Brace yourself for this. A Charlie Strong-coached team has been accused of running the score up. Apparently, that is what the Cards were doing to Miami in the Russell Athletic Bowl last season, according to cornerback Corn Elder. The following comes from the rest of the article on CanesWatch.com.
“Honestly, I remember them trying to run the score up,” he said. “Just disrespecting us, pretty much.”
After Deon Bush sacked Teddy Bridgewater for a safety on the opening drive, it was all Cardinals. They went up 22-2 at halftime and were still carving up UM’s defense in the final minutes.
“I feel like they were out there talking a lot of trash,” Elder said. “They have a lot of players from here. It was a confidence thing.”
Bridgewater, the former Miami Northwestern High star, threw for 447 yards and three touchdowns. He capped his day with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. After scoring, he threw up the ‘U’ hand signal and brought his hands across his throat in a slicing motion.
Standing on the sidelines, then-freshman Walter Tucker said he felt “disrespected” when he saw that.
“I looked at it and kind of got mad. I couldn’t do anything because I was on special teams,” he said. “I was a young cat. I just got there. I understood I had to wait my turn.”
They won’t get a chance for revenge against Bridgewater, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings. They also won’t see Louisville receiver DeVante Parker, who is out 6-8 weeks with a broken bone in his foot. Parker had 142 yards and a touchdown on nine catches in the bowl game.
Elder, who is fighting for a job as a starting cornerback, said his team will draw plenty of motivation from last Dec. 28.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Elder said. “First game, they’re new into the conference. We ended last year with a loss to them. Playing the team you lost to in your last game … that’s a good thing.”
If they think THAT team ran the score up, just wait until they meet Bobby Petrino!
Run it up, Bobby!