Louisville hopes defense can learn English

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, April 03, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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(Fourth in a series on Big East spring football)

Famous throughout the coaching fraternity for his dramatic reclamation job at Tulsa, Steve Krapthorpe thought he could take a year off from miracle working when he came to Louisville last year. The Cardinals, everyone said, were solid -- a Top Five team, even.

All Kragthorpe had to do was keep his hand on the throttle and steer a steady course toward a BCS bowl. He had nothing to worry about.

Of course, that's what they told the skipper of the Titanic.

In Louisville's case, the iceberg turned out to be its own defense. Cardinal fans still cringe at these numbers -- 31.4 points per game by the opposition, 8.8 yards per pass, 4.4 yards per rush, over 5,000 yards (nearly three miles) surrendered in total offense.

Thank God for Murray State and North Carolina State, who scored a total of 20 points. Otherwise, Louisville was torched for 55 points by South Florida, 44 by Utah, 42 from Middle Tennessee State (Middle Tennessee!), 38 from Syracuse, West Virginia and Rutgers.

The Syracuse game was especially galling, since those 38 points came from one of the worst offenses in college football.

But that was last year, this is 2008, and the 2008 Cardinals are learning defense in plain English -- Ron English, hired after two years as defensive coordinator at Michigan.

The problem is, the defensive personnel doesn't look much better. All three starting linebackers either graduated or (in the case of leading tackler Lamar Myles) turned pro. Only tackle Earl Heyman, end L.D. Scott and cornerback Woodny Turenne return as starters on that side of the ball, and a lot depends on whether Miami transfer James Bryant can fit in at linebacker and free safety Latarrius Thomas -- a starter as a true freshman -- is over his knee injury.

Rod Council was supposed to be the guy to anchor the secondary, but he was arrested in North Carolina and charged with holding up a rural convenience store with an Uzi.

Offensively, things aren't much better. Four starters return, three of them (George Bussey, Eric Wood and Mike Donogue) on the offensive line. Bussey and Wood are future pros, the latter a three-year starter.

Quarterback Brian Brohm finally graduated, but backup Hunter Cantwell has gotten in some experience during some of Brohm's many injuries. He even started a bowl game -- vs. Virginia Tech two years ago -- and performed credibly.

Leading receivers Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia both left for the NFL, along with TE Gary Barnidge, and leading rusher Anthony Allen transferred. There are, however, high hopes for Bilal Powell at running back, with George Stripling in reserve and Brock Bolen at fullback.

Kragthorpe did bring in a flock of junior college players to affect a quick fix. Maybe rebuilding is how he feels most comfortable.

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