U of L's 2012 midseason grade: A-minus
Halfway through the 2012 regular season, the University of Louisville football team has won all six of its games, yet also has shown areas where it has ample room to improve. Overall, I'll grade them an A-minus so far: good, but not up to potential.
The offense has performed well -- the Cards have put up at least 28 points in each of their games except the the monsoon at Southern Mississippi, and sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been, if anything, better than advertised. To date, he is completing 71.8 percent of his passes, with 9 TDs and three interceptions, and has made very few ill-advised throws; the way he has skippered the offense, I'd say he's already the best Cardinal QB I've ever seen -- and I go back to 1964 as a U of L fan.
The running game gets good marks as well -- between them, Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright have carried 195 times for 1050 yards and 15 touchdowns, and if they remain healthy. each could conceivably rack up 1000 yards on the ground. To my knowledge, this hasn't been done at U of L in a very long time, if ever -- maybe Nathan Poole and Calvin Prince did it one season in the '70s, but I haven't found any documentation.
Overall, the offense is averaging 409.2 yards a game, and the defense is allowing 331.2. In the red zone, the Cards have scored 21 touchdowns and five field goals in 27 trips -- 96 percent efficiency.
Now for the "needs improvement" categories:
I expected better defense against the pass -- U of L has yielded a 65.6 completion percentage and 11 passing touchdowns. It appears that at least going into the Pitt game that followed a bye week, the linebackers had contributed little to the pass defense -- opposing offenses have feasted on the large gap between the linebackers and the defensive backs. This has contributed to 44 percent third-down conversions and 74 percent touchdowns in the red zone. Room to improve here, fellas.
Special teams have produced mixed results. Punters Josh Appleby and Ryan Johnson have averaged only 31.3 net yards per punt, with opponents getting an average of 7.9 yards per return. U of L also has yielded 24.4 yards per kickoff return, resulting in opponents averaging starting at their own 28-yard line. Appleby and John Wallace have combined for only three touchbacks in 39 kickoffs; weather conditions have contributed, certainly, but the Cards could use deeper kickoffs to worsen opponents' field position.
This U of L team has shown flashes of how good it can be -- notably, the first half of the North Carolina game and the second half last Saturday at Pitt. If they can sustain that kind of effort for four quarters consistently, a final grade of A-plus isn't beyond reason.
The offense has performed well -- the Cards have put up at least 28 points in each of their games except the the monsoon at Southern Mississippi, and sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has been, if anything, better than advertised. To date, he is completing 71.8 percent of his passes, with 9 TDs and three interceptions, and has made very few ill-advised throws; the way he has skippered the offense, I'd say he's already the best Cardinal QB I've ever seen -- and I go back to 1964 as a U of L fan.
The running game gets good marks as well -- between them, Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright have carried 195 times for 1050 yards and 15 touchdowns, and if they remain healthy. each could conceivably rack up 1000 yards on the ground. To my knowledge, this hasn't been done at U of L in a very long time, if ever -- maybe Nathan Poole and Calvin Prince did it one season in the '70s, but I haven't found any documentation.
Overall, the offense is averaging 409.2 yards a game, and the defense is allowing 331.2. In the red zone, the Cards have scored 21 touchdowns and five field goals in 27 trips -- 96 percent efficiency.
Now for the "needs improvement" categories:
I expected better defense against the pass -- U of L has yielded a 65.6 completion percentage and 11 passing touchdowns. It appears that at least going into the Pitt game that followed a bye week, the linebackers had contributed little to the pass defense -- opposing offenses have feasted on the large gap between the linebackers and the defensive backs. This has contributed to 44 percent third-down conversions and 74 percent touchdowns in the red zone. Room to improve here, fellas.
Special teams have produced mixed results. Punters Josh Appleby and Ryan Johnson have averaged only 31.3 net yards per punt, with opponents getting an average of 7.9 yards per return. U of L also has yielded 24.4 yards per kickoff return, resulting in opponents averaging starting at their own 28-yard line. Appleby and John Wallace have combined for only three touchbacks in 39 kickoffs; weather conditions have contributed, certainly, but the Cards could use deeper kickoffs to worsen opponents' field position.
This U of L team has shown flashes of how good it can be -- notably, the first half of the North Carolina game and the second half last Saturday at Pitt. If they can sustain that kind of effort for four quarters consistently, a final grade of A-plus isn't beyond reason.
* * * * * * * * *
Alex Rodriguez may have made himself an ex-Yankee with his shenanigans during the American League playoffs, capped by his flipping a baseball inscribed with a request for her phone number to a woman sitting behind the dugout during the late innings of a one-run contest.
When asked for his reaction to being benched for Game 4 of the ALCS, Rodriguez said he understood Yankee manager Joe Girardi had do do what he thought best for the team, but concluded, "I have to believe any lineup is stronger when I'm in it."
Really?
Here's a news flash, A-Rod: when you're hitting .130 and striking out in more than half your at-bats, you are the only one who believes that. Your ego has written a check your performance can't cash -- it's time you were shipped elsewhere.
posted by Alan at 10:47 PM
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