Cardinals Break Camp with Second Scrimmage
August 18, 2012 | Football
Aug. 18, 2012
Charlie Strong | Teddy Bridgewater | Brandon Dunn
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville football team broke camp for the 2012 season with a two-hour, 110-play scrimmage in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Saturday morning.
The Cardinals reported for the start of camp on Aug. 2 and broke camp this afternoon after a very productive and informative scrimmage. The 104 players put in 17 practices over that span and are just 15 days from the season opener versus Kentucky on Sept. 2 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Head coach Charlie Strong was pleased with the team's performance in today's scrimmage as well as through the entire camp.
"Offensively today, the first unit performed very well," Strong said. "The second unit needs to clean up some of the procedure penalties. Defensively, the first unit performed well, but the second unit gave up some plays but they were going up against the first offense. Overall, I was very pleased with the scrimmage. We came out of it healthy. We have some bumps and bruises, but we still have some time to heal up."
Added Strong, "I thought it was a very balanced scrimmage this morning," said Strong. "They (players) came out and competed very well."
Strong was also pleased about what he and the team were able to accomplish.
"We did," Strong responded when asked if he got the most out of camp. "It's all about fundamentals and technique during camp. Each day, you are trying to find players for the first game. We feel we have the players in place, and it's all about them continuing to develop and grow."
The scrimmage pitted the first offense versus the second defense and the second offense matching up against the first defense.
The Cardinals were missing safeties Hakeem Smith and Calvin Pryor, who were held out because of injury, but will both return to practice shortly.
Running back Dominique Brown had a big day scoring touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was very efficient and accurate for the second-straight scrimmage. Strong pointed out after the scrimmage that Brown, Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry all ran the football well and he was pleased with their production.
After not committing a turnover over in the first scrimmage, the Cardinals turned the football over twice, including an interception that Gerod Holliman returned for a score.
The Cardinals moved out of the Hilton Garden Inn, where they stayed for the last couple weeks. The team starts classes on Monday, Aug. 20.
Louisville will be off on Sunday before resuming preparation on Monday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Cardinals Crack AP Poll
Head coach Charlie Strong notified the team after practice that they were ranked 25th in the Associated Press Poll, making Louisville the only team from the BIG EAST to receive a national rank.
The Cardinals cracked the poll for the first time since being ranked 18th on Sept. 17, 2007. The Cardinals fell out the following week after a 38-35 home loss to Syracuse.
It also marks the first time the Cardinals were ranked in the preseason since they opened the 2007 season ranked 10th in the AP and 11th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
"If you look at it, it's the respect around the country we are trying to gather," said head coach Charlie Strong. "We still have to go out perform no matter where they place us. I try to make our players understand that two years ago we were picked last in this conference and last year you were picked seventh, and look where you ended up. Now, you are picked where you are picked, but now you have to go perform. It's a step in the right direction (for our program). You look at how hard our players have performed and to get to this situation. The nine seniors we have are stable and really want to get this program back to where it needs to be."
