ESPN analyst John Congemi breaks down the BIG East Game of the Week
By John Congemi
Posted: Nov. 19, 2009
This will be the seventh meeting between these two teams. The series is tied at 3-3, with each team going 3-0 at their home stadium. Louisville is coming off a hard-fought 10-9 win last week against Syracuse, when the Cardinals scored their first BIG East league win of the season (ending a nine-game BIG East losing streak). South Florida is looking to rebound from a 31-0 loss at Rutgers last Thursday. The Bulls, who won their first five games of the season, have dropped three of their last four games. The last time these two teams played in Tampa, USF won 55-17. Will Louisville break the trend and get their first road victory in this series, or will South Florida get back on track and become Bowl eligible?
My prediction? SOUTH FLORIDA 38, LOUISVILLE 10
By the way, I’ll be looking for your tweets during the game.
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KEYS FOR LOUISVILLE:
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QB B. J. Daniels
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SCORE IN EVERY PHASE
Anytime you go on the road, it’s always nice to score early and take the excitement out of the crowd. Louisville has struggled to score points this year on offense. That’s why it’s important this week to get big plays from the offense, defense and special teams. Last week against Syracuse, the Cardinal offense only produced 151 yards, the first time Louisville was held under 200 yards since 2002
! QB
Adam Froman and RB
Darius Ashley will need to get their rhythm back to have a chance for victory. WR
Scott Long needs to continue his passing game; he’s having a career year, with 40 receptions for 565 yards. Defensively, the Cardinals need to continue to force turnovers like the two last week. Senior LB
Chris Campa recorded a career-high 15 tackles (79 on the season) and also had a pair of sacks. LB
Jon Dempsey leads the team in total tackles with 98, and CB
Andrew Robinson (a converted wide receiver) made a game-saving interception to seal a victory, the first pick of his career. WR and return specialist
Trent Guy will need to make a huge impact in the game as well; last week his performance was the difference between winning and losing. It’s going to take an entire team effort to get a road victory and keep the thoughts of a .500 season alive.
KEYS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA:
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RB Darius Ashley
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PLAY UNDER CONTROL
This should be the week South Florida starts to play with more consistency. Louisville has been battered with injuries, so the matchup couldn’t be set up any better for the Bulls. The Cardinal offense has allowed 80 tackles for loss and a Big East-worst 32 sacks this season. Meanwhile, South Florida DE Jason Pierre-Paul leads the league in tackles for loss per game, with 1.33, and is second in total tackles for loss. Last week against Rutgers, he registered two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. DE George Selvie, although not having an All-American year by his standards, has 7.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks on the year. LB Kion Wilson has led the Bulls in total tackles in four straight games, and has recorded double-digit tackles in three straight games! DB Nate Allen is having an award-winning season, with three interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one defensive touchdown. Offensively, QB B.J. Daniels will need to protect the football. Daniels has nine plays of 40 yards or more, but is completing only 51.1 percent of his passes and has a TD-to-INT ratio of 10/8. It would help a young quarterback if he could rely on a more balanced running game, and someone to pick up the slack for injured WR Carlton Mitchell. Mitchell sat out of last week’s loss, and his return would bolster this attack.
