2009 College Football Odds: Steve Kragthorpe enters his third year as the head man at Louisville and he probably knows that the natives are starting to get a little restless. Prior to Kragthorpe taking the job, Bobby Petrino had guided the Cardinals to four consecutive nine or more win seasons. Since Petrino left for the Atlanta Falcons and subsequently the Arkansas Razorbacks, Kragthorpe has amassed a 11-13 record at Louisville. BetUS.com has the Cardinals listed at +1600 moneyline odds to rebound and win the Big East in their Louisville Cardinals 2009 College Football Odds – BCS Odds 2010.
Louisville has been a huge disappointment over the last two seasons as they failed to deliver on big expectations both in '07 and '08. Last year they finished with a sub .500 record for the first time this decade, concluding play with a 5-7 mark. The Cardinals were horrific in conference play as well, going just 1-6 against the Big East.
Louisville was expected to field a high powered offense with the highly touted Hunter Cantwell running things at quarterback. Cantwell, however, underachieved and also suffered through a leg injury that limited his effectiveness. He finished the year with 2493 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. Junior Justin Burke or junior college pickup Adam Froman will take over at quarterback for Cantwell this season. Whoever wins the job will have the luxury of the top five receivers all being back with the team.
In addition to a solid receiving corps, Louisville also returns leading rusher, sophomore Victor Anderson. Anderson ran for 1047 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshmen while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
The Louisville defense will be directed by Brent Guy this season as Ron English left to take the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan. The defense yielded 29.8 points per game last year after a rash of injuries in the secondary hurt the overall effectiveness of the unit. This season they have six starters back, and it is difficult to imagine that they would be any worse than a season ago.
The top three tacklers all return, led by linebacker Jon Dempsey and the entire defensive backfield is comprised of upperclassmen. The defensive line will look much different with just one starter returning, but last year's group aided in producing a meager 14 sacks on the season.
Louisville starts the season with a home game against Indiana State on September 5th. After that they have tough non-conference clashes at Kentucky and at Utah. Their first conference game is October 2nd against Pittsburgh at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
BetUS.com Louisville Cardinals 2009 College Football Odds – BCS Odds 2010
Louisville Cardinals Odds to Win the Big East Conference Championship:
+1600
Louisville Cardinals BCS Odds 2010:
+15000
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