Cardinals And Rams Set For Liberty Bowl
December 28, 2000 | Football
Dec. 28, 2000
By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Colorado State Rams can be forgiven if holding on to the ball seems to be their top priority.
The No. 23 Rams won the Mountain West Conference despite an average of two turnovers. That tendency could be a problem if it persists Friday against No. 22 Louisville in the Liberty Bowl.
The rankings are not the only similarities between the teams. Both have potent offenses and strong defenses.
About the only difference is Louisville's ability to strip opponents of the ball. The Cardinals have forced 38 turnovers, better than every Division I-A team but Florida.
Louisville coach John L. Smith, an old friend of Colorado State counterpart Sonny Lubick from coaching against him for years, doesn't expect the Rams to hurt themselves by losing the ball. Lubick hopes Smith is right.
"That will be critical," Lubick said. "Turnovers change the course of a ball game."
If they hold on to the ball, it could be a shootout.
Louisville (9-2) won the Conference USA championship, its first league title since sharing the Missouri Valley crown in 1972, and didn't falter this season with left-handed sophomore Dave Ragone replacing Chris Redman. The Cardinals had the top scoring offense in C-USA, averaging 35.3 points.
Colorado State (9-2) averaged 31 points with Matt Newton, the Mountain West's co-offensive player of the year, at quarterback. He has started 23 straight games and has the Rams back in the Liberty Bowl for a second straight year.
Colorado State topped 30 points or more six times, while Louisville did it in each of its victories.
Ragone has completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,621 yards. With 27 TD passes, he was one of only six Division I-A quarterbacks to throw more than 25.
The Cardinals' defense is ranked 15th nationally, allowing 304.1 yards a game. Colorado State is 31st, permitting 328.1.
Louisville, playing in its fifth bowl game overall and third straight for the first time in school history, hasn't won in the postseason since 1993, when it beat Michigan State in the Liberty Bowl.
The Cardinals easily will have the home-field advantage. Louisville estimated at least 27,000 tickets have been sold to its fans from both the school and the bowl.
The Rams are playing their sixth bowl game since 1990 and seventh overall. But they had sold only 3,300 tickets earlier this week.
That doesn't matter to the Rams, who want to atone for last year's 23-17 loss to Southern Mississippi in this bowl.
"There's a real sense this time of, 'Hey, let's go out and win this thing,' " said Rams tight end Corey Woolstenhulme. "There's a determination to go out there and do it."
Both coaches just want to have fun here, and Lubick, 1-3 in bowl games at Colorado State, hasn't applied the pressure in this one sponsored by AXA Financial Group.
"You'd still love to win the game," Lubick said. "That's what we're playing for. But go out and have fun. I want our players to enjoy the experience,"
That's what Smith likes most about bowl games and why he prefers the current system to the idea of a playoff.
"The more rewards you can give kids, the better." he said. "You've had success, now you guys get a reward."
