UofL showing maturity all around in year 3

By: Raashaan Myers

     As the final train horn sounded last week at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium and the scoreboard reflected the dominance everyone witnessed all afternoon UofL 63 FSU 20. As expected and deservedly so there was a ton of praise to go around in all phases of the game. Heisman favorite Lamar Jackson displayed the dynamic ability to beat the Florida State defense with both his arm and his legs accounting for 5 TDs gobbling up yards like Pacman. Running back Brandon Radcliff held up his end of the bargain as the perfect complement to Jackson gaining over 100 yards on the ground and a TD as well as standout performances by all the Cardinal WRs. The UofL defense harassed the Noles QB Deondre Francois all afternoon as well as All American running back Dalvin Cook.  All those things were easy to see, but what impressed me was much more understated yet still just as important.

     The advantage of having seen UofL head coach Bobby Petrino build an empire once before is that you know what it looks like. Even before having a roster full of NFL talent the first time around the Cards carried themselves with a swagger of a powerhouse. It was always great to see a team that so believed in themselves and their coaching staff that failure was not an option. That quality had been missing the first two years at UofL as the Cards had so much turnover on the offensive side of the ball that very little traction could be gained early on. But finally starting this season UofL came into the year with an unquestioned starter at QB and an offense that had some experience. Immediately UofL began to have the offensive success on the field that had eluded them the first two seasons. You could really see the confidence and maturity shine through versus an over-matched Charlotte team week one as well as on the road vs. conference foe Syracuse.  

     But the true test would come last week vs. FSU which would truly display just how far this UofL program had come in the 2^nd Petrino regime. Well as everyone from here to China knows by now is that UofL is REALLY back. The experience and confidence displayed by the Cards last Saturday afternoon looked awfully familiar to the Red and Black faithful. The mentality and attitude of “We are going to score” and “You can’t stop us” type attitude permeated throughout the team on both sides of the ball. That confidence comes from success and as we have seen before it only strengthens as the weeks go by. The mental side of the game is huge in football because maturity, experience, and confidence leads a team to play faster and boldly. That attacking and aggressive mentality gives UofL that edge that was a hallmark of the first Bobby P tenure.

     What is even more exciting that what’s new the second time around Coach Petrino. Many fail to consider that UofL was Bobby’s first head coaching job and while he was plenty talented he himself was young and prone to mistakes and missteps. Too often would I see the Cards come out like a house on fire scoring with ease in big games taking commanding leads only to see Coach P get conservative and sit on the lead only to see teams like Miami, WVU, and Rutgers comeback to beat UofL. Of all the great things Coach Petrino did well the propensity to get too conservative too early plagued him early in his career.  Well in his first chance to show what he learned the second time around Bobby passed the test with flying colors as UofL continued to stay aggressive and just pulverize FSU in front of a national television audience clearly establishing who the best team on the field was that afternoon. That type of mentality is something that this team will carry with them the rest of the year.

     Lastly the maturity I saw after the game as well was both noticeable and displayed just how far UofL has come in year 3. Right after dispatching the Noles in impressive fashion team leaders Josh Harvey-Clemons and James Quick came into the post-game press conference as calm and composed as could be for college kids that just made a huge national statement. They didn’t act surprised or overwhelmed by the performance, but like they had been there before though they hadn’t. And not only that they wanted to only talk about the fact that Marshall was coming up and that they needed to lock in for that game as this journey is only just beginning. That level of maturity to me speaks volumes of where this team and program as a whole is headed. I can’t wait to see what happens from here and I have a feeling that I’m not the only one.

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