It seems like 2006 was the last time the Cards played a big-named opponent in a regular season non-conference football game. That was when the Miami Hurricanes came to town. They weren’t exactly national title contenders at the time, but that was a big-time opponent nonetheless. Since then, the Cards have had a home and home series with Georgia cancelled, and tried to schedule games with Alabama, Texas A&M, and Wisconsin, just to name a few. Because none of these have worked out, Louisville’s schedule is often not very strong.
That will change next year when the Cards are in the ACC. But even then, with the new playoff system, teams may need to schedule a big-time non-conference game to make their strength of schedule as good as possible. So who is someone that Charlie Strong would want to face? How about Ohio State, coached by his good buddy Urban Meyer?! Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford from WDRB talked to him about this at media day, and Bozich wrote about it in his College Football Notebook. Here is an excerpt from that article:
So Eric Crawford and I asked Louisville coach Charlie Strong about a non-conference game that seems like a natural to us – Louisville vs. Ohio State at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.
Strong and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer are best friends. Strong said he has already popped the question.
“We talk a lot,” Strong said. “I have asked him to play me. I don’t know if he will. I don’t know if he wants to. But I’d love to.”
There’s no question that Louisville could have benefited from the game this season with the Buckeyes ranked second in the USA Today coaches’ pre-season poll and the Cards parked at No. 9. Strength of schedule is going to be an issue for the Cards all season. Strong said he asked Meyer for a game more than a year ago.
Said Strong, “Before we got in the ACC, I was like, ‘We need to play a big-time opponent … Urban, why don’t you play us?’ He said, ‘Let’s think about that.’ “
C’mon Urban, make it happen!
