Louisville Cardinals vs Kentucky Wildcats Football Preview

When Charlie Strong and Joker Phillips were assistant coaches together at South Carolina, they made a pact that when Strong received his first head coaching job that Phillips would be his offensive coordinator. Neither envisioned they’d both get their head coaching starts against one another at the helm of heated in-state rivals. Strong – now at Louisville – and Phillips – at Kentucky – will each make their head coaching debuts on opening weekend in a series that has featured both down-to-the-wire finishes in 2009 and 2007, and (on the other hand) runaway victories in 2006 and 2008.

The Wildcats have continuity on their side. Phillips has been on the staff at Kentucky since 2003. In 2009 he was named the head coach-in-waiting, and he now takes over a team with which he is very familiar. The schemes won’t change much on either side of the ball. Phillips also has the luxury of having two extremely dangerous weapons in running back Derrick Locke and all-purpose wide receiver Randall Cobb. The latter of these players – Cobb – is a dangerous hybrid force as both as a receiver and as a running threat in the “WildCobb” formation. Senior Chris Matthews provides a big deep threat across from Cobb that keeps defenses from keying solely on one half of the field in the passing game. After a long quarterback battle, Phillips settled on senior Mike Hartline, who is 2-0 against Louisville as a starting signal caller.

Since taking over at Louisville, Charlie Strong has emphasized the need for his offense to be physical. That’s good news, because the team that has rushed for more yards has won the game every time it’s been played in recent years. The Cardinals return a pair of dangerous backs in Victor Anderson and Bilal Powell (Anderson had 110 yards against Kentucky in 2009), as well as all five offensive linemen. With uncertainty at the quarterback position, the Cardinals figure to rely heavily on the ground game and on moving the chains with a physical rushing attack. It helps that Kentucky’s defense lost its best defensive lineman and all of its linebackers from 2009. Louisville must control the line of scrimmage on the ground if it hopes to end the Wildcats’ three-game winning streak.

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The Cardinals desperately want to win their first game in expanded Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium and end the losing streak to Kentucky. Nevertheless, the talent level and depth is too short for them to end this year. Kentucky’s familiarity with its own system, its offensive balance between rushing and passing, and Louisville’s relative lack of size up front likely mean that while the game might be close for a half or even three quarters, the Wildcats should finally be able to impose their will on Louisville’s defense in the final 20 minutes. Louisville will need to make some calculus-busting, mind-bending plays – likely on special teams (it’s why the word “special” is used) – if it wants to gain enough early-stage scoreboard leverage… leverage it will need in order to upend Big Blue.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer