Blog Archives
BucketHatism: Marshall
“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
Good morning to all of you. The BHK is upset he let Marshall cause him to have heart palpitations all of last week despite being reassured by 90% of CardNation there was nothing to worry about. My apologies to the court for my pessimism, I will do better. Nonetheless, I will now read my observations of the Marshall game.
- The BHK is aware that Marshall University is not the same as West Virginia University. From what i have heard and read it appears that Marshall fans were very welcoming and friendly. Still, this was a trip I refused to take (see opening statement for my reason)
BucketHatism: Florida State
“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
May the court excuse the fact that I have showed up this morning wearing a wife beater and luau shorts. I am still celebrating the weekend that was, and if you have an issue with that please see yourself out. I will be reading my notes from the book of Louisville, Chapter L1 verse C4. (Clears throat):
- First and foremost the BHK would like to thank the good folks over at 93.9 The Ville for showcasing the 35th and KY Sports Show during their 24 hour pregame show. It was a tremendous opportunity and we were honored to be a part of it.
- The BHK threw his back out last week trying to pump iron at the gym. But I was determined to get to GameDay and PJCS, even if I had to crawl.
ESPN Updated Bowl Projections
Photo: Scott Utterback/ Courier-Journal
ESPN’s Brett McMurphy and Mark Schlabach make their bowl projections after the week 3 games. Can Louisville make it to the college football playoffs or will they make a New Years Day bowl game? I am usually not a fan of bowl projections this early in the season but man is it fun to think about playing for a national championship and if nothing else, it’s fun to see that the rest of the world is finally taking us seriously. Here is the bowl projections… Read the rest of this entry
Las Vegas Updates Odds To Win College Football Playoff
Las Vegas has released the updated odds to win the national championship and Louisville it trending in the right direction. If you truly believed that Louisville was going to win in May you could have received 100-1 odds. Prior to the FSU win you could have bet Louisville at 25-1. Now you are not going to win as much money if they win. Here are the newly updated odds…. Read the rest of this entry
Lamar Heisman Train Is Full Steam Ahead
Photo: Jeffrey M. Nunn
Andrea Adelson is the best staff writer at ESPN. If you read her work you would agree. Thankfully she covers the ACC and we as Louisville fans get to enjoy her work. You are really going to love this piece….
You can follow Andrea on Twitter.
The Time is Now: Louisville v. Florida State Preview
Photo: orlandosentinel.com
Last Time: After Louisville held a 7-6 halftime lead, Florida State responded with 35 second-half points to overpower Louisville in a 41-21 win in Tallahassee. Everett Golson led the way with 372 yards and three touchdowns, while Dalvin Cook ended up with 163 yards and two touchdowns. Lamar Jackson led the way for Louisville with a season-high 307 yards and three touchdowns, all to James Quick.
Florida State leads the overall series 14-2, with Louisville’s last win in 2002.
About the Florida State Seminoles
One of the top programs in college football, Florida State has been at or near the top of the ACC for what seems like forever.
Now 2-0 and ranked #2 in the country behind Alabama, Florida State was tabbed as one of the preseason favorites to win the ACC, and potentially adding another national championship. As usual with Florida State, this team has a lot of impressive talent and great speed on both sides of the ball. Deondre Francois inherits the starting quarterback position after Everett Golson graduated last season. Francois’s main criticism was that he was not accurate enough in high school, but he showed a lot of poise and accuracy after throwing for 419 yards and two touchdowns against a strong Ole Miss pass rush. But while it is one thing to start your first two games on a neutral field and at home, it’s another to go on your first true road game in a situation like tomorrow’s. Luckily for Francois, he will have a bevy of talented skill players around him, including Heisman candidate Dalvin Cook and a trio of superb receivers.
Nunnsense: Make The Most Of Your GameDay Experience
Photo: GoCards.com
Unless you live under a rock or maybe in Lexington, you have heard that ESPN College GameDay will be broadcasting from Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium on Saturday September 17th for the noon kickoff of Louisville vs. Florida State. This will be the first time that Louisville has hosted GameDay but hopefully not the last. This is Louisville’s second appearance on GameDay. The first was January 2nd 2013 vs Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Louisville won the game played in New Orleans, La. 33-23. Read the rest of this entry
Louisville Is Exactly What The ACC Needed
I have been completely immersed in college football this week. I have read almost every article and heard every radio host break down the Louisville vs. Florida State game. I have heard and read everything there is to know about ESPN college GAMEDAY. Armed with all that information, I still find myself searching and reading more articles. That’s when I stumbled upon this magnificent piece by Corey Clark of the Tallahassee Democrat.
This is a must read for Cardinal fans……. Read the rest of this entry
Lorenzo Mauldin’s Story (New Video)
Lorenzo Mauldin was definitely a crowd favorite during his time at The University of Louisville. He was very approachable and interactive on social media. He called Card nation his family and we accepted him with open arms. We all know his story and what type of guy he is so his success shouldn’t surprise any of us. He was a starter in this past Sunday’s game for the New York Jets. He recorded his first sack of the season. Although it was against my Cincinnati Bengals, I was still excited for him.
Here is a new video talking about his rough road to the NFL. Read the rest of this entry
Who will be the Celebrity Guest Picker?
The Bucket Hat King had to call a special hearing this morning to address some pertinent news. As you have all heard, the University of Louisville will host ESPN’s College GameDay for the first time in program history this Saturday. I am sure most, like myself, are big fans of the tradition of the show which includes hilarious signs, live music, ESPN personalities, and the always entertaining selection by Lee Corso.
Not long ago, GameDay began the tradition of having a celebrity guest picker. It is usually someone with ties to the school or city, but it can also be random (See Katy Perry at Ole Miss). So the speculation has already started, who will walk out of the GameDay RV and step on stage to represent our beloved Cards??
ESPN College GAMEDAY Is Officially Coming To Louisville
After much speculation about GAMEDAY coming to Louisville for the September 17th game vs. Florida State, it’s finally official. No word if the game time has changed or where they will set up the studio but I assume all the details will be released on or before Monday evening. Official release below the videos under click more.
BucketHatism: Syracuse
“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
Good morning, as most of us are waking up this Saturday morning with nothing to do but to replay last night’s events in our Cardinal crazed minds, the BHK would like to read the court his observations and suggestions from last night’s beat down of Otto and his homeboy’s up north.
Friday Night Fight: Louisville at Syracuse
Last Time: After trailing 10-7 to end the first quarter, Louisville rallied to score 34 unanswered in the following three quarters to blow out the Orange 41-17. Kyle Bolin netted a season high 362 yards and three touchdowns, and Trumaine Washington had a 39 yard interception return for a touchdown to start the scoring spree for Louisville.
With the win, Louisville holds the all-time series lead 8-7.
This Time: Both teams enter tonight 1-0, and looking to get an early leg up in conference play.
About the Syracuse Orange
After a largely unsuccessful three-year run with Scott Shafer, Syracuse hired Bowling Green head coach Dino Babers to try to revive Syracuse football. Babers led FCS Eastern Illinois to deep runs in the playoffs, and then brought Bowling Green to back-to-back MAC championships, winning last season before moving to upstate New York.
Nunnsense: 3 Keys To A Successful Bobby Petrino Team
Bobby Petrino is widely revered as an offensive genius. He runs a very complex and sophisticated pro-style offense. The results speak for themselves. Petrino is the architect of the power spread offense even though that title was given to his offense by the media. He says it’s not a Read the rest of this entry
Welcome To The Show (Highlight Video)
Photo: ESPN.com
Bobby Petrino said at the kickoff luncheon that he wanted to get back to lighting up the scoreboard. He wasn’t joking. After watching the opening game, I think it’s safe to say that Bobby Ball is back. Eric Crawford of WDRB did the math and said, ” How dominant was Louisville’s first-half offense? It scored a touchdown every 4.875 plays. It had 25 first downs on 39 first-half plays. It averaged 11.8 yards per snap.” I haven’t seen 70 points since Cincinnati stomped on the Cardinal Bird prior to the 2004 game at PJCS. I pray FSU stomps on the bird on Sept 17th.
Read the rest of this entry
Eli Rogers is Big Ben’s New Weapon
Jerry Fowler of ESPN wrote a nice article about Eli Rogers. The article covers Eli as a very nice complement to Antonio Brown, Eli’s long road to success, his friendship with Teddy Bridgewater and the culmination of it all. It’s worth checking out. The link is posted below…..
8 Touchdowns By Lamar Jackson (Video)
The folks at ACCDN have put together a fun video counting all 8 of Lamar’s touchdowns in the first half of the 70-14 win over Charlotte.
Nunnsense: There Is More To Life Than Football…. But Not Today
It seems like this football season is the most anticipated in the history of the University of Louisville. I might be wrong but I’m not. Even though Louisville was ranked 10th in the 2007 preseason rankings compared to 19th for this season, there are still higher expectations for this season. We have heard all the reasons for the expectations so I won’t break it down for you again. The day is finally upon us. It’s go time.
Louisville Football Breakdown, Part Nine: Linebackers
Last Season: With Lorenzo Mauldin leaving for the NFL, Louisville recruited former Big XII Defensive Player of the Year Devonte Fields to replace him. While Fields struggled in the first half of the season to find some rhythm, he eventually led the team with 10.5 sacks last season, including 7.5 in the final three games against Pitt, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Keith Kelsey led all Cardinals with 106 tackles, and Louisville saw a bevvy of linebackers come in and have a major impact on the team. Louisville also saw Trevon Young have a nice spurt of 8.5 sacks in a four-game stretch, as the linebacker group became the strongest group in Louisville’s defense.
James Burgess is the lone starter gone from last season’s team, now signed as an undrafted free agent by his hometown Miami Dolphins. Keith Brown and Nick Dawson-Brents, who Louisville saw used in a reserve role last season, both transferred to Western Kentucky.
This Season: It goes without saying that this is not only Louisville’s strongest position on the entire team, but this may be the strongest linebacker group in the country.
As mentioned, Devonte Fields leads the group as the main edge rusher for Louisville. Fields has the potential to be yet another first-round pick for the Cardinals; the senior has strong hands at the point of attack, and has some great agility to sidestep pass blockers. Fields has received a lot of praise as an All-American and All-ACC candidate, and could be in for an outstanding 2016 season if he stays consistent for all 12 games.
The other edge rusher remains a mystery to most. With Trevon Young sitting out the 2016 season due to a hip injury suffered in the Music City Bowl, James Hearns will be the guy to replace him. Hearns was a highly touted prospect when he signed with the team in 2013, but hasn’t quite cracked the starting lineup due to so much talent at the position the last three seasons. He got a lot of playing time as a reserve last season and got to audition for his role, after Trevon Young was injured. Hearns has also lined up as a 3-4 defensive end, so it’ll be interesting to see if Todd Grantham will occasionally move Hearns there in certain blitz packages and get more speed from reserves like Henry Famurewa and Jonathan Greenard.
Keith Kelsey and Stacy Thomas are the starting inside linebackers, and both figure to be solid All-ACC candidates. Kelsey is an outstanding tackler, and a consistent, reliable playmaker for Louisville’s defense. Kelsey is a solid leader and has been an all-around threat for Louisville. It will be interesting to see what Kelsey does this season without his fellow “Bash Brother” Burgess, but most fans are excited to see what Stacy Thomas has to offer as his replacement. Thomas had an impressive showing in the Music City Bowl, and possibly stands as the X-factor for this defense after being a special teams ace. He was thought to miss a couple games to start the season, but he recently returned to practice and is ready to go for Thursday’s game against Charlotte.
Even if injuries and transfers left the linebacker position without more players, the team has amazing depth in their two-deep lineup that will allow them to compete. Henry Famurewa and Jonathan Greenard are two guys that could see more time as edge rushers this season; both were highly touted . Amonte Caban and Isaac Stewart are two young, impressive linebackers who could spell Kelsey and/or Thomas this season, and they figure to be the future for Louisville at the position once those two graduate.
Gary McCrae, who was featured in the Netflix hit documentary Last Chance U, signed with Louisville after failing to qualify academically for Georgia. McCrae is a guy that could see time this year as a reserve, but this is a very deep group and most of the incoming players may see a redshirt this season.
The Wait….
