Cats strike it Rich.
As much as many pundits have battered Rich Brooks — include me in that cavalry charge — it’s time to give him his props. The Cats have steadily progressed under his calm tutelage. Look at what Georgia did at Auburn a week after being humbled by the Bluegrass Boys. Then tell me this isn’t a vastly improved UK squad.
The Cards’ season ends …
not with a bang but a whimper. Weaknesses apparent before the season came back to kick U of L in the butt at Rutgers: less-than-stellar O line, porous D secondary, clammy-handed receivers. Poor Brian Brohm. Beaten to a pulp on the field, he got it even worse from his QB coach on the sideline. Guess Piscataway isn’t that near the City of Brotherly Love.
Give ’em a break.
All that said, it’s no time for Cards fans to jump off an unpainted bridge. After losing their best player/playmaker, a legit Heisman candidate, in the first game, Louisville is a last-second mulligan field goal from being undefeated. Not that long ago they were losing to schlepper schools in front of empty seats at Fairgrounds Stadium.
Padgett report.
On good authority, David Padgett will be ready to start the opening tilt. Or not be ready until January. Or never be really ready because of bad wheels.
SchnellSpeak of the Week.
The fortunes of SchnellMastro’s FAU pigskinners have fallen faster than Karl Rove. The 3-7 Fighting Owls fell out of conference and bowl contention with 17-24 loss at home to Troy. Before the game, The Pipe was hopeful. “They know that even though we probably won’t win the conference that it’s important to finish up strong. They’ve been a good group of kids and I expect them to do that. If we need special motivation, there’s something wrong with us.” Something’s happening there, but Schnell doesn’t know what it is. “If we knew what was going on, we would have done a better job of correcting it. As usual, someone screwed up on this play and somebody else screwed up on another play.”
This article appears in November 14, 2006.