Aaron Rogers said it best when he told Packers fans to R-E-L-A-X. That’s my message to my Card Nation, R-E-L-A-X. Football is the ultimate team sport, it takes all 11 players on the field working together to accomplish the ultimate team goal. One player could miss a gap, a block too slow to his zone, one player in the wrong coverage and the whole play could be disastrous. This Louisville team is young and talented with a lot of upside. Bobby Petrino probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so R-E-L-A-X. The season is not all lost. The team is improving, they just need us fans to keep being fans, to support and cheer the team on.
As a fan base, you, with the University, have been through struggles- both on the gridiron and on the hardwood. For the last 3 years, it’s been extremely difficult. Basketball has put us through the wringer recently, but football has been there to brighten up our fall. The University of Louisville fan base is as knowledgeable about sports as any other city’s fan-base I’ve come across. Fans are not all understanding, not all cocky. Louisville fans are resilient and firm. If I may steal the phrase from the basketball team, “Louisville is tough, together and unbreakable”. This is just one of the many obstacles that we’ll face as a fan base. Let’s stick by our team and show them why Louisville has some of the best fans in the country.
We all pictured a Bobby Petrino offense putting up many points on the board. The defense may not be the best, but they would usually be good enough to not lose a game if the offense can put up at least 40. This year’s Petrino team is different from last year’s team. There are no more Charlie Strong recruited players, and former Heisman trophy winner Lamar Jackson has moved on. Keep in mind, Puma is still young and is going to go through a lot of growing pains. Growing pains that only come with game reps. So R-E-L-A-X.
Whether you want to admit it or not, Louisville football as a team improved the week of the Florida State game, although the scoreboard argued to the contrary. Florida State has an abundance of talent. Their worst recruiting class could possibly be considered Louisville’s best and yet Louisville was probably one different play call, or one decision away from a victory. The defense (with a lot of new players) has vastly improved from last season, even with learning a new system. The offense showed life and the best wide receiving group in the country started to come alive.
Believe it or not, Louisville is a relatively young football team. Sure you have some guys that’s been in the program for three years, but this is also their third scheme in as many years. Take a look at who Louisville is putting on the field; (Chandler Jones, Hassan Hall, Robert Hicks, Jarrett Jackson, Dejmi Dumervil-Jean, Marcus Riley – true freshman, Nick Okeke, Colin Wilson – Redshirt freshman, Kamari Averett, Dorian Etheridge – true sophomores, Puma Pass (3rd year) – 4 career starts, Rodjay Burns, PJ Mbanasor, Bossie Whitlow – sat out last year, Derek Dorsey – former walk on) just to name a few.
There should and needs to be neutrality between fans and players. That neutrality exists when the team plays hard and the fans are supportive. The support has a twofold effects; a. Appreciation for the present team. b. Attracting recruits for the future. When fans show disloyalty to the present team, they are inadvertently showing disrespect and disloyalty to the future recruits. As long as players continue to play hard, fans should show up and as long as fans show up and support, players should play even harder.
Bobby Petrino has never had a losing season. He has also never been faced with problems he is facing now. There’s an old saying “It’s not how hard you can get hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and get back up.” Yes, at 2-3 (0-1 in the ACC) we’ve taken the possible knockout blow, now let’s dust ourselves off, along with the ‘poor us’ attitude and any other negative attitude we may have and get back on the turf and help OUR football team deliver a Muhammad Ali size knockout punch of our own to Georgia Tech. #GoCards #BlackOut #BeatGT #L1C4
