It's hard to imagine any team in the Big East really testing the Cardinals this season, but can Louisville be a legit BCS championship contender? If history is any indication you must win at the very least 11 games in the regular season and in Louisville's case they will likely need to go undefeated to even sniff a title game berth. However, there's an old adage in football; if you don't have a good quarterback, you can't win, Luckily, Louisville doesn't have that issue. They are lead by junior signal caller and Heisman frontrunner in quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater set the college football world on fire last season with his 68.5% completion percentage, 3,718 passing yards and 28 touchdowns to only 8 interceptions, capped off by his dissection of the very formidable Florida Gators defense in the Sugar Bowl.
But Bridgewater isn't the only talented player on this team. Senior running back Senorise Perry is the Cardinals returning leading rusher last season compiling 705 rushing yards on only 136 carries (a 5.2 yards per carry average) and scored 11 touchdowns. Dominique Brown and Corvin Brown also should contribute on the ground as well, potentially making Teddy Bridgewater's job a bit easier. Speaking of Bridgewater, the pass catchers on this team do not lack play making ability. Leading receiver DeVante Parker and his 744 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns are returning in 2013, as well as junior slot receiver Eli Rodgers who hauled in 46 passes for 505 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2012. Despite losing guys like Damian Copeland, Andrell Smith and Jeremy Wright to graduation, the Cardinals have young pass catchers like James Quick, Michaelee Harris and Martin Williams ready to step up and contribute in the passing game.
Defensively, Louisville is led by senior linebacker Preston Brown. Brown led the team in tackles in 2012 with 109 total tackles, 57 unassisted. Calvin Pryor helped out from his safety position last season with 100 total tackles, 2 interceptions, and 5 forced fumbles. Hakeem Smith and Keith Brown also are returning in 2013 to help bolster the secondary and linebacking corps as well. Lorenzo Mauldin and Marcus Smith lead the defensive line with 13.5 sacks and 3 forced fumbles between the two of them. With the leadership provided by Brown, Pryor and Smith each of the three position groups on the defense should provide the Cardinals with plenty of leads and with a safety like Pryor with a nose for the ball, quite a few short fields for Bridgewater and the offense.
Looking at the Cardinals' 2013 schedule they are set up very well right off the bat at making some noise and in turn giving the aforementioned Bridgewater a chance to potentially distance himself early in the Heisman race with home contests against the Ohio Bobcats and the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The Cardinals then make their first trip away from Cardinal Stadium on September 14th to face Kentucky before heading home to face Florida International. After a September 28th bye week they travel to Philadelphia to collide with the Temple Owls and then take on Rutgers and UCF at home before heading down south to face Central Florida. After a November 2nd bye week the Cardinals come into the home stretch of the season. On November 8th Bridgewater and the Cardinals head to East Hartford to face off with UConn and then host the Houston Cougars and then the Memphis Tigers in the home finale. After the final bye week they then head to Nippert Stadium to finish out the season with the Cincinnati Bearcats.
After looking at the 2013 schedule, another 11 win season is very possible, and quite honestly I don't see any team in the Big East or on the out of conference slate that can really test Bridgewater and the Cardinals this year and quite honestly, I predict that 4 or 5 of the Cardinals' victories are going to look very lopsided. I don't mean 28-13 lopsided either, I'm talking 48-10 lopsided, which would do a lot to help the Cardinals in the polls which we all know (whether we like it or not) is the biggest factor in who does and doesn't play in the BCS championship game. Much like many others, I see the Cardinals running away with the Big East this year and if a few chips fall the Cardinals' way, they could very well end up playing in the BCS National Championship come January.
- Josh Gamez
@itsjoshgamez
josh.projectcfb@gmail.com
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