If you are a Louisville football season ticket holder, the time you are waiting for all season has come. You had to suffer through bad home games like Miami and Florida State, but it was all worth it. Getting wins over ACC opponents like NC State and Wake Forest were just to pass the time. Any game you went to, it was just an event to hold us all over. It was all leading to this week. You know, when “the show in town, in the state” finally visits Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Oh yes folks, we are blessed that Kentucky football is coming to put the show on display in front of our very eyes.
Don’t know what I am referring to? Back in April of this year, UK Offensive Coordinator Neal Brown had this to say after mentioning that there were no pro teams in the area. “The other team doesn’t want to hear that, but it’s it. We’re the show in town, in the state.” Good to know.
Let’s take a look at how the state (Commonwealth) of Kentucky has been represented by “The Show” this season. They are our leaders, so for the sake of all of us, surely it has gone well…
“The Show” began the season with an impressive 59-14 win over OVC powerhouse Tennessee-Martin, who are now 6-6 on the season. From there, we knew we were in for a treat. Major college football had finally graced us with its presence. They followed that up with a 20-3 beatdown of Ohio. With that, “The Show” was now looking like the heavy favorites in the amazing SEC East. As football fans in the state, we all just sat back and enjoyed.
Next up was a trip to Gainesville. This would surely be the year that “The Show” beat the Gators. Will Muschamp would end up resigning by season’s end, so this was clearly a down year for Florida. Perfect recipe for “The Show” to finally get that win. What you will hear about is that a delay of game should have been called on Florida, unless you talk to people that know the rules and know that when the clock hits “0” it actually means “0.9.” It has to then count down each tenth of a second to get to 0.0, but I digress. Either way, “The Show” was obviously screwed out of a victory. Nevermind that they gave up a touchdown on 4th and 7 as Heisman front-runner Jeff Driskel (right?) was backpedaling with the game on the line. “The Show” would rebuild and move on.
Next up was the dominating 17-7 win over Vanderbilt, an offensive juggernaut that averages 17.2 points per game this season with a 3-8 record. “The Show” followed that up with the biggest win of any team this college football season. South Carolina was coming to town with their 3-2 record that included wins over Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt. This was clearly Steve Spurrier’s best team ever. “The Show” won 45-38. Fans rushed the field. T-shirts were made for beating the 3-3 Gamecocks, who are now 6-5.
All of us other fans in the state that were watching “The Show” were just so envious. I don’t know about you, but seeing the fans on the field after a historic victory, all I could say to myself was “I want it THAT way.”
“The Show” then handled now 4-7 Louisiana-Monroe 48-14 and were now 5-1 on the season. On this same day, Louisville lost to Clemson, dropping to 5-2 on the season. It was obvious who “The Show” was in this state. One of these teams was 5-1 and clearly heading to a bowl game. The only question now would be which spot in the playoff would they get? #WhyNot?
Now it was time to take “The Show” on the road and show those folks in Baton Rouge what big time football was all about. Sure, LSU won 41-3, but if a few calls went the other way, look out. Then #1 Mississippi State came to town. Time to put on display what “The Show” is all about. Crap, a loss and now 5-3. It’s all good. Still 4 games left for “The Show” to get that 6th win, and with games still remaining with Missouri and Tennessee, it’s a wrap.
“The Show” then went to Missouri. The 6th win had to come here against a team that Indiana beat. Yes, in football. Indiana. So this one was a lock. Ah, 20-10 loss. “The Show” forgot to pack the Air Raid offense for that trip.
Just when everyone had started to write Georgia off on the national level, they got the perfect remedy for a slump. The Bulldogs visited Lexington to see “The Show”, and Georgia won 63-31. “The Show” now found themselves at 5-5 and reeling.
But how sweet it would be to get that 6th win over rival Tennessee?! How is “The Show” still looking for that 6th win at this point in the post? Didn’t they have 5 a few paragraphs up? By now, we were supposed to be figuring out what SEC West opponent that “The Show” would be facing in Atlanta in the SEC Championship.
Tennessee was 4-5 heading into this game. This was the perfect time to get them. “The Show” would give up 50 points and only score 16. Not a recipe for victory.
Well, that runs the season record to 5-6. Still looking for that 6th win. Been searching since that 5th win came back on October 11. Yep, about a month and a half since “The Show” last got a victory. That doesn’t make the state look very good. I wish there was something else we could be doing.
It’s a very good thing that the last game of the regular season for “The Show” comes against “the other team.” The Cards may not even want to show up for this one. Actually, they may want to show up and sit in the stands and just watch “The Show” put on a football clinic so we can all learn. It would be very beneficial to guys like Bobby Petrino and Garrick McGee if they could learn some things from Neal Brown.
Louisville fans, do everything in your power to get a ticket for Saturday’s game. Sell all of your basketball tickets if you have to. Duke and North Carolina basketball have nothing on what invades this town Saturday. Cards fans, “The Show” is coming to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Are you ready?
It is rumored that a severe virus has infected and spread to the whole Kentucky Football team. It’s called “No-bowla”!!!!!
Go Cards! It’s time for the Cards to prove they have the killer instinct and can score throughout a game.