Kragthorpe Previews Saturday's Game at West Virginia
November 02, 2009 | Football
Nov. 2, 2009
- Gameday Central
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville football head coach Steve Kragthorpe and redshirt freshman quarterback Will Stein met with reporters on Monday to preview Saturday's BIG EAST Conference road game at West Virginia. The Cardinals and Mountaineers are scheduled to kick off at noon ET at Milan Puskar Stadium and the game will be televised by the BIG EAST Network on WHAS-TV.
The Cardinals snapped a two-game losing streak last Saturday with a solid 21-13 win over Arkansas State at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. It was the Cardinals' second-straight win at home and moved them to 3-1 on the year. The Cardinals' defense held the Red Wolves on fourth and goal from the 14-yard line to preserve the win. Corey Leonard's pass to Trevor Gillott went incomplete on fourth down to end the game. Leonard threw for 303 yards, but the Red Wolves were held to just 45 yards on the ground.
Louisville received their first defensive score of the season when Brandon Heath picked off a pass and raced 25 yards for his second career touchdown. Starting their third different quarterback of the year, the Cardinals snapped their losing streak behind the solid play of Stein, who was 20-of-39 for 232 yards. Stein started in place of junior Adam Froman and Justin Burke, who were out with injuries.
Louisville, who was ravaged by injuries, played without leading rusher Victor Anderson, but received solid performances from Bilal Powell and Darius Ashley. Powell carried 17 times for 93 yards, while Ashley rushed 13 times for a career-high 77 yards and his first two touchdowns. Ashley put the Cardinals on the board first with an impressive 26-yard run in the first quarter. He added a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
West Virginia enters the game with a 6-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the BIG EAST after a 30-19 loss to South Florida last Friday.
The Series - U of L and West Virginia
The Cardinals and Mountaineers will meet for the 11th time in school history when the two teams face off on Saturday. The Mountaineers own an 8-2 series advantage and have won the last two meetings. Louisville's last win was a 44-34 victory at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in 2006, while the Cards' last win in Morgantown was a 9-7 triumph in 1990.
GAME FACTS - Louisville (3-5, 0-3) at West Virginia (6-2, 2-1)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
Time: Noon ET
Site: Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000), Morgantown, W.Va.
TV: BIG EAST Network (WHAS-TV) will televise the game with Mike Gleason (play-by-play) and John Congemi (analyst)
Radio: Paul Rogers (play-by-play) and Craig Swabek (analyst) will call all the action and Doug Ormay will report from the sidelines on WKRD 790 AM
Also: SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Ch. 158
Rankings: Both Louisville and West Virginia are unranked in this week's AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll.
Coaches: Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe is 14-18 in his third season as the Cardinals' head coach. He went 6-6 in 2007 and 5-7 in 2008. He is 43-40 all-time in his eighth season overall. West Virginia's Bill Stewart is 16-6 in two seasons as the head coach at West Virginia and is 22-31 in six seasons overall.
