Oh, I could see it all folding out before me. After the Cardinals took a 25-7 lead in the second quarter, the Louisville enthusiasts had their comments already lined up: ‘you see, Louisville is a top program! They crushed the No. 15 team in the country! They are for real! They deserve respect!’
Look, both of these teams are good. Both programs are having a great season and the past two weeks show that the Big East can supply tough competition. But after watching Big East football for the past two weeks, I still stand firm that these programs shouldn’t be ranked in the top five. Louisville doesn’t play defense and Rutgers is one-dimensional on offense. What does Ohio State do to that Louisville defense? What does Michigan do to the Rutgers offense? Ray Rice is a fantastic player (reminds me a lot of Warrick Dunn), but Michigan, Texas, Florida and even LSU would keep him in the ballpark and make Mike Teel beat them (I think it is pretty evident that he couldn’t win a big game on his own).
Not to totally rain on Rutgers parade, however, because the Scarlet Knights deserve all the credit in the world for coming back from down 18 in the second quarter. The defense played great down the stretch and continuously got pressure on Brian Brohm. Rice was absolutely phenomenal and you have to love what Greg Schiano has done in turning around this program. However, why in the name of all that is holy did Rutgers kick off to JaJuan Spillman at the end of the game after he already returned a kick for a touchdown earlier in the contest? If it wasn’t for PK Jeremy Ito, Spillman saves Louisville’s season by taking one to the house as time expires. And speaking of Ito, that kid should get a shot in the NFL. I know he was given a reprieve on his first shot at the game winner because a Cardinals player jumped offside – but man does he have a strong leg.
Getting back to Louisville’s loss – the National Championship flood gates are now open for Auburn, Florida, USC, Texas, the loser of the Michigan/OSU game, Notre Dame and I think Temple is back in it now too. Watch out for USC though. Due to their tough stretch the rest of the way, if the Trojans run the tables I bet USC is taking another crack at the National Championship game in January.
