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2005-2006
College Football Season
CollegeJersey.com
Game Of The Week
Sponsored by:
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Preview: Louisville
at West Virginia
By Douglas
Kroll
Courtesy: CollegeJersey.com
The #19 Louisville
Cardinals travel to Morgantown, WV on Saturday to face off against
the #25 (coaches and Harris polls) West Virginia Mountaineers.
This will mark the first time the teams face each other as Big
East rivals, with West Virginia leading the all-time series 5-1.
The lone Louisville win was in 1990, in Morgantown, when they
won 9-7.
Louisville has gotten back on track after their shocking loss
to South Florida a couple of weeks ago. They dismantled both
FAU and North Carolina, scoring 61 points and 69 points respectively.
The Cardinals great offensive attack begins with sophomore Brian
Brohm. He has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes for 1522
yards and 10 touchdowns so far. That is about 305 yards per game
for the Lexington, KY native.
A redshirt freshman by the name of Mario Urrutia has been receiving
a lot of Brohm’s passes. Urrutia is averaging 104 yards
per game and has four touchdown catches on the season.
The Cardinals are led on the ground by junior running back Michael
Bush, who has gained 527 yards in the teams first five games.
Bush has also tacked on 11 touchdowns which is good enough to
lead the nation in scoring.
Even with all of the offensive fire power, perhaps the scariest
guy on the team resides on the defensive side of the ball. Defensive
end Elvis Dumervil has been a terror for every offense the Cardinals
have faced. Dumervil leads the team in tackles with 35, sacks
with 15 (leads the nation), and tackles for loss with 16. His
gaudy numbers don’t stop there. The Miami native has also
forced seven fumbles, which is one short of the record for a
whole season. These numbers would be impressive for an entire
year, let alone in the first five games.
The Mountaineers are fresh off a 27-14 win at Rutgers last weekend.
WVU’s only loss came at the hands of the #3 team in the
nation, the Hokies of Virginia Tech.
As a team, West Virginia likes to move the ball on the ground,
with the team averaging 221 yards by handing the ball off to
what has been a variety of different players that have run the
ball this season. Four running backs have gained 100 yards so
far this year, with Steve Slaton leading the way with 271 yards
including 139 against Rutgers.
At quarterback, the Mountaineers feature both sophomore Adam
Bednarik and freshman Pat White. Bednarik is completing 80 percent
of his throws, while White is averaging 5.6 yards per carry when
he decides to run. The two could provide a dynamic offensive
threat against a very good Louisville defense. Senior wide receiver
Brandon Myles has caught 21 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns
so far on the campaign.
In the eyes of the Cardinals, this game has become a must-win
as West Virginia has started the year 2-0 in Big East play. Since
Louisville dropped its first game in conference play to South
Florida, they currently trail the Mountaineers by 1.5 games in
the standings. A loss Saturday would certainly be a crushing
blow to Louisville’s chances of getting to a BCS bowl in
the teams first year in their new conference.
Kickoff is set for 3:30 eastern on ABC.
Douglas
Kroll is an independent contributor to College Football Poll.com. |
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