Cardinals and Cavaliers clash in ACC affair

Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) – The 21st-ranked Louisville Cardinals get back to work in the ACC, as they hit the road for the first time this season with a conference showdown with the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium on Saturday.

Bobby Petrino’s second stint with the Cardinals has gotten off to a fast start. The team played its first game as an ACC member in the opener and quickly moved to 1-0 in conference play with a 31-13 win over Miami-Florida. Louisville was home again last weekend and made light work of Murray State in a 66-21 rout.

Petrino is eager to see his team on the road.

“We are looking forward to seeing how we travel,” said Petrino. “It will be the first time we get to travel together and make sure it is a business trip, being able to stay focused and then deal with the crowd noise offensively and defensively so it will be a good challenge on the road against a team that I think is playing well and look very, very well coached.”

Mike London may be on the hottest seat in the ACC, as the Cavaliers have failed to make any significant move in the right direction under his tutelage. That may be changing this season as Virginia has played well in the early going, dropping a close affair to then No. 7 UCLA in the season opener (28-20), before blasting Richmond a week later (45-13). The win over the Spiders brought an end to a 10-game losing streak for Virginia, its longest since the 1980-81 seasons.

London hopes there is more wins to come.

“I am in it for the development of the players, on the field, in the classroom and in the community. When you see success on the field because of individual and collective efforts, you are very proud. I am very proud of the team and the effort. And now we’re ready to continue to get better and take another step forward. When it all comes together, it is gratifying to see that the effort by the players and coaches ends up with a victory. It feels good to win. Obviously we want to get used to this feeling and we want to have this feeling a lot.”

This series is all tied up at 1-1. Each team has won a matchup at home, although this marks the first meeting since 1989.

Louisville had its way with Murray State last time out, gaining 6-3 yards of total offense, including 325 on the ground. Freshman tailback L.J. Scott had 126 yards and one score on just 11 carries, while sophomore Brandon Radcliff added 97 yards and two TDs to the mix.

With the offensive eruption against the Racers, Louisville’s stats are a little skewed, with the team putting up 48.5 points per game, on 469.5 yards of total offense.

Sophomore QB Will Gardner has had the unenviable task of replacing Teddy Bridgewater under center. He played sparingly in last week’s lopsided affair, but has completed 66 percent of his throws in the early going, for 339 yards, with four TDs and no interceptions.

The team has been short one superstar with a leg injury to wideout DeVante Parker, but senior WR Eli Rogers (10 rec, 110 yds) and senior TE Gerald Christian (9 rec, 91 yds, 2 TDs) have stepped up.

The ground game, which now churns out 227.5 yards per game is fueled by senior RB Dominique Brown (183 yards, 2 TDs), with Scott and Radcliff providing Brown a breather at times.

The Cardinals lost a couple of All-Americans to the NFL this season, but the squad has seemed to hold its own in the first two games. Louisville has been particularly strong against the run, allowing just 55.0 yards per game. The team has just three sacks in the first two games, but has forced four turnovers.

Junior safety James Sample has nine tackles and one interception and is joined by sophomore linebacker Keith Kelsey (nine tackles, one fumble recovery) and junior linebacker James Burgess (nine tackles, two TFL) atop the tackles list for the Cardinals.

The Virginia offense is not a juggernaut by any stretch of the imagination, but the team has done some nice things thus far, resulting in 32.5 points per game on 358.0 yards of total offense.

The passing game, led by sophomore QB Greyson Lambert, is responsible for 219.5 yards per game. The 6-5, 235-pound youngster has completed an impressive 76.5 percent of his throws in the first two games, for 214 yards and one TD. Matt John’s has seen time under center as well, completing 58.6 percent of his passes, for 219 yards and three TDs.

Taquan Mizzell hasn’t started a game yet, but leads the team with 11 receptions. However, it is Darius Jennings (7 rec, 118 yds, 1 TD) and Canaan Severin (7 rec, 88 yds, 2 TDs) who have provided the bigger plays.

The ground attack, which was a strength for Virginia a year ago with All-ACC tailback Kevin Parks leading the way, has struggled early on. Now a senior, Parks is off to a slow start, with just 107 yards on 30 carries, with one TD.

The Cavaliers have played extremely well on defense. Foes have had some success throwing the football at 302.5 ypg, but it has come at a cost, with Virginia recording a whopping nine sacks. With seven forced turnovers against Richmond, the Cavs now have nine on the season. In addition, Virginia’s defense has allowed just two offensive touchdowns this season.

Petrino is aware of Virginia’s propensity for big plays on defense.

“The big part of it is the pressure on the quarterback, they really rush the quarterback,”Petrino said. They come off the ball hard. They have two really active defensive ends and a couple good guys inside that push the pocket so most of their turnovers have come as a result of pressuring the quarterback and either the quarterback fumbling the ball or having to throw under pressure and have an interception.”

The linebacking corps has been very active, led by seniors Henry Coley (team- high 22 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks. 2 forced fumbles) and Daquan Romero (20 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery) and sophomore Max Valles (team-high 3.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery). All-American Anthony Harris (16 tackles) headlines the play in the secondary, while junior end Eli Harold (3.0 TFL, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery) is the player to watch along the front line.

Categorized in: NCAA Football