2007 Louisville Cardinals football team

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. With the stunning upsets, the team has missed a bowl game for the first time in a decade (since 1997).

2007 Louisville Cardinals football
ConferenceBig East Conference
2007 record6–6 (3–4 Big East)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorCharlie Stubbs
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorMike Cassity
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumPapa John's Cardinal Stadium
(Capacity: 42,000)
2007 Big East Conference 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

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
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 307:30 pmMurray State*No. 11
ESPNUW 73–1042,185[19]
September 67:00 pmMiddle Tennessee*No. 8
  • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPN2W 58–4240,882[19]
September 157:30 pmat Kentucky*No. 9
ESPN ClassicL 34–4070,857[19]
September 2212:00 pmSyracuseNo. 19
  • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPN+L 35–3840,922[19]
September 293:30 pmat NC State*
ESPNUW 29–1056,487[19]
October 58:00 pmUtah*
  • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPNL 35–4440,894[19]
October 137:00 pmat No. 17 Cincinnati
ESPNUW 28–2435,097[19]
October 198:00 pmat Connecticut
ESPNL 17–2140,000[19]
October 2712:00 pmPittsburgh
  • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPN+W 24–1734,792[19]
November 87:30 pmat No. 6 West Virginia
ESPNL 31–3860,992[19]
November 178:00 pmat South Florida
ESPNUL 17–5557,288[19]
November 297:30 pmRutgers
  • Papa John's Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPNW 41–3839,612[19]

References
  1. "2007 Louisville Cardinals Football Preview". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.
  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. "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. "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. "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Louisville. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
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