CardinalSports.com - Cards head south for USF matchup

November 20, 2009

Matt Willinger
CardinalSports.com Staff Writer

Louisville (4-6, 1-4) at South Florida (6-3, 2-3)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Noon
Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium (65,857)
TV: BIG EAST Network
(WHAS-TV in Louisville)
Radio: WHAS (840 AM)
Series History: Series tied 3-3

Setting the Stage
The University of Louisville football team, coming off a hard-fought 10-9 win over Syracuse last Saturday, returns to the road for a BIG EAST Conference game against the Bulls of South Florida on Saturday, Nov. 21. The game, which kicks off at Noon, will be televised regionally by the BIG EAST Television Network as Mike Gleason (play-by-play), John Congemi (color) and Quint Kessenich (sideline) will have the call.

The Cardinals are coming off its first league win, while USF is coming off its third league loss. Louisville defeated Syracuse at home to snap its nine-game BIG EAST losing streak, while the Bulls fell at Rutgers 31-0 at Rutgers Stadium.

It was the Cardinals first league win since a 24-20 win over 14th-ranked South Florida on Oct. 25, 2008. The Cardinals needed some late-game heroics to pull off their first league win. Trailing 9-3 with 3:14 to play, the Cardinals drove 45 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown when junior quarterback Adam Froman connected with Josh Chichester on a 15-yard scoring strike with 1:24 to play to take the lead. Andrew Robinson sealed the Orange's fate when he intercepted Greg Paulus' pass at the Louisville 43-yard line with 1:00 to play in the contest.

The Bulls and Cardinals will meet for just the seventh time in the series with the series deadlocked at 3-3. Under head coach Steve Kragthorpe, the Cardinals are 1-1 after a 24-20 win over the 14th-ranked Bulls at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium last season. Louisville is 0-3 all-time at Raymond James Stadium.

Series History

This will be the seventh meeting between the two schools and the fourth as members of the BIG EAST Conference.

The series is tied at 3-3, with each team winning three games on their home fi eld. Louisville is 0-3 all-time at Raymond James Stadium.

The series began in 2003 with a 31-28 double-overtime win for the Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.

Louisville's first win in the series came in 2004 with a 41-9 win at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Last Meeting vs. South Florida
Hunter Cantwell threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Scott Long, their second scoring connection of the game, with 7:07 left in the fourth quarter and Louisville upset penalty-plagued South Florida 24-20. The 14th-ranked Bulls committed 14 penalties for 109 yards, including a defensive holding on a missed field goal by Louisville that would have given USF the ball back late in the fourth quarter. South Florida's Matt Grothe threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns, but he also was picked off twice. His fourth-quarter interception gave the Cardinals the ball at USF 27 and allowed the Cardinals to run out the clock. Cantwell threw for 212 yards and ran in Louisville's other touchdown from the 1. Long caught five passes for a career-high 134 yards and two scores in the upset win over the Bulls.

South Florida Offense Quick Notes

Quarterback B.J. Daniels leads the Bulls in rushing with 530 yards and is tied for the team lead with four scores.

Daniels, who took over for the injured Matt Grothe, averages 195.0 yards of total offense this season

The Bulls are averaging 15.2 yards a completion and have 16 passing touchdowns.

Carlton Mitchell has caught 29 passes for 542 yards and four touchdowns... Mitchell averages 18.7 yards a reception.

The Bulls rank 71st in the nation in total offense (359.56) and 50th in rushing offense (162.56)... The Bulls were shutout for the first time in their history in the 31-0 loss to Rutgers last Thursday night on ESPN.

South Florida Defense Quick Notes

South Florida's defense is ranked 23rd in the nation, allowing just 19.11 points per game, but have allowed three teams to score 30 or more points.

USF is yielding just 319.89 yards of total offense this season, which ranks 27th in the country.

The Bulls have recorded 11 interceptions this season with Nate Allen and Jerome Murphy each recording three picks apiece.

USF allows just 3.8 yards a carry on the ground and just 11.0 yards per completion.

Linebacker Kion Wilson leads the Bulls with 79 tackles... The Bulls are yielding just 15.0 at home this season.

Cardinals in the BIG EAST

Since joining the BIG EAST Conference in 2005, the Cardinals are 16-17 overall. Louisville went 5-2 in 2005; 6-1 in 2006; 3-4 in 2007; 1-6 in 2008 and 1-4 in 20 09.

Louisville won the 2006 BIG EAST title after going 6-1 and earning the league's automatic bid to the BCS game. Louisville defeated Wake Forest 24-13 in the 2007 Orange Bowl.

Louisville advanced to the 2006 Gator Bowl after going 5-2 in the league, but did fall to Virginia Tech 35-24 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Head coach Steve Kragthorpe is 5-14 all-time in BIG EAST Conference play.

Kragthorpe on the Road

The Cardinals have struggled the last three seasons on the road, 3-12 away from home under Steve Kragthorpe.

The Cardinals have lost eight in a row on the road after a 17-9 loss at West Virginia.

The Cardinals last road win was a 35-28 decision against Memphis on Oct. 10, 2008.

The Cardinals have been out-scored 157-85 on the road this season, including 45-7 in the first quarter and 44-16 in the third.

Louisville is averaging just 17.0 points per game on the road, including just 193.2 yards through the air and 334.4 yards of total offense.

Froman First to Two

Junior Adam Froman, returned to the starting lineup against Syracuse and became the first quarterback to win two games as the starter, improving his record to 2-3 as a starter.

He was the starter for the Cardinals in a win over Southern Mississippi and last weekend versus Syracuse.

In five games as a starter, Froman is 71-for-115 for 868 yards and a team-high four touchdown passes. He is also completing a team-best 61.7 percent of his throws and owns a team-best 129.66 passing efficiency rating.

In his two wins this season, Froman has completed 23-of-44 passes for 365 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. He is completing just 52.3 percent of his throws.

While in the three losses, he has actually put up better numbers, going 48-of-71 for 503 yards and a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. He is completing 67.6 percent of his passes in those three losses as a starter.

Wanted: Scoring

The Cardinals have to find a way to get into the end zone. Louisville is averaging just 18.1 points per game, which sits at 109th in the country.

Louisville has scored 21 or fewer points in six of the 10 games this season and are on pace to score just 217 points, which would be the lowest since the Cardinals totaled just 182 during the 1996 season.

The Cardinals have scored just 31 points in the first quarter all season, which is an average of just 3.1 points this season in that quarter.

Raymond James House of Horrors

The Cardinals are 0-3 all-time Raymond James Stadium and have been embarrassed in their last two trips to Tampa.

Louisville lost to the Bulls 55-17 in 2007, turning the football over seven times. The Cardinals trailed the Bulls 41-10 at the half.

Ranked eighth in the country in 2005, the Cardinals were blasted 45-14 in their first-ever BIG EAST Conference game. Louisville turned the football over three times and were down 24-7 at the half. Chad Simpson returned a kickoff 94 yards to start the second half to put the Cardinals away.

Louisville lost its first visit to RJS in 2003 and were defeated 31-28 in double-overtime.

FEATURED PRODUCT