Fansided

Louisville Cardinals football could be next big man in ACC (Video)

ByMichael Collins|

The Louisville Cardinals are entering their second season as a member of the ACC, and they could be ready to step up to be the next BMIC – big man in conference.

RELATED: Louisville Cardinals 2015 Preview and Predictions

Under Bobby Petrino and then Charlie Strong, the Louisville Cardinals were one of the top teams in the Big East and American Athletic Conference, and many pointed them as potential BCS busters. In his first go-round as the Louisville head coach from 2003-2006, Petrino went 41-9 giving him the best winning percentage (.820) of any head coach in Louisville football history.

More from College Football News

The program took a serious nose dive under Steve Kragthorpe, lasting until 2010 when Charlie Strong was hired, who brought the program back to its former high-powered offensive M.O., and posted a 36-15 overall record with the Cards.

Strong moved on to Austin to take charge of the Texas Longhorns, leaving the door open for Petrino’s return to the scene of some of his greatest coaching moments.

While some applauded the re-hire of Petrino, others felt it was disingenuous and a hire for nothing more than publicity and a ploy to ease the tensions of those upset that Louisville had let Charlie Strong leave for the Lone Star state.

Season one under Petrino Part Deux was…mildly successful. A 9-4 campaign marked by inconsistent play from game-to-game and even half-to-half. There were some impressive victories, such as the 31-28 win over Notre Dame on Nov. 22, and there were the ones that got away, like the 42-31 loss to top-ranked FSU – a game the Cardinals had firmly in hand.

Of course, there were the inexplicable losses such as the early season 23-21 game dropped to the Virginia Cavaliers.

The season-ending drubbing by Georgia in the Belk Bowl was not how Louisville wanted to end the season, and it left their once-thought mighty defense reeling against the power run game of the Bulldogs.

But given the conference and division in which the Cardinals reside, it can’t help but be thought that if Petrino begins to have the success he did in his first stint as head coach, Louisville could be on their way to becoming the next king of the hill in the ACC.

Why…you may ask…why would FSU, Clemson or even Georgia Tech not be favored above Louisville at this point in time?

Truthfully, all three of those teams are probably favorites above the Cardinals. The Seminoles are still the team to beat until they are beaten, Clemson, despite always seeming to find a way to weasel their way out of the ACC Championship game, has all the pieces in place, and Georgia Tech could even be better than they were in 2014.

But Louisville has Bobby Petrino, and love him or hate him, you have to give it to the most despicably dishonest contract-signer outside of a boxing ring, the guy can coach and the guy can recruit, and that’s what gathering W’s is all about.

Case in point here in last year’s highlights.

<

Oddly enough, Bobby Petrino’s first season coaching Louisville in 2003 ended in…

You guessed it, a 9-4 record. Year two (as a member of Conference-USA) saw them improve to 11-1, going undefeated in conference play. The Cardinals took a step up to the Big East in 2005, turning in a 9-3 record, and then just like clockwork, the followed up with an 12-1 record in 2006, finishing first in the conference.

Will year two of Louisville’s stay in the ACC have similar results? It’s entirely possible, and even more so in future seasons.

The Louisville defense was good — perhaps a tad overrated — but very good in 2014.

They’ll be better this year.

Maybe.

We are talking about Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator here, a man whose defenses are always seemingly a tipped pass or blown coverage away from having seasons turned upside down. (See: Miracle at Jordan-Hare)

But even if the defense remains status quo, the Louisville offense wasn’t a particularly impressive unit, especially when you consider that Petrino is regarded somewhat of an offensive genius and quarterback guru. But this wasn’t his team, wasn’t his recruits (for the most part) and wasn’t his idea of how to properly execute the Petrino passing attack.

This offense could be teetering on breakout mode, as Petrino’s offenses so often are in their second year.

But back to the incumbent leaders in the ACC, are they ripe for a fall?

Short answer, yes.

It may surprise you just how…well…bad FSU will be without Jameis Winston. He may have been the most irrepressible players in college football, but he was also the man who put the Seminoles on his back and carried them to a lot of wins.

Clemson, as good as they are, may still not be ready to take that next step. They can play defense, and they have a dynamic quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but unfortunately for the Tigers, they don’t really have a plan B if anything happens to him, and they aren’t rich with offensive talent.

Georgia Tech has shown flashes of greatness in the past under Paul Johnson, but they never seem to be able to string together more than one quality season at a time. That could change in 2015, but if I were a gambling man my money would not be riding on the backs of the Yellow Jackets.

And for you Duke and North Carolina fans who are cursing me and loading up the expletive-machine on your email program, just sit down and be quiet until winter gets here.

Ultimately, if Petrino does what he’s shown he can do in the past with an offense, and if Grantham’s defense can hold it together against quality opponents for more than three quarters, then Louisville is already in position to leave the other three ACC favorites in their jetwash.

That’s an awful lot of ifs, and as good as it sounds on paper, the games all still have to be played on the field.

Next: 10 Smartest Coach Firings of the Last 10 Years

More from Saturday Blitz

Home/College Football News