With 1:37 left in the game, No. 9 Louisville found itself in a position to come out on top again. The two-point conversion moments earlier proved unsuccessful, but with a slim one-point lead, the pressure shifted to the Kentucky offense.

The Wildcats marched down the field as quickly as the seconds ticked off the clock and with 28 seconds remaining, the Louisville defense broke down. Kentucky quarterback Andre’ Woodson threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Steve Johnson. It marked Woodson’s fourth touchdown toss of the game and the pass that may have ended Louisville’s dreams of a national championship. The Cardinal defense again missed a key play, an error that cost the team its perfect record.

One slip up on safety coverage means the Cardinals will now have to wait another year for the opportunity to run the table. One blown assignment means that more than a dozen senior players have possibly missed their shot at playing for a national championship. Kentucky’s first top-10 victory in more than 30 years illustrates that each week of college football is a game of survival.

‘We had a number of goals coming into the season and certainly that (national championship) was one of them,’ Kragthorpe said. ‘I think along with a lot of other teams, they had that goal. That goal now doesn’t look as realistic as we hoped for, but we still have a lot to play for.’

Although the team isn’t surrendering for the rest of the season, it is now sitting in a precarious situation. The Cardinals can neither redeem the loss nor make it go away and must now deal with the reality of the loss. Louisville’s defense allowed 460 yards of total offense, just seven yards short of the 467 yards the Cardinals’ offense contributed. Rather than eyeing a national championship or conference title, the team now must focus on improvement.

‘Essentially, we aren’t getting in position to make plays,’ Kragthorpe said. ‘When we do get in position, we just aren’t making them right now. We got to get all of our guys lined up and communicating.’

Even if Kragthrope and his defense can correct the missed tackles that have been plaguing them on the field, the team is still a longshot to even earn the opportunity to play in the national title game. Without a playoff system, teams are pressured to keep a perfect record throughout the entire season. The NCAA’s Bowl Championship Series, rather logically, selects teams with no losses to play in the national championship game. There are teams that break the trend, but since the BCS was created in 1998, seven of the nine national champs sported unblemished records.

Fellow Big East teams understand the situation that Louisville has encountered. Despite a solid season last year, West Virginia finished at 11-2, making it impossible to book a date in Arizona for the BCS National Championship.

The playoff atmosphere that encompasses each game is something that every team encounters, yet some choose to focus on it differently. Despite the intense media hype surrounding West Virginia in the preseason, the team only talked briefly about the national championship as something the team wanted to accomplish this season, head coach Rich Rodriguez said. Focusing solely on getting to January is a key part of the team’s success.

‘We put a lot of pressure on each day in practice, and so (in) the games, they understand how important each one is,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We don’t talk a whole lot about it because it’s so far down the road.’

The reality is each game inevitably affects the outcome of the season. A quick strike by an opponent could mean a long offseason for the team on the receiving end or missed opportunities for seniors. The intensity needs to be present at every game because lose one and you’re gone. The scenario that each game could be your last shot at a title is a taxing one.

‘Our first goal each and every year is to win the Big East Conference and that’s always been the case,’ Rodriguez said. ‘We take every game as a playoff round. We’ve got 12 rounds of playoffs, and you treat it as a playoff. If you win one, then you move onto the next one. But if you lose a game, you’re probably out of the whole thing.’

Bearcats off to record start

Cincinnati took home the Victory Bell in a blowout 47-10 win over Miami (Ohio) to improve its record to 3-0. This is the second consecutive year the Bearcats have won the instate rivalry and the win also marks a historic beginning.

First-year UC head coach Brian Kelly has guided the team to a perfect start, winning all three games played under his guidance. One must look back to 1935, when Russ Cohen won five straight, to find a better opening record as head coach at Cincinnati.

Although Cincinnati is not one of the four ranked Big East teams, it has received votes in the national poll for the second consecutive week. In a conference loaded with offensive talent, UC quarterback Dustin Grutza received Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors after completing 25 of his 35 attempts and tossing two touchdowns.

The Bearcat defense is terrorizing opposing offenses with 17 takeaways in just three games. Cornerback DeAngelo Smith added to that total as he took an interception 54 yards for a touchdown. The team’s turnover margin of + 4.33 leads the entire nation.

Around the Conference

This season, West Virginia broke the 30-point mark in its opening three games, which has produced three wins. Since 2000, West Virginia has scored at least 30 points 47 times in regular season games. They’re 46-1 in those games … Pittsburgh freshman running back LeSean McCoy, who scored three touchdowns two weekends ago against Grambling State, proved that performance was not a fluke against Michigan State. McCoy again rushed for over 100 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown run. Curtis Martin was the last Panther rookie to record consecutive 100-yard rushing games back in 1991 … This season Rutgers has emerged with points on all 12 red zone opportunities, tallying eight touchdowns and four field goals. The Scarlet Knights boast the co-national scoring leader in running back Ray Rice, who, along with West Virginia running back Steve Slaton, averages 18 points per game. The passing game compliments the work of Rice, as quarterback Mike Teel’s 236.7 pass efficiency rating is top in the nation.

Published on September 18, 2007 at 12:00 pm