NC STATE (1-3, 0-2) vs. LOUISVILLE (2-2, 0-1)
DATE: Saturday, September 29, 2007
TIME: Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. (EDT) at Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (57,500)
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network: 2:30 p.m. (EDT)
TELEVISION: espn2
OPPONENTThe defending Orange Bowl champs have a new coach, but their offense looks like the same old powerhouse. Under Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville is averaging a whopping 50 points and leads the nation in total offense at 620 yards a game. Brian Brohm is among the nation’s elite quarterbacks.
Naturally, preseason expectations were just as high as the Cardinals high octane attack. But, after back to back losses to Kentucky (34-40) and Syracuse (35-38) Louisville has dropped out of the Top-20 and fans are upset. Kragthorpe is the target of most of the heat.
All of a sudden, the Cardinals season may be at a crossroads.
Last Saturday’s home loss to Syracuse, a 36 point underdog, was especially disturbing. Brohm completed 45-of-65 passes for a career-high 555 yards and four scores for Louisville, but the Cardinals' defense allowed the Orange - which entered the game ranked near the bottom of the nation offensively - to pile up 465 yards and make several big plays.
U of L had absolutely no answer for Andrew Robinson. The Syracuse quarterback threw for a career-high 423 yards and four touchdownsincluding two scoring strikes to Taj Smith.
The Orange took the lead with a big play and never let up as Robinson hit Smith for a 79-yard touchdown. The play mirrored Louisville's defensive struggles all season, as Smith was wide open at midfield and ran untouched to the end zone.
By halftime, the Syracuse lead was 21-7 thanks to a 93-yard kickoff return by Max Suter and a 42-yard pass from Robinson to Da'Mon Merkerson. The Cardinals were never able to climb out of that deep hole.
Syracuse had 234 yards of total offense in the first half, 35 more than the Orange had been averaging for an entire game. The 38 points scored by the Orange were more than they had in their first three games combined.
After building a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, Syracuse committed two turnovers in the final minutes allowing the Cards to get within three with 56 seconds left.
Louisville, as usual, had little trouble moving the ball and compiled 628 yards of offense. However, several drives stalled in Syracuse territory and the Orange defense recovered two fumbles and picked Brohm off twice.
Defensive lapses and turnovers weren’t the Cardinals only problems. They committed 12 penalties for 105 yards and sliced punts of 11 and seven yards while losing for the first time in 21 games at home.
Brohm, a third-year starter who was the Orange Bowl MVP, could be the nation’s top quarterback. The 6-4 senior has pro scouts drooling. Brohm has recorded seven straight 300-yard passing games and ranks second in the NCAA in passing (424), third in total offense (428) and eighth in passing efficiency. He’s completing nearly 68 percent of his passes for 15 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions.
Hunter Cantwell, Brohm’s backup, isn’t bad either. The junior has plenty of experience and a 3-1 career record when pressed into duty as a starter.
Top targets for Brohm are senior Henry Douglas, a first-team All Big East selection in ’06 and junior Mario Urrutia. Douglas (38 catches) has been unstoppable lately. He ranks third in the country in receiving yards per game (170) with five touchdowns and is coming off a 12-catch, 205-yard performance against Syracuse.
Kragthorpe says Douglas, who was carted off the field late in last Saturday’s game will be ready to play against NC State.
Urrutia is big (6-6, 228) and he can make big plays, but lately he’s struggled with drops and penalties. Against Syracuse, Urrutia had 8 catches for 81 yards, but he hurt Louisville with two 15-yard penalties. Kragthorp says this week’s starter at Urrutia’s position will be determined in practice.
Louisville offensive coordinator Charlie Stubbs loves to use the tight end and the Cardinals have two good ones in Gary Barnidge and Scott Kuhn. Both saw action as true freshmen and have been playing ever since. Barnidge has 16 catches five of them for touchdowns.
Protecting Brohm is a solid offensive line that has allowed only 4 sacks. It returns three starters, including center Eric Wood and left tackle George Bussey. They earned first team All-Big East honors in ’06.
At first glance there’s a tendency to believe that Louisville is a throw-first team, but the Cardinals can get it done on the ground. They run 47 percent of the time, average 191 yards a game and have 10 rushing touchdowns. The featured back is Anthony Allen. The sophomore was used near the goal line last season and capitalized for 13 touchdowns. This season, Allen is by far U of L’s leading rusher, averaging 123 yards a game and 6.3 yards a carry.
The Cardinals can throw a knockout punch on offense, but the other side of the ball is a different story. Louisville is allowing nearly 33 points and more than 438 yards a game, including 155 on the ground.
Getting pressure on the opposing quarterback has been a problem. Louisville had only 5 sacks and no quarterback hurries.
Needless to say, replacing first-round NFL draft pick Amobi Okoye and defensive end Zack Anderson has not been easy for Louisville. Junior tackle Earl Heyman is talented, but he’s the only man up front who is not a first-year starter.
The Cardinals also lost two starting linebackers from the ’06 squad, but senior Malik Jackson is back. The senior was a second-team All-Big East selection and recorded 9 sacks last season. The other outside linebacker is Preston Smith who was a spot-starter ’06. In the middle is redshirt junior Lamar Myles, a fierce hitter who leads the team in tackles (39) and sacks (2).
Taking the biggest hit was the secondary. Three starters departed, two for the NFL, leaving only junior cornerback Rod Council, a third-year starter from North Carolina’s West Charlotte High School, as the dean of the group. The other corner, Woodny Turenne, was the nation’s top ranked junior college player in ’06 and has been clocked at 4.28 in the 40-yard dash.
Junior safety, Richard Raglin, was destined for back-up duty for a second-straight year until a knee injury knocked talented sophomore Latarrius Thomas out for the season. Free safety has been a problem. Redshirt freshman, Brandon Heath, is the third player to get a start at that position this season.
Louisville has allowed at least one touchdown pass of more than 50 yards in each game and given up a total of 1129 yards through the air.
While the defense has struggled, the Cardinals are in pretty good shape on special teams. Senior Art Carmody won the Lou Groza Award in ’06 and is one of the nation’s best kickers. He’s made 51-of-61 career field goal attempts, including 4-of-5 this season. Beyond 40-yards, he’s a career 12-of-13.
Carmody needs just one extra point to break the NCAA record and he’s 45 points away from passing Houston's Roman Anderson as the NCAA's leading scorer. Carmody has 379 career points.
Punting has been inconsistent. Sophomore Cory Goettsche and senior Todd Flannery average less than 33 yards per attempt, so this week’s starter will be determined in practice. Louisville’s net punting average is only 29-yards.
Two sophomores, JaJuan Spillman and Trent Guy, are dangerous in the return game. Guy has returned both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns this season.
NOTES: Saturday’s game will be only the third in the series and Louisville’s first trip to Raleigh. The Cardinals beat the Pack 35-14 in 1994 and 26-2 in 1951...Darrell Blackman leads the ACC in all-purpose yards, averaging 180 a gamethat ranks 17th nationally. Blackman’s 99-yards kickoff return for a TD last week vs. Clemson was the longest in school history...State has thrown an interception on its opening drive in 3 of its 4 games this season...The Pack is averaging only 103 rushing yards a game, but is allowing opponents 247 yards on the ground. Clemson rushed for 340 yards last week against the Pack...State ranks No.2 in the ACC in pass defense (161) and held one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, BC’s Matt Ryan, to only 142 yards in a loss on Sept. 8th...Harrison Beck will make his fourth college start Saturday at quarterback for the Wolfpack. The Nebraska transfer is 1-2 as a starter, but played only 10 snaps against Clemson before a knee injury forced him to the sidelines...The Wolfpack’s last overtime game was a 27-21 win at home over Wake Forest in 2004...State is 6-4 in overtime games...NC State has scored in 143 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in ACC history...Senior linebacker Ernest Jones leads the Pack in tackles, averaging nearly 11 stops a game...Wolfpack defensive linemen Willie Young and Ted Larsen each have 4 quarterback pressures in 4 gamesa team best...The Pack has broken up 28 passes this season, but has only one interception...Louisville is converting 54 percent of its third down attempts and has scored 23-of-24 times in the Red Zone this season with 19 touchdowns....The Cardinals are averaging nearly 80 offensive snaps a game compared to the Wolfpack’s 70.5...Louisville is averaging nearly 10 penalties a game for 85 yards...State is averaging 6.5 penalties per game for 59 yards. The Cardinals have a minus-one turnover margin. State’s turnover margin is minus-9...Louisville’s Harry Douglas has recorded at least 100-yards in receiving in seven straight games.
INJURIES--NC State: S Miguel Scott (oblique strain)-questionable; OT Jeraill McCuller (knee)-out; FB Pat Bedics (knee)-questionable; DT John Bedics (ankle)-out; RB Toney Baker (knee)--out for season; TE Anthony Hill (knee)-out for season; FB John Kane (concussion)-out for season; TE Rashad Phillips (rehab from auto accident)-out for season. Louisville: RB Brock Bolin probable; RB Sergio Spencer-questionable; WR Harry Douglas-probable.
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