2007 Louisville Cardinals football team

2007 Louisville Cardinals football
Conference Big East Conference
2007 record 6–6 (3–4 Big East)
Head coach Steve Kragthorpe
Offensive coordinator Charlie Stubbs
Offensive scheme Multiple
Defensive coordinator Mike Cassity
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
(Capacity: 42,000)
2007 Big East football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 West Virginia $+  5 –2     11 –2  
Connecticut +  5 –2     9 –4  
No. 17 Cincinnati  4 –3     10 –3  
South Florida  4 –3     9 –4  
Rutgers  3 –4     8 –5  
Louisville  3 –4     6 –6  
Pittsburgh  3 –4     5 –7  
Syracuse  1 –6     2 –10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team, led by Steve Kragthorpe in his first year at the school, played their home games in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and were in their third year in the Big East Conference.

Pre-season

The Cardinals finished the 2006 season with a 12–1 record, including a win in the Orange Bowl. After the win, they were ranked fifth in the nation. Returning fourteen starters from their 2006 team,[1] including quarterback Brian Brohm[2] the team was picked, by the Big East media, to finish second in the conference,[3] and were ranked between five and 13 in various preseason polls.[4][5][6][7][8]

Coaching changes

Almost a week after their victory in the Orange Bowl, head coach, Bobby Petrino, was offered and took the head coaching position with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.[9] Two days later, Steve Kragthorpe, former head coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, was hired for the position.[10] Though five assistant coaches were retained, five new assistants were hired in the off-season, three of which came with Kragthorpe from his staff at Tulsa.[11]

Roster changes

Although returning 14 starters from 2006, the team lost four players to the 2007 NFL Draft. From the offense, running back Michael Bush was taken in the fourth round by Oakland and running back Kolby Smith was taken in the fifth round by Kansas City. From the defense, tackle Amobi Okoye was taken tenth by Houston while cornerback, William Gay was taken in the fifth round by Pittsburgh.[12]

Recruiting

The Cardinals signed 15 recruits for the new class, including three junior-college transfers. Included in the top-50 class were one five-star recruit on defense, three four-star recruits on offense and another four-star recruit on defense. Also entering in with the class was 2006 recruit Josh Chichester, who wasn't able to enroll with his recruiting class.

Pre-season honors

Three Cardinal players were honored as part of pre-season watchlists for national awards.

In addition to the honors, Brohm was also named to the Playboy pre-season All-America team.[15]

Season

Roster

Sources: http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/lou/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/07-fb-guide-44-59 http://louisville.scout.com/a.z?s=17&p=8&c=2&nid=696&yr=2007

Coaching staff

The 2007 Cardinal team was coached by Steve Kragthorpe and his staff. Much of the coaching staff from 2006 remained, but Kragthorpe brought in other to fill out the staff, including, initially, three from his previous position.[11][16] Keith Patterson was originally brought in from Tulsa as defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach, however returned to Tulsa before the season began for personal reasons.[17] Patterson was quickly replaced by Mike Mallory.[18]

NamePositionYear at
Louisville		Alma Mater (Year)
Steve KragthorpeHead Coach1stWest Texas A&M (1988)
Jeff BrohmQuarterbacks5thLouisville (1993)
Mike CassityDefensive Coordinator
Safeties		4thKentucky (1976)
Reggie JohnsonInside Linebackers5thLouisville (1996)
Mark NelsonDefensive Line
Special Teams		1stEast Central (1980)
Greg NordTight Ends
Recruiting Coordinator		13thKentucky (1980)
Charlie StubbsOffensive Coordinator
Wide Receivers		1stBrigham Young (1978)
Brent MyersOffensive Line1stEastern Washington (1982)
Tony AlfordRunning Backs1stColorado State (1992)
Mike MallorySecondary1stMichigan (1985)

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
August 30 7:30 pm Murray State* No. 11 Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPNU W 73–10   42,185[19]
September 6 7:00 pm Middle Tennessee* No. 8 Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPN2 W 58–42   40,882[19]
September 15 7:30 pm at Kentucky* No. 9 Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY ESPN Classic L 34–40   70,857[19]
September 22 12:00 pm Syracuse No. 19 Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPN+ L 35–38   40,922[19]
September 29 3:30 pm at NC State* Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC ESPNU W 29–10   56,487[19]
October 5 8:00 pm Utah* Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPN L 35–44   40,894[19]
October 13 7:00 pm at No. 17 Cincinnati Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH ESPNU W 28–24   35,097[19]
October 19 8:00 pm at Connecticut Rentschler Field • East Hartford, CT ESPN L 17–21   40,000[19]
October 27 12:00 pm Pittsburghdagger Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPN+ W 24–17   34,792[19]
November 8 7:30 pm at No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineer Field • Morgantown, WV ESPN L 31–38   60,992[19]
November 17 8:00 pm at South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL ESPNU L 17–55   57,288[19]
November 29 7:30 pm Rutgers Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY ESPN W 41–38   39,612[19]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

  1. ↑ "2007 Louisville Cardinals Football Preview". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  2. ↑ "Louisville quarterback Brohm to return for senior season". Archived from the original on 18 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
  3. ↑ "Cards Picked to Finish Second in BIG EAST in 2007". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  4. ↑ "No. 13: Loaded Cardinals welcome Kragthorpe". athlonsports. Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  5. ↑ "SI.com - Writers - Stewart Mandel: Spring Power Rankings". SI.com. 2007-04-24. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  6. ↑ "Schlabach: Revised early look at the top 25 for 2007". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
  7. ↑ "Rivals.com College Football - Rivals.com 2007 Preseason Top 25". Rivals.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  8. ↑ "Spring Top 25: Dear Mr. Dellins -- your Bruins are here". Sportsline.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-08. Retrieved 2007-03-26.
  9. ↑ "Falcons lure Louisville's Petrino to NFL with five-year deal". USA Today. 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  10. ↑ "Louisville,Tulsa's Kragthorpe have agreement". Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  11. 1 2 "Kragthorpe Announces Cardinal Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  12. ↑ "Four Cardinals Selected in the NFL Draft". Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
  13. ↑ "Brohm Named to Manning Watch List". Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  14. 1 2 "Wood and Grady Named to Preseason Watch Lists". Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  15. ↑ "Brohm Named to Preseason All-American Team". Retrieved 2007-08-15.
  16. ↑ "Alford Named as Kragthorpe Completes Coaching Staff". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  17. ↑ "Patterson Leaves Louisville; Returns to Tulsa". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  18. ↑ "Mallory Hired to Coach the Secondary". Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Louisville. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
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