Post by elp525 on Nov 4, 2011 4:22:00 GMT -5
November 3, 2011
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN -- It was after Louisville's sixth game -- and fourth loss -- of the season when Coach Charlie Strong had seen enough.
His offense had gone three straight games without scoring more than 16 points. His special teams were OK, but nothing to write home about. His defense was playing exceptionally well, but was getting no support.
What the Louisville coach did was not unconventional by any means. He began calling players into his office for one-on-one meetings.
Since that time the Cardinals have won two games in a row. All from a good talking-to?
"Well, the younger players are growing up, but we're beginning to execute and we're playing,'' Strong said. "I told our players in those meetings, 'You've tried it your way, now let's try it our way. We know how to coach, but you've tried doing it your way and it isn't working. So do it our way.'
"But the players are beginning to develop some trust in one another and some confidence. And it was also good that these two games were at home because we haven't defended our home stadium very well. The true test is when we go on the road to West Virginia.''
The bottom line for the Cardinals is that they are going through some growing pains.
Strong is in his second season, his first with what amounts to more than a handful of players he recruited. And he's playing the guys he recruited. Louisville has four freshmen starting on offense and three on defense. On the team's two-deep -- and Strong tends to use those on the two-deep -- there are freshmen and sophomores in every area.
And that includes quarterback, where true freshman Teddy Bridgewater will make his sixth start when the Cardinals play at West Virginia on Saturday.
"We have some young guys ourselves that we expect to keep getting better. But they play a lot more freshmen than we do,'' West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen said. "They start four true freshmen on defense, three true freshmen on offense and five or six others that play.
"Those are all key guys for a quarterback. There's more and more timing than they had earlier in the year. They're a deeper football team than we are. Due to the fact that they're young and they're playing, they're probably going to get better.''
It appears that's exactly the case. After suffering through a 2-4 start, Louisville has come up with back-to-back wins over Rutgers and Syracuse. The defense continues to impress, ranking first in the Big East and near the top 10 in the nation in total defense (No. 12) and points allowed (No. 11).
But it is the offense that is making the difference.
The yards and the points aren't dramatically different than they were earlier in the season, but the Cardinals are much more efficient. They turned the ball over eight times in the first five games and just twice in the last three. Louisville isn't making big mistakes and that's keeping them in games and allowing the defense to win them.
"They're getting better. They've made some changes. It goes back to their young guys and they're playing a bunch of people early,'' Holgorsen said. "They didn't have as much success as they wanted, so they made some changes. Since they've done that, they've been a little more efficient. They may not put up big numbers or big points, but they're more efficient.''
Much of that has to do with Bridgewater, a highly recruited, 6-foot-3, 205-pounder from Miami. Against Rutgers he avoided being sacked by what was then the team that ranked No. 3 in the nation in sacks. He completed his first seven passes against Syracuse last week and the Cards jumped to a big early lead.
"He's got the ability to make a play,'' Holgorsen said. "He's like Geno (Smith, WVU's junior quarterback) was two years ago, growing into himself and learning. He's talented and has a good arm. He has the ability to get out of it and run down the field.
"He's developing a pretty good rapport with the guys around him. He's throwing it to about eight different guys. It's a familiarity with the offense and sitting in the pocket or being able to make a play with his feet when things break down.''
By Dave Hickman
The Charleston Gazette
MORGANTOWN -- It was after Louisville's sixth game -- and fourth loss -- of the season when Coach Charlie Strong had seen enough.
His offense had gone three straight games without scoring more than 16 points. His special teams were OK, but nothing to write home about. His defense was playing exceptionally well, but was getting no support.
What the Louisville coach did was not unconventional by any means. He began calling players into his office for one-on-one meetings.
Since that time the Cardinals have won two games in a row. All from a good talking-to?
"Well, the younger players are growing up, but we're beginning to execute and we're playing,'' Strong said. "I told our players in those meetings, 'You've tried it your way, now let's try it our way. We know how to coach, but you've tried doing it your way and it isn't working. So do it our way.'
"But the players are beginning to develop some trust in one another and some confidence. And it was also good that these two games were at home because we haven't defended our home stadium very well. The true test is when we go on the road to West Virginia.''
The bottom line for the Cardinals is that they are going through some growing pains.
Strong is in his second season, his first with what amounts to more than a handful of players he recruited. And he's playing the guys he recruited. Louisville has four freshmen starting on offense and three on defense. On the team's two-deep -- and Strong tends to use those on the two-deep -- there are freshmen and sophomores in every area.
And that includes quarterback, where true freshman Teddy Bridgewater will make his sixth start when the Cardinals play at West Virginia on Saturday.
"We have some young guys ourselves that we expect to keep getting better. But they play a lot more freshmen than we do,'' West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen said. "They start four true freshmen on defense, three true freshmen on offense and five or six others that play.
"Those are all key guys for a quarterback. There's more and more timing than they had earlier in the year. They're a deeper football team than we are. Due to the fact that they're young and they're playing, they're probably going to get better.''
It appears that's exactly the case. After suffering through a 2-4 start, Louisville has come up with back-to-back wins over Rutgers and Syracuse. The defense continues to impress, ranking first in the Big East and near the top 10 in the nation in total defense (No. 12) and points allowed (No. 11).
But it is the offense that is making the difference.
The yards and the points aren't dramatically different than they were earlier in the season, but the Cardinals are much more efficient. They turned the ball over eight times in the first five games and just twice in the last three. Louisville isn't making big mistakes and that's keeping them in games and allowing the defense to win them.
"They're getting better. They've made some changes. It goes back to their young guys and they're playing a bunch of people early,'' Holgorsen said. "They didn't have as much success as they wanted, so they made some changes. Since they've done that, they've been a little more efficient. They may not put up big numbers or big points, but they're more efficient.''
Much of that has to do with Bridgewater, a highly recruited, 6-foot-3, 205-pounder from Miami. Against Rutgers he avoided being sacked by what was then the team that ranked No. 3 in the nation in sacks. He completed his first seven passes against Syracuse last week and the Cards jumped to a big early lead.
"He's got the ability to make a play,'' Holgorsen said. "He's like Geno (Smith, WVU's junior quarterback) was two years ago, growing into himself and learning. He's talented and has a good arm. He has the ability to get out of it and run down the field.
"He's developing a pretty good rapport with the guys around him. He's throwing it to about eight different guys. It's a familiarity with the offense and sitting in the pocket or being able to make a play with his feet when things break down.''
