Kragthorpe, Players Preview Saturday's Game at USF
November 16, 2009 | Football
Nov. 16, 2009
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville football head coach Steve Kragthorpe, junior quarterback Adam Froman and senior safety Chaz Thompson met with reporters on Monday to preview Saturday's BIG EAST Conference road game at USF. The Cardinals and Bulls are scheduled to kick off at noon ET at Raymond James Stadium and the game will be televised by the BIG EAST Network on WHAS-TV.
Louisville defeated Syracuse at home to snap its nine-game BIG EAST losing streak, while the Bulls fell at Rutgers 31-0 at Rutgers Stadium. It was the Cardinals first league win since a 24-20 win over 14th-ranked South Florida on Oct. 25, 2008.
The Cardinals needed some late-game heroics to pull off their first league win. Trailing 9-3 with 3:14 to play, the Cardinals drove 45 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown when junior quarterback Adam Froman connected with Josh Chichester on a 15-yard scoring strike with 1:24 to play to take the lead. Andrew Robinson sealed the Orange's fate when he intercepted Greg Paulus' pass at the Louisville 43-yard line with 1:00 to play in the contest.
The Cardinals couldn't get anything going offensively on the afternoon, being held to a season-low 151 yards of total offense. Louisville was held to just 34 yards rushing on 35 carries. Darius Ashley led the way with 14 carries for 46 yards, while Trent Guy set up Louisville on special teams with 137 yards on returns, including a 44-yard punt return to help set up the winning score. He had a 96-yard punt return called back when a review showed his knee was down.
The Louisville defense rose to the occassion for the second straight week, limiting the Orange to 266 yards of total offense and forcing a pair of turnovers. Senior Chris Campa recorded a career-high 15 tackles and had a pair of sacks. He also forced a fumble.
USF enters the game with a 6-3 overall record and 2-3 mark in the BIG EAST after a 31-0 loss to Rutgers last Thursday.
The Series - U of L and West Virginia
The Cardinals and Bulls will meet for just the seventh time in school history when the two teams square off on Saturday with the series tied at 3-3. Under head coach Steve Kragthorpe, the Cardinals are 1-1 after a 24-20 win over the 14th-ranked Bulls at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium last season. Louisville is 0-3 all-time at Raymond James Stadium.
GAME FACTS - Louisville (4-6, 1-4) vs. USF (6-3, 2-3)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
Time: Noon ET
Site: Raymond James Stadium (65,857), Tampa, Fla.
TV: BIG EAST Network (WHAS-TV) will televise the game with Mike Gleason (play-by-play), John Congemi (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline)
Radio: Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Craig Swabek (analyst) will call all the action and Doug Ormay will report from the sidelines on WHAS 840 AM
Also: SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Ch. 158, XM Satellite Radio, Ch. 203
Rankings: Both Louisville and USF are unranked in this week's AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll.
Coaches: Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe is 15-19 in his third season as the Cardinals' head coach. He went 6-6 in 2007 and 5-7 in 2008. He is 44-41 all-time in his eighth season overall. USF's Jim Leavitt is 93-55 in his 13th season as the head coach of the Bulls. He is the lone head coach in the history of the South Florida program.
