UofL Football ends season with disappointment but far from a failure

By: Raashaan Myers

     The University of Louisville Football season has had the ups and downs, twist and turns, of an award winning John Gresham novel. We have laughed, we have cried, we have gotten our hopes up, and we have had our dreams crushed. When I think about the late great Jim Valvano and he says you should laugh, cry, and think I'd believe he would approve of this Cardinal team's ability to make folks do all three. So much so that even yours truly got caught in the crossfire after an uneasy stare down with UofL Coach Bobby Petrino. But for all the drama and now as our hero seems to be down and out take heart that this is simply the growing pains of an emerging football powerhouse.

     There have been few examples of teams busting through the door and taking permanent residence at the big boy table of college football. That is the rare feat that UofL is very close to obtaining but like all great endeavors it is never easy. That being said this 2016 football has pushed the Cardinal program well ahead of schedule in making Tom Jurich's dream a reality. But as it is with most things the last few steps are always the hardest and those will be the most critical that we should all watch closely from here on out.

     First and foremost will be the continued growth of UofL Football's most prized possession and explosive weapon Heisman favorite Lamar Jackson.  Jackson's ascent from part time gimmick starter to now big Heisman favorite over a year's time has been none short of amazing. He has grown and matured as a quarterback and to me even more impressively as a vocal leader for the program. The next step is squarely on Coach Petrino to figure out how he wants to build this offense around Jackson. As amazing as it sounds Lamar had one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of college football as the first player to ever throw for 3300 yards and rush for 1500 yards while Coach Petrino struggled to find a happy medium between teaching Lamar the position, finding an offensive identity, and letting Lamar be his improvisational self as a player. When you consider that Jackson is still only about 60% of what he could become as a passer the possibilities are truly frightening.

     Second step is about the harmony with the defensive side of the ball. Too often and again after the game Saturday the pot shots were lobbed at Todd Grantham and the UofL defenders. And while I agree that the defense was the key culprit in the startling loss to UK I have also seen this defense countless times this year keep UofL in games and fight off opposing offenses from getting into the endzone after several of UofL's nation leading number of fumbles to keep the Cards from getting buried. The UofL defense has lead this team to far more victories than it has losses so cheap shots to me don't do anything for harmony inside the program. But on Coach Grantham's end he needs to find some way to do a better job of getting his guys off the field on 3rd down and keeping his best players healthy and engaged. Also UofL has struggled mightily in games where they faced mobile QBs and coincidentally those where the games when the Cardinal defense has been torched the most. A lot like the offense the UofL defense with all its issues still ended up 11th in total defense so with some tweaks one wonders just how good they can be with added talent waiting in the wings and on the recruiting trail.

     Lastly this team may need an injection of heart and fire. I have spoken with several Petrino players and one thing those guys have lamented about this current regime is the void left by Paul Petrino. I have heard from several players that the combination of Bobby's skill and Paul's fire and heart made them the dynamic duo. Many wonder if this team has that same fire and guy who can really hold the current Cardinal's accountable and get them fired up and focused. I thought that was an interesting commentary but there have been times this year when the team's focus and heart have been questioned. An interesting observation and one that I'm not sure how or even if this issue will be addressed but that is something to keep an eye on was well.

     All in all the UofL season started with a lot of unknown commodities, slowed turned to dreams of the College Football playoff, and ended with disheartening losses to Houston and archrival Kentucky. That is a lot to deal with but considering the amount of young talent leading this team starting with Lamar Jackson, a huge profile boost thanks to UofL's amazing run at the playoff which has led to a boon in recruiting, and a coaching staff and AD that is second to none the best is surely yet to come. But it is a work in progress and the lessons learned this year are the building blocks for big things to come.

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Reflections On The Skins Loss To The Cowboys

By Mark Bacon

The Cowboys owned the Redskins’ once again in their 31-26 Thanksgiving Day victory in Dallas. Washington had their chances. That’s something true in every one of their losses (aside from the Pittsburgh defeat) and the tie. But they came up short in key areas.

Slow start – One can’t help but wonder how this game would have turned out had the Redskins gotten off to a better start. The Cowboys moved the ball at a 10-years-per-play clip en route to their first touchdown. Washington needed to hit back, but instead got nothing. They got the ball inside the 20, then a penalty backed them up five yards, then Chris Thompson lost three more yards, then a holding penalty moved the ball back another 10 yards. Instead of having a shot at a manageable touchdown or field goal, the Redskins faced fourth-and-16 and had to settle for the 43-yard Hopkins field goal. But the late arrival of Morgan Moses on the kickoff protection unit (replacing an injured Brandon Scherff) forced the burning of a timeout and iced Hopkins. Not the way you want to open any game, let alone a divisional matchup with a red hot foe.

Abandoned the run – In their past three games, the Redskins offense has thrived because of balance. An ability to run the ball – and get chunks of yards on first downs – has opened up the playbook. But because of a slow start and a 17-6 halftime hole, coaches scrapped the run for a pass-heavy attack. Kirk Cousins certainly lit it up, throwing for 449 yards and three touchdowns, and he did a great job of getting rid of the ball to avoid taking sacks. Still, offense operates at its best when Washington remains committed to the run, but give the Cowboys credit for making it hard for the Redskins to get much of anything going on the ground. Rob Kelley was held to no gain once, and stopped for a loss three times. His carries: 3 yards, 0, 8, -1, 4, 4, 4, 8, 1, 2, -2, -2, 7, 1. Kelley didn’t run poorly or appear to miss on his keys. Dallas simply succeeded in making Washington’s offense one-dimensional.

Red zone problems – Yes, they returned. Washington was 2-for-5 in scoring opportunities inside the 20-yard line and paid for it. In their two games against Dallas, Washington is 5-for-11. Thursday night’s misses could have been avoided. On the first trip inside the 20, two Cowboys came unblocked and dropped Chris Thompson for a three-yard loss. On the second, Jordan Reed didn’t block cornerback Byron Jones, who wasn’t where Reed expected him. Dallas defensive backs did a good job of jamming the Redskins receivers the next play, and Kirk Cousins came under pressure and couldn’t make a good enough throw. More protection issues led to the missed opportunity on the next failed red zone trip. Gruden said there were things that he and his assistants and his players could have done better. He has said this for much of the year when Washington comes up short in the red zone. It’s perplexing because they have no trouble moving the ball and picking up key third downs. But they can’t consistently convert at the goal line.

Speed needs on defense – Thursday’s loss served as another reminder of Washington’s speed deficiency. Far too often, linebackers got to areas of the field a step — or two or three — too late. This offseason, Washington must go after at least one inside linebacker with better range and closing speed, an outside linebacker who plays better in space, an aggressive thumper of a strong safety, and a rangy free safety to clean up messes on the back end. But for now, coaches must find a solution at nickelback as well. Often, we appeared to be standing still in the defensive backfield against the Cowboy’s speed.

Hope remains – At 6-4-1, the Skins remain in position for the second of the two NFC wild-card spots. The rest of the schedule features three road games (at Arizona, Philadelphia and Chicago), and home games versus Carolina and the Giants. Thanks to a potent offense, the Redskins have been in every game since Week 2, so they should remain competitive down the stretch. The Cardinals, Eagles and Panthers all are struggling. The Redskins can pick up several more key victories before hosting the Giants in what looks like a very key game in Week 17.

Postscript - Skins tight end Jordan Reed, the team’s leading receiver, suffered a Grade 3 AC joint separation in his left shoulder, Coach Jay Gruden said on ESPN980 radio on Friday after the tight end underwent an MRI to determine the severity of his injury.

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College Football Playoff Committee your bias is showing

By: Raashaan Myers

     This not a scathing article about the injustice of the University of Louisville's standing in the initial College Football Rankings which the College Football Playoff Committee dropped yesterday on my birthday. (Thanks for the gift! LOL) It is not an article about giving scenarios about the best path for the Cardinals to make the playoff. I completely submit that you can make a very strong case for Ohio State and Texas A&M being ranked ahead of UofL. What I am here to do is talk about the fact that for some reason the New Founding Fathers of College Football has on their own decided that the SEC and Big Ten conferences are God's gift to football regardless of what we have seen on the field of play.

     My bone to pick is the blatant and ridiculous amount of favoritism being given to the SEC and the Big Ten. The CFPC has placed 10 of the top 13 teams from those two conferences. By doing this you can pretty much excuse away any loss or close game that is played in either conference and use that to basically make sure that if there is a 2nd team from a conference it will come from those two leagues. I mean I am okay if you truly believe that Auburn, Penn State, or LSU are on the come up but ranking them #9, #12, and #13 in the rankings is asinine and really just makes the whole thing lose all credibility. It stinks of good ole boy network and pretty much makes college football look bad. They have to have more diversity in there.

     This ranking gives me serious pause in trusting the whole system because literally by the current rankings these guys and gals have just said we are pretty much going to do what they want to in these rankings. The SEC coming out of the non-conference portion of the schedule was deemed to be as down this year as it has been in 15 years with Bama picking up on the only resounding non-con win vs USC. Yet somehow on the strength of all the "other guys" in the SEC beating each other they have somehow gained perception power for this season. By doing this the committee can excuse away any loss or close win by citing conference strength that the committee themselves has installed.

     The Big Ten is bias is not as bad based on the nonconference victories of Ohio St over Oklahoma and Wisconsin's win vs LSU at Lambeau Field. But still the fact that you take and place a Penn State team that gets some luck and pulls out a win at home vs the Buckeyes is now #12 is a bit much as well. And now you have a situation and a narrative that basically says we think only 2 conferences are worth anything and everyone else can kick rocks. I don't think that is very balanced or fair.

     All in all this is just another example of the screwed up nature of the popularity based system of college football that has existed for a long long time. And while there is still a ton of football to play this first set of rankings does not give me much confidence in this committee moving forward. I also have heard some give the theory that maybe the CFPC just simply wanted to screw with the rankings to give some made for TV drama and talking points for the nation. If that is true then college football is in deeper trouble than I currently imagine.

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