Defense Shines in Final Tuneup Before Spring Game
April 13, 2002 | Football
April 13, 2002
Hours after personally handing out 20 dozen doughnuts to the hordes of fans who were camped outside of Papa John's Cardinal Stadium waiting to buy season tickets, head coach John L. Smith and his University of Louisville football team took the field for their final scrimmage before the spring game on April 20.
Defense continued to be the name of the game for the Cardinals in their final tune-up of the spring campaign as both quarterbacks and running backs alike were under constant pressure from a relentless defensive front. Devon Thomas, Marcus Jones and Dewayne White led the way with two sacks apiece, while Chad Rimpsey, Chad Pinkston, Rod Day and Bobby Leffew each logged one.
Quarterback Dave Ragone completed 11-of-23 passes for 129 yards, including a 43-yard scoring strike to Antoine Harris, was sacked four times and had one pass picked off by Michael Brown. Stefan LeFors was 1-for-6 on the day and was intercepted by Anthony Floyd but did scramble 23 yards for a score. Adam Ellis completed 11-of-21 passes for 54 yards and an 8-yard touchdown passes to tight end Richard Owens.
Harris led all receivers with his nifty 43-yard touchdown catch, while J.R. Russell hauled in two catches for 16 yards, Victor Glenn had two catches for 22 yards and Tiger Jones pulled down three balls for 19 yards and threw a key block of Harris' 43-yard touchdown catch. A vocal leader among the wideouts, senior Damien Dorsey logged three catches for 28 yards while tight end Ronnie Ghent notched three catches for 33 yards including an acrobatic 17-yard snare from Ragone. Fellow tight end Tone' Slatter added a reception while Owens pulled down two balls, one for a touchdown.
Running back T.J. Patterson ran the ball seven times for 17 yards against the No. 1 defense while Florida State transfer Eric Shelton logged seven carries for 32 yards playing against the reserves.
One week after returning a pair of 95-yard kickoffs for touchdowns, redshirt freshman Broderick Clark put on another special teams performance as he scampered for returns of 95 (TD), 77, 37 and 26 yards on the day. Not to be outdone on special teams, kicker Wade Tydlacka excelled in the punting game, averaging 44 yards on seven punts, including two which he dropped on the one-yard line.
