the best running back on the field is Boom Williams... but Dalvin Cook is the best RB we faced, and Francois is one of the BEST QB's we have faced...outside of our friend at Clemson. It is a rivalry game, and I hope the stuff that went down, during pre-game, 2 years ago, does not happen again... The players, after the game, for Louisville, talked about how UK was more physical... now mind you, that was with a better DL.

One thing I have noticed, is that opposing offenses, have taken to throwing quick passes, tunnel screens, and dump offs, or quick handoffs to the RB's against our defense, to slow it down. We have not had a lot of sacks since the FSU game...because offenses are not giving the QB's 3 and 4 step drop backups... because that is where we excel with our pressure. When Duke HAD to throw the ball, late in the game, down 2 scores, it was curtains for them, as we applied tremendous pressure on their QB with 4 and 3 man rushes.

One more note... This offense of Bobby's is not like any offense Stoops has seen before, and the production the Cards are getting is about like the 2004 season in CUSA...except our defense is vastly superior.

For those of you saying "Louisville will lose a lot of guys and we will have a better chance"... keep in mind, our defense during Todd and Bobby's first year, with Strong's players at every position, finished the season ranked in the top 10.
That defense lost 8 players to the NFL or graduation. Defense finished ranked in top 15... only FSU beat our defense up, that year. This year's defense is ranked in top 10...

 

[UKWinsAgainYep]

UL, like most teams right now, cannot stop our running game.

If we dominate TOP, then Lamar doesn't get on the field much to hurt us.

Personally, I cannot wait to see Snell, Boom, and JoJo run the ball up the middle with our new power running game. It will be a thing of beauty.

Miss State has a large D-Line and we ran the ball right up the middle most of the game and they COULD NOT stop it.

It was beautiful.

 

[phenderson]

UL, like most teams right now, cannot stop our running game.

If we dominate TOP, then Lamar doesn't get on the field much to hurt us.

Personally, I cannot wait to see Snell, Boom, and JoJo run the ball up the middle with our new power running game. It will be a thing of beauty.

Miss State has a large D-Line and we ran the ball right up the middle most of the game and they COULD NOT stop it.

It was beautiful.

Understanding that We will not hold UK to under 100 yards in rushing... understanding that MSU allows for 154 rushing yards per game... and that Gran loves to run the ball... that is his philosophy. It just takes a decent defensive line to stop UK's run. MSU is ok... but not decent, as evident by their 5 loses...

 

[Bryo72]

Any thing can happen in a game but as of right now I don't see U.K. Pulling the upset. As of last week according to stats on NCAA.org UofL is #1 in Total Offense and #11 in Total defense. UK was 115th in offense and 97th in defense.

Fine, we might (again might) drop another to UL....I hope/wish you all get Alabama....

 

[red rage 2016]

UL, like most teams right now, cannot stop our running game.

If we dominate TOP, then Lamar doesn't get on the field much to hurt us.

Personally, I cannot wait to see Snell, Boom, and JoJo run the ball up the middle with our new power running game. It will be a thing of beauty.

Miss State has a large D-Line and we ran the ball right up the middle most of the game and they COULD NOT stop it.

It was beautiful.

Miss St. is 59th against the run, UofL is 19th against the run. Florida is 22nd against the run and UK didn't break 100 yards against UF's defense. UK's rush defense currently ranks 93rd in the country.

I would wait to see how your backs do against UGA's rush defense which is currently two spots ahead of UofL before I would get to excited.

 

[IHATEUAVEL]

Maybe Lamont will get cramps from making the Heisman pose..[eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll]

 

[red rage 2016]

Maybe Lamont will get cramps from making the Heisman pose..[eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll][eyeroll]

Might be the only way to slow Lamar down

 

[Naga Saki]

Do you some of you really think that Lamar Jackson by himself beat FSU, while scoring more points on them than any team ever has before? That is not a bad FSU team, they have 3 wins over teams with winning records and another over Ole Miss. They have beaten 2 rank teams so far and have and All American RB and DL. That was a team win, as were all of the others that Louisville has had. Their defensive numbers suggest that Louisville's defense is top 20. Jaire Alexander is a true sophomore at CB and will be playing on Sundays, along with 5 or 6 other CARDS on defense. Hikutini is a very good college TE and very productive. Louisville also has a very deep and talented wide receiver's corp. If Jackson wasn't there the Defense would still be top 20 and with Petrino and all the weapons we have on offense, we would still be very good with Bolin under center. Or Bonnafon, or Pass. No doubt it would be a step back without a Heisman trophy front runner on offence, but we would still be very good. We are not just barely beating bad teams, we are destroying them, just like we did to FSU. Maybe we don't average 50 without Lamar, but we still average 35. We did that last year with a revolving door at QB.

No doubt the cats are improving, but there is a much wider gap than some of you realize or will admit to.

 

[Michigan Fan]

Hey, don't bait me... You lose 9 starters on offense and 4 on defense.. Now, go somewhere and cry over that...

No Gary...it is 7 players on Offense out not 9....you can say whatever you feel but it doesn't make it true especially that incredibly WRONG 33 Seniors comment. I will even name the Sr. On offense that actually play. Center Tobijah Hughley, Guard Khalil Hunter, TE Cole Hikutini, RB Brandon Radcliff, FB Lamar Atkins, WR Jamari Staples and WR James Quick.

The other players that play a lot of minutes that are returning are the 3 projected returning OL in Kiola Mahoni, Lukayus McNeil and Geron Christian and the players that rotate in the OL throuhout the game are back next season OL Kenny Thomas, Toriano Roundtree and Chandler Jones. RB Jeremy Smith-(who is averaging roughly 8 Yard Per Carry & already has 7 TD in 2016) WR Traveon Samuels, WR Jaylon Smith-(who is tied with the team lead with 4 receiving TD), WR Reggie Bonnafon, WR Seth Dawkins and WR DeVante Peete.

Name the two other Seniors that play...and again I will help you with the official roster from the University of Louisville which shows only 20 Total Seniors which includes Walkon....LMBO.

http://www.gocards.com/roster.aspx?path=football

 

[Michigan Fan]

Might be the only way to slow Lamar down

Yes, barring injury he pretty much got the Heisman...but to be fair I fully expect Kentucky will be Bowl Eligible by the time we play them.

 

[CardHack]

To rescue a possibly instructive thread from alienation I have to ask...where are some of the carryover talent stockpiles for Kentucky? Secondary seems to be one, maybe wide receiver and running back?

One area I know we could have used help was an area I was concerned about preseason...our corners aren't necessarily small each of the three primaries going 5"11, but when you're going up against a 6"4 Mike Williams and the three touchdowns we allowed in the air against Clemson each of which were beaten over the top...you need a Westry or Baitey. Clemson picked on our 2nd string guy Trumaine Washington; ultimately they went away from Jaire Alexander.

 

[PushupMan]

Do Louisville fans HAVE to refer to every player by first name?

"Lamar"
"Bobby"
"Rick"
etc

To be fair, I referred to UK's running backs as "Boom, Benny and Jojo" and UofL's running backs (see what I did there, Bill?) as "Radcliff and Smith"....

 

[Shlomo]

No matter what the pressure will be on Louisville not to lose. If uk becomes bowl eligible before that game they will be playing with house money.

 

[red rage 2016]

No matter what the pressure will be on Louisville not to lose. If uk becomes bowl eligible before that game they will be playing with house money.

I can agree with that and the stakes may even be higher for UofL should Clemson drop two games which is doubtful.

 

[CatsFanGG24]

1. 2014 was a disaster... From the pre-kick off activities, to the quick start by UK... Just like with last year, its not that UK dominated the opening half... its that UK punched Louisville in the mouth, and the Cards had to adjust. Interception, -5 yard drive, PUNT, by Louisville offense shows how UK DID managed to dominate the first part of the 1st quarter. But then, Louisville seemed to remember who they were... 10 plays led to 2 TD's sandwiched around a defensive stop... was all it took, from Bolin... (keep in mind, that, for the 2nd time in this series, UK knocked a Louisville QB out, and the replacement came in and Led the CARDS to victory). From the moment, UK lost the lead, at 14-13, only Turnovers kept the CATS in hte game as the Louisville defense dominated from the middle of the 2nd quarter to the middle of the 3rd quarter. 4rth quarter went back and forth... but Cards pull out the win.
2. 2015, started out like 2014... but when you look between the lines, UK only had 2 sustained drives in the entire 1st half... 1 for a FG and 1 For a TD... this is telling...as UK gained 229 total yards in the 1st half... while Louisville threw 3 INT's that led to 2 TD's and a FG for UK... (17 points off of turnovers). 2nd half was a night mare as UK generated only 62 yards of total offense...and was literally dominated...

Always love these posts...its not that UK did anything good, its that UL wasn't themselves and kept screwing up...so stupid.

Turnovers were forced. ULs offense had turnover issues and UKs defense was good at creating turnovers. You didn't mention that UK threw 2 4th quarter INTs in 2014 and 1 in 2015...why is that?? Maybe, just maybe that should've been expected bc UL was an INT machine in 2014.....lets be consistent in our analysis shall we?

 

[PushupMan]

No Gary...it is 7 players on Offense out not 9....you can say whatever you feel but it doesn't make it true especially that incredibly WRONG 33 Seniors comment. I will even name the Sr. On offense that actually play. Center Tobijah Hughley, Guard Khalil Hunter, TE Cole Hikutini, RB Brandon Radcliff, FB Lamar Atkins, WR Jamari Staples and WR James Quick.
http://www.gocards.com/roster.aspx?path=football

Gary is right about 9 starters on offense. It's a little deceptive because Petrino's offense is very multiple and lists 13 starters instead of 11.

The 9 senior starters on offense are the 7 you mentioned above plus:

TE: Keith Towbridge (Hikutini is listed as an H-Back).
RG: Kiola Mahoni (the website is inconsistent, at times listing him as a junior and at other times as a senior. His bio says that he played two years at a junior college, and this is his second year at UofL, so this is definitely his last year of eligibility at UofL).