By Al Myatt, Special to CNNSI.com
The Keg of Nails, the trophy that goes to the Cincinnati-Louisville
winner in football, is in the office of Cardinals coach John L. Smith
following U of L's 28-13 win over the Bearcats in a battle of Conference
USA unbeatens at Cincy's Nippert Stadium on Saturday.
The series began in 1929 and the trophy is believed to have evolved from
the universities' respective fraternities, proving who was "tough as
nails." There's also a school of thought that "nails" was synonomous
with "booze" in earlier days.
"I tell you one thing," said Cincinnati coach Rick Minter, whose
institution leads the series 25-15-1. "There ain't many nails in that thing."
The original keg was lost in construction in Louisville, and the prize
that sits in Smith's office is actually a duplicated substitute. In a
sense, that's appropriate for this year's battle. Without
tight end Ronnie Ghent and wide receiver Deion Branch because of
injuries, the prolific passing style that has been Louisville's
trademark under Smith took a back seat as the Cardinals found other ways
to win.
"It's not only a matter of second team guys stepping up but the rest of
us, first teamers and coaches, stepping up a notch, too," Smith said.
"That's the way to overcome adversity due to injury."
The Cardinals, who play 12 games this season, became bowl eligible as
they improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the league. Louisville's running
game produced 136 yards from sophomore T.J.
Patterson, who had been out
for three weeks with an ankle sprain. The Cards ran for 222 yards total
as junior left-hander Dave Ragone completed just 12 of 28 passes for 154
yards. Ragone threw for one score, ran for another and was not intercepted.
"How hand-in-hand the running game goes with Ragone's passing changes
with the game plan from week to week and with the health of people,"
Smith said. "When you're losing wideouts, you better pick up the running
game a notch or two. You have to run the football to be a championship
football team."
You also have to play defense, and the Cards did that as well, holding
Cincinnati to 78 yards rushing on 29 carries, an average of 2.7 yards
per carry. Louisville also came up with three interceptions and
recovered a Cincinnati fumble as the Cardinals emerged with a 4-2 lead
in turnovers generated. Bearcats freshman Gino Guidugli completed 19 of
46 for 295 yards but the three picks proved costly.
Louisville free safety Anthony Floyd had the 16th interception of his
career, tying Sam Madison's school record. It led to a 23-yard scoring
run by Patterson that put the Cards ahead 21-10 midway the third quarter.
"You hear it said over and over," Smith said. "'Offense puts people in
the stands but defense is going to win championships.' We've always
believed that here. The reason we were able to win the championship last
year is because we started playing defense. The defense caught up with
the offense."
Linebacker Michael Brown was named
C-USA defensive player of the week as he registered an interception,
forced and recovered a fumble, and had a pass break-up to go with four
tackles. The fumble he forced and recovered resulted in Louisville's
second touchdown, and his interception with 1:54 left assured that the
keg would remain in Smith's office.
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Army sophomore running back C.J. Young had a previous career high of 79
yards rushing before stepping to the forefront for the Cadets in a 42-35
win over Tulane.
Young established new career highs with 39 carries, 192
yards rushing and four touchdowns. The 5-foot-8, 196-pounder from
Detroit had totaled just 198 yards rushing for his career prior to his
breakout effort at Michie Stadium. His 39 carries were the second-most
ever by an Army running back, one short of the Academy mark of 40 set by
Gerald Walker in 1981. His four touchdowns tied the stadium record held
by eight others.
Young played on the junior varsity level as a freshman
at West Point but showed great improvement during spring practice.
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HOT:
Southern Miss QB Jeff Kelly
Was 20-of-32 for 276 yards and tied
his career high with four TD passes against Houston.
NOT:
Tulane RB Mewelde Moore
Although he's rushed for 1,135 yards this
season, he was limited to 80 on 26 attempts at Army.
HOT:
Louisville kicker/punter Wade Tydlacka
Punted nine times at Cincinnati for a
career-high 42.6-yard average.
NOT:
Louisville, vis-a-vis referees
The Cardinals have been penalized a
league-high 614 yards, an average of 76.8 yards per game.
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League officials and ESPN television executives envisioned an
opportunity for unchallenged exposure when they scheduled East Carolina
to play at TCU on Tuesday night, Oct. 30.
Since then Michael Jordan has
come out of retirement and the baseball playoffs were pushed back
because of terrorist attacks. So the Pirates and Horned Frogs on ESPN 2
were matched against Jordan's Washington Wizards in their season opener
at the New York Knicks on TBS and Game 3 of the World Series on Fox.
"That's some tough competition," said Chuck Gerber, ESPN executive vice
president of regional television. "... It's a double whammy."
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UAB quarterback Thomas Cox
Ran 12 times for 43 yards in a 17-14
win at Memphis and completed six of 19 passes for 50 yards. Those
numbers aren't imposing but is record as a starter, 4-0, makes them look
much better.
Army defensive end Brandan Perdue
Had five tackles, one forced
fumble, one interception and two pass deflections against Tulane.
Southern Miss linebacker Rod Davis
Had an interception, recovered a
fumble and had two pass break-ups in addition to eight tackles in the
Houston game.
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Southern Miss hopes to avoid being career win No. 325 for Joe Paterno
when the Golden Eagles visit Penn State on Saturday.
In its only previous matchup with the Nittany Lions in its season
opener in 1998, Southern Miss lost 34-6 at Happy Valley.
Both clubs have shown signs of snapping out of offensive slumps. Penn
State (2-4) has scored 38 and 29 points the last two weeks, both wins.
Southern Miss exploded for a 58-14 win over Houston.
"It's very impressive how they have come back in those two games," said
Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower. "They were down 27-9 against Ohio State,
had three straight scores, and won the game [29-27]."
Bower spent some time with Paterno on a trip sponsored by Nike.
"He is so down-to-earth and he's fun to talk to," Bower said.
The Southern Miss coach said Paterno's record-breaking win last week
won't affect his team.
"It doesn't affect us at all," Bower said. "I don't know is it affects
them. You would have to ask him [Paterno] about that. We are going to go
up there and play well enough to win the game. That's what I expect to
do, and that is what our players will expect to do."
In other non-conference action Connecticut is at Cincinnati, Army plays
at Air Force -- with implications for the commander-in-chief's trophy,
and Houston visits South Florida, which is scheduled to join C-USA in 2003.
The only league matchup on Saturday sends Louisville to Tulane.
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LSU will begin playing in-state schools Tulane, Louisiana Tech,
Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe on a rotating basis. "If the
$400,000 for the game doesn't go to Troy State, San Jose or somewhere
else and stays in Louisiana instead, I like that," said LSU athletic
director Skip Bertman. The Tigers will play Tulane in the Superdome in
New Orleans in 2005 and host the Green Wave in 2009. ... Cincinnati had
a seven-game winning streak in league games stopped by Louisville. ... Southern Miss
and UAB are second and third nationally in total defense. ... James
Walley of Southern Miss ran for two touchdowns against Houston and
teammate Orlando Danztler had two scoring receptions. ... Orlando
Iglesias of Houston has 198 career catches, fourth in league history and
first among active players. He has at least one catch in 39 straight
games. ... Tulane's Mewelde Moore leads the nation in all-purpose
running with a 202.8-yards per game average. ... The Green Wave tops the
nation with 14 fumble recoveries. Louisville is second nationally with
25 turnovers gained. ... Memphis quarterback Neil Suber saw his first
action since Sept. 22, completing 11 of 18 passes for 93 yards and a
touchdown. Suber came in after freshman Danny Wimprine was intercepted
twice. Tigers back Dante Brown scored his ninth touchdown, the most by a
Memphis back since Larry Porter scored nine in 1990. Memphis has an open
date before playing rival Tennessee on Nov. 10. Memphis kicker Ryan
White had a tying field goal attempt from 41 yards blocked in the final
minute against Memphis. A low snap was followed by a shaky placement and
UAB's Chris Brown was among those getting to the ball for what was
recorded as a "team block." |
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