ESPN College Football

It is time to take a last look back at how each Big East team fared in 2011 with season-ending report cards.

Up today: Louisville

Offense: The Cardinals got better as the season went on, thanks to young players improving, a switch at offensive coordinator and the emergence of Big East Newcomer of the Year Teddy Bridgewater. But that doesn't mean everything was peachy in 2011 for the Cardinals. They were worse offensively than they were a year ago with Bilal Powell gone and much shakier offensive line. Louisville went from No. 1 in the league in rushing offense to No. 5, down an average of 50 yards a game. Scoring offense and total offense were down as well. Louisville gave up 20 more sacks this season than a year ago as they had to overcome youth and injuries. If there was one area coach Charlie Strong wanted to see get better, it was getting more consistency in the run game. Last season, Louisville averaged 4.8 yards per rush. This season it was 3.4. The Cardinals also had more turnovers as well, losing the ball 22 times compared to 16 a year ago. All that adds up to a pretty average year on offense.

Grade: C.

Defense: This group was dominating at times, but also had a few mental lapses at times as well. You can probably point to a few of those as a big reason Louisville lost to FIU at home. Still, you have to give this unit credit for playing through some key injuries to important players like Greg Scruggs, Randy Salmon, B.J. Butler and Anthony Conner, plus the suspension of starting safety Shenard Holton. Louisville finished No. 2 in the league in total defense, though it did give up about 20 yards more per game this season than last. The Cardinals were hugely improved on rush defense, giving up about 40 yards fewer per game. The front line was the strength of this team, even with all the injuries, because so many young players were playing on the back end.

Grade: B.

Overall: Things appeared headed for doom when Louisville opened the season 2-4, with losses to FIU and Marshall. But the Cardinals were able to overcome the slow start and pick up a huge win at West Virginia, along with a share of the Big East title for the first time since 2006. Did things go perfectly? No. There were some bad losses, and some good wins as this team figured out how to mature and grow up. Seeing Bridgewater and his young receivers get better was a positive. But there were also times when this team appeared to be unfocused and unable to capitalize on some of its success. Do you give Louisville a great grade for winning a share of the league or do you downgrade for the overall 7-6 record? I give more weight to the conference crown and the way the season finished up. After all, this team far exceeded expectations.

Grade: B.

Previously featured:

• Cincinnati
• UConn

I'm baaaack.

• Cincinnati picked up a quarterback commitment.
• Desmond Conner of The Hartford Courant has a few recruiting updates.
• Is Louisville safety Shenard Holton gone?
• How about another quarterback choice for Pitt?
• Rutgers has become a pipeline for the Patriots.
• A USF assistant is headed to Youngstown State.
• Syracuse's Dorian Graham and Shamarko Thomas also appear to be testing the NFL draft waters.
• West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen didn't have much to say when asked about some of his players getting snubbed from Big East awards.

Louisville heads into its game against Kentucky without many positives. The Cardinals lost to FIU last week on the heels of a shaky win over Murray State.

Their offensive line has struggled. The defensive front has not played as well as coach Charlie Strong has expected. The running game has been grounded. Turnovers at inopportune times have hurt.

Now they face their rivals on Saturday, having lost four straight in the series, with the prospect of falling into a 1-2 hole off a highly successful 2010. Win, and all will be right -- at least for a day. So to say Louisville wants to win this game badly is an understatement.

"I feel outside of this program, a lot of people lost confidence in us," safety Shenard Holton said. "We want to show we're a good team. It would say a lot to the fans and the coaches to go out and win this game. This game is a national championship game for this city. We don’t have any professional teams, so a win over Kentucky will help our team out in a big way."

What was particularly painful about Louisville's loss last week was the handful of mistakes that cost the Cardinals the game. T.Y. Hilton got loose for two long touchdowns on shorter routes, going 74 and 83 yards on the scores. He ended with seven catches for 201 yards. Take away those two touchdowns, and Louisville was able to hold him to five catches for 44 yards, and the entire FIU offense to 92 yards.

"We know the mistakes we made and we know what we were supposed to do," Holton said. "We got lazy on a few plays and we didn’t communicate on a few plays. Those plays turned into touchdowns and were the outcome of the game."

Still, Holton knows Kentucky will try to hit Louisville the same way FIU did -- through the air. The Wildcats are not the most prolific passing team but they have hit on four pass plays of over 30 yards already this season. "We gave everybody a blueprint," Holton said.

Meanwhile, the Louisville offense has struggled to get any consistency going. A big reason is because the offensive line has five new starters, including a true freshman. As a result, the Cardinals have had a hard time establishing the run, averaging 3.1 yards a carry. Will Stein has been constantly harassed, and Louisville has given up seven sacks already on the year -- second worst in the league.

Offensive coordinator Mike Sanford is not contemplating any changes to the offensive line. What has hurt has been the loss of starting center Mario Benavides, out with an injury. There has been no timetable given for his return. All Louisville can do is just wait for its players to improve with more game experience. Tight end Josh Chichester said the offensive players have spent more time in the film room trying to learn from their mistakes.

"Once you know our assignments, you play faster and won’t have to worry about making mistakes," said Chichester, who leads the team with eight catches for 150 yards. "That’s what’s going on right now. We're confident in the offensive line. They can get the job done. We’re ready for this game. Last week is last week. We know what we did wrong, and hopefully we can showcase the corrections for the next game."

Strong said several times this week that Louisville is not a very good team right now. The Cardinals did lose 25 seniors and are one of the youngest teams in the nation. But still, his players are using his comments as motivation.

"Coach Strong wants us to step up," Holton said. "A lot of people don't believe in us, but our coaches do. He’s just trying to get us ready to go for this game, knowing how big this game is."

Turns out those fears about FIU being a danger game for Louisville were right on the mark. The Cardinals were simply never really in the game Friday night and lost 24-17 to the Panthers. A bit of history was made, too, though not the kind Louisville wants to be a part of -- FIU won its first game against an AQ opponent.

So much for the Big East starting the season 8-0.

The game broke down in a variety of ways:

Louisville had no answer for dangerous all-purpose player T.Y. Hilton, who had a school-record 201 yards receiving. He scored on touchdown receptions of 74 and 83 yards, burning the Cardinals with his incredible speed. Louisville could not figure out a way to cover him in the first half. On one of the touchdowns, a linebacker was covering him because he was lined up as the third receiver on the formation. It wasn't just the inexperienced cornerbacks who got beaten, though. Junior safety Shenard Holton was out of position on one of the long touchdown runs as well, and was simply caught flat footed.

The Cardinals have some major problems on offense. The offensive line has five new starters and in two straight games has not played well. Mario Benavides was supposed to anchor the line at center as the lone returning starter, but he has been out with an injury. Left tackle Hector Hernandez has struggled in particular.

As for the quarterback situation, Will Stein threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the first quarter, and that basically set the tone for the rest of the game. He was constantly on the run or throwing under pressure because of breakdowns along the offensive line. Several of his passes were batted down on the line as well. Teddy Bridgewater only got in for one series, with Louisville down 21-3. There simply was no chance to get him in the game with Louisville having to come back from such a large deficit.

Down 21-10, Louisville continued to take its time, trying to establish the run in the second half. The turning point came on fourth-and-1 at the FIU 7 yard-line with 10:28 to go. Jeremy Wright ran the ball but really had no chance because FIU knew exactly what was coming. He ended up losing 4 yards, and the Cardinals never really threatened after that. Despite trailing for most of the game, the rush-to-pass attempts ratio was about the same (45 pass, 41 run), an indication that they really wanted to stick with the run. But the Cardinals only averaged 2.3 yards a rush.

If Louisville looks ahead to its big game against Kentucky next week, then the Cardinals might miss FIU and its terrific all-purpose player T.Y. Hilton.

And if they miss him, they will be in some serious trouble.

Simply put, the Cardinals cannot afford to overlook FIU on Friday night. The Panthers are one of the most improved teams in the nation, coming off the first bowl appearance in school history and the first conference title in school history. They have a veteran group of players that played well in their nonconference games last year. Remember, this is a team that nearly beat Rutgers to open last season.

Then there is Hilton, one of the most dangerous players in the country. In the season opener against North Texas last week, Hilton racked up 283 all-purpose yards -- the second-highest total in his career. He can do it all -- he's the team's top receiver, he is a threat out of the backfield and he returns kicks.

"T.Y. is an outstanding football player," Louisville coach Charlie Strong said. "We're going to have to find a way to corral him."

Hilton provides a big test for the young Cardinals secondary. Louisville held its own against Murray State last week with Anthony Conner and freshman Andrew Johnson making their starts. Conner picked up an interception in the win, and Strong thought they both did a good job.

But this is a much bigger challenge. Louisville hopes to have cornerback Jordon Paschal back after he missed last week with an injury. But still, the secondary is one of the most inexperienced units on the team, so the play of safeties Shenard Holton and Hakeem Smith is going to be even more important this week so they can provide support in trying to top Hilton.

"I don't know if we can cover him," Strong said. "We need to get enough guys around him so if he does catch it, we can get him on the ground."

Hilton was the Sun Belt Player of the Year in 2010 after racking up 2,089 all-purpose yards, including 210 in the bowl win over Toledo. He is a big reason FIU is no longer an afterthought in the Sun Belt.

There are other areas Louisville will have to improve on in this game. The offensive line, featuring five new starters, had a rough go of it in the opener. Center Mario Benavides is out for a second straight week, so the Cardinals will go with the same lineup. Will Stein has a sprained ankle but should be good to go, and he needs to make sure he is productive throughout the entire game. The Cardinals cannot afford to have four turnovers the way they did against Murray State, either.

Focusing on this contest is hugely important, and Strong knows that. He has a young team -- 2o players got their first game experience last week -- so there is a lot of growing up yet to do before the Kentucky game Sept. 17.

“We’re not good enough to look ahead,” Strong said. “There has been no mention at all of Kentucky.”

Let's check in on practice from the weekend:

Cincinnati: Coach Butch Jones has yet to decide on a backup quarterback to Zach Collaros. Munchie Legaux and Jordan Luallen are locked in a battle for the backup spot, with neither player emerging just yet.

Connecticut: The Huskies went back to the basics during practice Saturday, but there still is no answer in the quarterback race. Coach Paul Pasqualoni said, "We are constantly changing the rotation of who is doing what. They are all working hard, all doing good things. They also all still have things that they need to improve on and we try to point those things out and move on."

Louisville: The Cardinals ran about 125 plays in their Saturday scrimmage, which was closed. Will Stein led the first-team offense and led a scoring drive early. Victor Anderson ran for more than 100 yards. Freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater also looked sharp, capping off his drive with a 25-yard scramble for a touchdown. The defense recorded five turnovers on the day, including a 56-yard interception return by Terence Simien. Shenard Holton had an interception in the end zone. One other note: Eli Rogers had a nice day at receiver.

Pitt: The Panthers broke camp with a few positions still up for grabs. Coach Todd Graham said he would know more after evaluating tape from the final scrimmage Saturday. But it appears Todd Thomas has beaten out Greg Williams for the starting spur linebacker job. The offensive line, cornerback and backup quarterback jobs still are open.

Rutgers: Mohamed Sanu stood out during Rutgers' final scrimmage Saturday, catching six passes for 112 yards. De'Antwan Williams had 79 yards on 14 carries (that includes five negative running plays). Savon Huggins had 55 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while Jawan Jamison had 25 yards on 14 carries. Jeremy Deering is still out with a head injury. Meanwhile, the defense played better though both sides were sloppier than coach Greg Schiano wanted to see.

Syracuse: The Orange held a scrimmage Saturday in which nearly all the backups were featured. Adrian Flemming did a nice job at receiver, and the offensive line looked solid. Now the Orange are going on lockdown with no media availability or open practices as they prepare for Wake Forest. Also, offensive line coach Greg Adkins underwent surgery to remove his gallbladder and is expected to return to work this week. Freshman cornerback Jaston George injured his left groin and will be out indefinitely.

USF: Skip Holtz was not pleased with his backup quarterbacks following the team's scrimmage Saturday, saying he was disappointed that Bobby Eveld hasn't pushed starter B.J. Daniels and Matt Floyd hasn't pushed Eveld for the backup job. Holtz also wants to see more out of his second-team offense.

West Virginia: Coach Dana Holgorsen named a few standouts from Saturday's scrimmage: "Jeff Braun had some energy out there, and Stedman Bailey made some really good plays. Najee Goode is a guy that is as mentally tough as they come Terence Garvin is a guy that has been in those wars and battles. The guys that have been there and done it are the guys that typically rise up and are able to handle a situation like this. This is the closest we have come to what it is going to be like two weeks from now, which is the way we wanted it. You can’t just put them in this situation all the time. You have to practice. You go in and watch the film and correct it. You try to put them in more situations before the first game."

Spring practice was in full bloom over the weekend, and you know what that means: scrimmages! Here are some notes on the teams that faced off against themselves on Saturday.

Connecticut

The Huskies didn't hold anything back, and that sometimes was problematic. Linebacker Sio Moore delivered a big hit on quarterback Michael Nebrich and had to be reminded by Paul Pasqualoni that they are, in fact, still teammates.

The defense dominated for most of the scrimmage, and it's no surprise that side of the ball would be ahead of the offense, given the number of returning defensive starters. Quarterback Scott McCummings, who has reportedly had a good spring, fumbled and threw an interception on Saturday. Mike Box got the first reps of the scrimmage under center.

"I thought there was some good give and take,” Pasqualoni said. “I thought there was real, real good competition on both sides of the ball.”

Louisville

Held back a little by injuries this spring, the Cardinals held their first scrimmage on Saturday, a 150-minute, 95-play, hard-hitting affair.

According to the official recap, Will Stein threw two touchdown passes to Josh Chichester, for 16 and 59 yards. Receiver Josh Bellamy also had a big day. Shenard Holton and Marcus Smith each had interceptions, while Randy Salmon and Dexter Heyman were very active on defense.

"It's hard to really see what we have going on out there because we have so many guys injured," coach Charlie Strong said. "We have a lot of guys playing who haven't played much, but it's good that we are starting to build some depth. I was pleased with the effort and I thought there was a lot of good hitting.

Pittsburgh

Only a portion of the scrimmage was open to the media, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Buddy Jackson took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. The cornerback was only recently given a shot to return kicks.

Former guard Chris Jacobson is working at center and had some trouble with shotgun snaps. That will be key for the Panthers, who will be in the shotgun almost exclusively in their new offense. The newspaper also singled out defensive end Bryan Murphy as a spring standout so far.

Syracuse

The offense unleashed some big-play potential in the Orange's 84-play scrimmage. Big plays included a 75-yard pass from Ryan Nassib to Alec Lemon, a 64-yard carry by Antwon Bailey, a 70-yard dash by Prince-Tyson Gulley and a 54-yard pass from Nassib to Marcus Sales. Nassib was 7-of-12 for 192 yards.

But the offense couldn't keep the momentum after three straight scores, turning the ball over and failing to reach the end zone the rest of the day. Coach Doug Marrone said he didn't like the way the defense came out to start the scrimmage, but at least it responded. He singled out linebackers Dan Vaughan and Marquis Spruill and safety Phillip Thomas for praise on that side of the ball.

Time to gauge the strongest and weakest spring positions for Louisville. (And I'll be checking out the Cardinals' first practice later on today.)

Strongest position: Safety

Key returnees: Hakeem Smith, Shenard Holton, Mike Evans

Key departures: None

The skinny: With injuries depleting several other positions, safety looks like it's, well, the safest heading into spring. Both starters and the top backup return, and Smith and Holton were the team's top two tacklers in 2010. Smith was the Big East newcomer of the year last season. It's a position that could use more depth, but there are young players available here and more coming in this summer, including Gerod Holliman.

Weakest position: Cornerback

Key returnees: None

Key departures: Johnny Patrick, Bobby Burns

The skinny: This looks like the most challenging issue for the Cardinals this spring, even with injuries riddling other positions. Both starters from last year are gone, including All-Big East performer Patrick. Junior Darius Ashley is out for the spring with an injury. So Louisville will need young players to step up, including redshirt freshman Jordan Paschal, while getting something out of seniors Anthony Conner and Preston Pace.

Clearing out the notebook from Louisville coach Charlie Strong's media briefing on Tuesday:

-- A big concern for this spring is the trenches. Louisville must replace four starting offensive linemen, and the lone returning starter -- center Mario Benavides -- may miss the spring after knee surgery. As many as four potential starters could be out on the defensive line because of injuries.

That means more reps for other players to make their mark, and it may change the way the team practices.

"We'll try to manage practice," Strong said. "We'll be looking to get better at fundamentals and technique."

On the O-line, Ryan Kessling and Alex Kupper got experience as backups last year and should have good chances to start. But otherwise, it's pretty wide open as the team searches for depth at the position that was its main strength a year ago. I thought this quote from Strong was interesting:

"We have a lot of skill guys coming back," he said. "But what you don't ever want to do is let that be the core of your team. The toughness of your team is built up front, with the offensive and defensive lines. Those skill guys, they're going to do all the talking, but a lot of times the guys who really play don't say anything. They just play.

"The offensive linemen don't say anything. They move the ball, open up a gap and go move it. I don't mind leadership coming from that group [of skill players] if it has to, but the core of our team has to be from the front people."

(Read full post)

• Physical play has become Pitt's calling card.

• Cole Bowers might be starting on the West Virginia offensive line ... somewhere. Noel Devine might be in for a big finish. And I like his quote from that story:"The team is going to be about fireworks,'' Devine said. "It's going to be like the Fourth of July, especially at the night games. I mean, I think people are going to be really impressed.

• Rutgers quarterback Tom Savage could go from game manager to game changer.

• UConn is trying to get its backup defensive ends up to speed in a hurry.

• South Florida met with fans before getting back down to business.

• Louisville's Shenard Holton got thrown into the fire by necessity last season, and that should make the sophomore safety better.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Some quick thoughts and impressions from tonight's Louisville practice:

• This was my third Big East practice but the first one with full contact. It was good to finally see some hitting and tackling. Although there wasn't nearly enough of that from the defense. It was a bad, bad day for that side of the ball. But don't take my word for it.
  
  "It was definitely a rough day," defensive lineman Greg Scruggs said. "We've got to get tougher, mentally and physically. We've got to stay disciplined when we get tired. If we don't, then what you saw today will happen. The defense will get run through, the offense will score 50 points and that will be the ball game."
  
  The problems for the defense started early and never stopped. The team went through a drill in which running backs were matched up with linebackers in an open-space tackling test. Not a single defender made a stop the entire drill."Can't one guy tackle a running back?" head coach Charlie Strong barked in exasperation.
  
  Fed up, Strong stopped the drill and made the linebackers do pushups. Receivers were going against defensive backs a few yards away in the same drill and they weren't having any success either. The defense got plowed during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work as well.
  
  Strong definitely isn't in Gainesville any more. The defense needs a ton of work and lacks bodies on the line and in the defensive backfield. A lot of young players are going to have to play and grow up in a hurry.

• Strong, not surprisingly, runs an intense practice. He and his assistants get after players when they mess up, and there were many, uh, teaching moments tonight. Strong is not afraid to run after a guy and get in his face to make his point, and most of his staff is just as intense. It's definitely a change from Steve Kragthorpe, who was a little more laid back in practice.

• It may just be a function of the defense, but offensively the Cardinals looked pretty solid. Justin Burke took the majority of the first-team reps as he and Adam Froman continue to split them at quarterback. Will Stein was on crutches and wearing a walking boot and is probably done for the spring, so it's a two-man race. I continue to believe the starter will ultimately be Froman, if not Dominique Brown. But that's just my opinion.

• The Louisville running backs are very good. You know about Victor Anderson, Bilal Powell and Darius Ashley. I was mightily impressed with redshirt freshman Jeremy Wright, who made an awful lot of plays.

• The receiving group doesn't seem to have many deep threats, but Doug Beaumont caught just about everything thrown his way. Andrell Smith, a 6-4 sophomore, really needs to come on this year. And I keep waiting for Troy Pascley to have a big year.

• Tight end Cameron Graham hauled in a few nice catches. He has a lot of ability and just needs to be more consistent.

• I won't give away plays and formations, but suffice it to say we saw evidence of the Florida spread. Look for this team to run some two-back sets with some option thrown in. Works better with Tim Tebow, of course, but Froman ended the practice with a 65-yard touchdown run.

• A couple of guys who caught my eye in an otherwise forgettable day for the defense: Malcom Mitchell made a tremendous spin move off the edge during line vs. line drills. Shenard Holton put a big hit on Smith to break up a passing play.

• Notably missing from practice were defensive linemen Rock Keys and Joe Townsend and quarterback Luke Woodley, a midyear enrollee. Woodley went home, though the team hopes he'll return for the fall.

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Steve Kragthorpe very nearly broke out the old Herm Edwards quote this week when talking about the struggles of his Louisville football team.

"You play this game to win," Kragthorpe said.

Except that hasn't been the case for the Cardinals (1-3, 0-1 Big East), who last beat an FBS opponent on Oct. 25, 2008. That's a string of eight straight defeats, five of them by double digits.

	Andy Lyons/Getty Images
	Victor Anderson is expected to get more touches Saturday against Southern Mississippi.

While Kragthorpe and his players continue to say that they're just a few plays away or that they've beaten themselves with mistakes, a losing streak like that comes down to more than just a couple of bad breaks. So expect to see some changes this Saturday when Louisville plays host to Southern Mississippi.

For starters, Kragthorpe is promising to get Victor Anderson more touches. Makes perfect sense, since Anderson -- the Big East's newcomer of the year last season after rushing for more than 1,000 yards as a redshirt freshman -- is the team's best player. Yet after carrying 19 times for 110 yards at Kentucky, Anderson got only 10 carries for 22 yards at Utah and ran it just 12 times for 51 yards last week against Pitt.

Anderson was dealing with a groin injury and some other bumps and bruises last week, Kragthorpe said. But he should be healthier now, and he needs to be a major part of the game plan.

Of course, Anderson can only do so much when the offensive line is not opening holes.

When asked to name which players were performing well up front, Kragthorpe could only point to center Mario Benavides and right guard Mark Wetterer. Junior Jeff Adams, who started at right tackle last year, could supplant left tackle Byron Stingily this week. Adams was slated to start there in the preseason, but he had a bout with the flu that caused him to lose almost 20 pounds in fall camp. Massive junior college transfer Joe Evinger (6-foot-6, 330 pounds) arrived late in fall camp but is now sufficiently up to speed to where he could start seeing some significant time as well, Kragthorpe said.

Another problem area for the Cardinals has been the secondary, which was burned by long touchdown passes against Pitt. Safety Terrence Simien's kidney injury forced some shuffling around, and Chaz Thompson moved over from safety to start at cornerback for the first time in his career last week. Kragthorpe said he would look at some other options back there, including pulling the redshirt off true freshman Shenard Holton.

Louisville is the most penalized team in the Big East and seems to find the absolute wrong time in each drive to draw a flag. Kragthorpe said he planned to tape his offensive linemen's wrists this week to prevent them from getting their hands outside a defender's body. And others who committed penalties last week had to run as punishment.

It remains to be seen whether any of these changes are more than cosmetic against a Southern Miss team that has some issues of its own. The Golden Eagles lost starting quarterback Austin Davis to a season-ending injury last week in a loss to UAB. Junior Martevious Young will start in his place. They will get back running back Damion Fletcher and receiver DeAndre Brown from injuries this week.

The Cardinals left old rival Southern Miss and Conference USA behind when they moved to the Big East; losing to the Golden Eagles at home would be yet another black mark for a program that's gathered too many of them lately. With two Big East away games up next and road trips still left to West Virginia and South Florida, Louisville can't afford any more slip-ups.

"A win would sure lighten the mood up," Benavides said. "Nobody likes losing."