CardinalSports.com - Strong pleased with Saturday scrimmage

August 18, 2012

Howie Lindsey
CardinalSports.com Managing Editor

Louisville coach Charlie Strong was not pleased with his team's defense after last Saturday's scrimmage. What a difference a week makes. Strong spoke with CardinalSports.com and other reporters after Saturday's scrimmage.

"It was a very balanced scrimmage today," Strong said. "Guys came out and competed very well. You look at it, two weeks from tomorrow we will be playing that first game."

With the Sunday showdown with arch-rival Kentucky right around the corner, Strong and his coaching staff are feeling the time crunch.

"We are still nowhere near where we need to be," Strong said. "We still have a lot of work to do."

After the offense won last week's scrimmage, the coaching staff has been giving the defense grief for most of the week. The defense held its own Saturday.

"Offensively, the first unit on offense performed very well, the second unit needs to clean up some things, procedure penalties and five yard stuff," Strong said. "Defensively, the first unit performed very well and the second team made some plays for us as they were going up against the first offensive unit."

Several key contributors were held out of Saturday's scrimmage with minor injuries including all-conference safety Hakeem Smith and sophomore safety Calvin Pryor. Strong said there are some minor injuries, but the Cardinals are relatively healthy with two weeks left.

"Overall, I am very pleased with the scrimmage," Strong said. "We came away from it healthy. We do have some nicks and bruises, but e still have some time to get healthy."

Strong said he was pleased with the new AP poll that has Louisville ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 2007. He said it should be a source of pride for the team, and he hopes that pride will carry over to the campus and community.

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