Kragthorpe Previews Saturday's Homecoming Game Against Middle Tennessee
October 13, 2008 | Football
Oct. 13, 2008
- Gameday Central
Audio Clips
- All audio files require the latest version of the FREE Real Player.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville football head coach Steve Kragthorpe met with members of the media on Monday to preview this week's Homecoming game against Middle Tennessee. The Cards and Blue Raiders will meet on Saturday, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and the game will be televised locally by WHAS-TV.
The Cardinals, who were playing their first road game, hung on to defeat Memphis, 35-28, at the Liberty Bowl last Friday. Louisville was held to just 299 yards of total offense, but were the beneficiaries of three non-offensive scores. After Hunter Cantwell hit Trent Guy for a 43-yard touchdown strike to tie the score at 7-7, Memphis went ahead 14-7, but Guy returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 14-14. The Cardinals scored 14 answered points to go up 28-14 on a pass from Cantwell to Pete Nochta, and Brandon Heath returned a blocked field goal for a score as time expired in the first half.
Memphis rallied to score 14 straight points in the third quarter and tie the game at 28-28. Louisville scored the go-ahead touchdown with 12:00 minutes to play when Johnny Patrick scooped up a fumble and raced 21 yards for a touchdown. Cantwell was just 13-of-25 for 133 yards on the day with a pair of touchdown passes, but the Cardinals were able to just run 55 offensive plays. Red-shirt freshman Victor Anderson led the Cardinals in rushing with 81 yards on 15 carries.
The Cardinals and Blue Raiders will meet for the third straight season with the Cardinals winning the first two games. Louisville won 41-17 in 2006 in Nashville and held on for a 58-42 win last year at PJCS. Middle Tennessee is 2-4 after a 31-21 loss at Florida International last Saturday.
The Series - U of L and Middle Tennessee
Saturday's match-up against Middle Tennessee will be the third and final game in this three-game series. The Cardinals have won the first two meetings in the series, 41-17, in Nashville in 2006 and 58-42 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium last season.
GAME FACTS - Louisville (3-2) vs. Middle Tennessee (2-4)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 18
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Site: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (42,000), Louisville, Ky.
TV: WHAS-TV will televise the game with Ari Wolfe (play-by-play) and Doug James (analyst)
Radio: Paul Rogers and Craig Swabek will call all the action and Doug Ormay will report from the sidelines on WHAS 840 AM
Also: SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Ch. 126
Rankings: Neither team is ranked in this week's major college football polls.
Coaches: Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe is 38-30 in six seasons as a head coach and 8-8 in his second year at Louisville. Middle Tennessee's Rick Stockstill is 14-17 in his third season at Middle Tennessee.
