Louisville 2012 Recruiting

Louisville Cardinals ... Head Coach: Charlie Strong

Louisville Cardinals

2011 Record: 7-6

Sep. 1 Murray State W 21-9
Sep. 9 FIU L 24-17
Sep. 17 at Kentucky W 24-17
Sep. 24 OPEN DATE
Oct. 1 Marshall L 17-13
Oct. 8 at North Carolina L 14-7
Oct. 15 at Cincinnati L 25-16
Oct. 21 Rutgers W 16-14
Oct. 29 Syracuse W 27-10
Nov. 5 at West Virginia W 38-35
Nov. 12 Pitt L 21-14
Nov. 19 at Connecticut W 34-20
Nov. 25 at USF W 34-24
Belk Bowl
Dec. 27 NC State L 31-24

2010 CFN Prediction: 3-9
2010 Record: 7-6

Sept. 4 Kentucky  L 23-16
Sept. 11 E. Kentucky W 23-13
Sept. 18 at Oregon St L 35-28
Sept. 25 OPEN DATE
Oct. 2 at Arkansas St W 34-24
Oct. 9 Memphis W 56-0
Oct. 15 Cincinnati L 35-27
Oct. 23 Connecticut W 26-0
Oct. 30 at Pitt L 20-3
Nov. 6 at Syracuse W 28-20
Nov. 13 USF L 24-21 OT
Nov. 20 West Virginia L 17-10
Nov. 26 at Rutgers W 40-13
BEEF 'O' BRADY'S BOWL
Dec. 22 Southern Miss W 31-28
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 Louisville Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. LB Keith Brown
6-2, 230, Scout.com 7th ranked, four-star middle linebacker. One of the state's top LB prospects, Brown helped lead his team to the state championship game. He finished the season with 142 tackles and four sacks.

2. LB Nick Dawson
6-2, 215, Scout.com 13th ranked, foru-star middle linebacker.

3. S Gerod Holliman
6-0, 185, Scout.com four-star safety.

4. OG Abraham Garcia
6-6, 340, Scout.com 34th ranked, three-star guard.

5. LB Larry Jefferson
6-3, 215, Scout.com 39th ranked, three-star outside linebacker.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... The lines. The defensive line needs prospects to develop for 2014 and beyond, but the bigger need haul should come for the interior of the offensive line that’s set for a while with John Miller and Jake Smith at guard, but with quality depth a must. The Cardinals won’t go heavy on tackles, but they’ll have more than their share of blockers.

Team Concerns For 2012: The kicking game. The Cardinals are loaded with underclassmen who played a huge role in last year’s success, and while senior experience is going to be a problem, the fundamentals of the team are strong. However, the punters are gone including Chris Philpott, who also served as placekicker. Josh Appleby out of Alabama will challenge for the starting kicker gig right away.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: The defense that was such a surprise is loaded and should be among the nation’s best. The line that was so good at getting into the backfield gets three starters back after finishing tenth in the nation against the run, and that doesn’t include pass rushing terror Marcus Smith on the end. Leading tackler Dexter Heyman has to be replaced, but the linebacking corps is sound on the outside and the secondary should be out of this world with all four starters returning. The offense is all about the maturation and improvement of QB Teddy Bridgewater, who got his feet wet last year and showed maturity beyond his years. RB Victor Anderson is done, but bulky back Dominique Brown returns and should be a power runner to work behind. Micahlee Harris is a strong inside receiver who should shine as Bridgewater’s safety valve. The line struggled in pass protection, but four starters return.

The 2011 Class Was Heavy On … Secondary. The star of the show needs to be Teddy Bridgewater, a tall, talented passer out of Miami who moves well and is the type of calm, cool presence to make an offense shine. He spurned Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and other big names to be the main man for the Cardinal attack, and head coach Charlie Strong hopes he has his Vince Young. He’ll have a terrific target to throw to in 6-3 speedster DeVante Parker, and Eli Rogers and Charles Gaines out of Miami, with Rogers working as Bridgewater’s main man at Miami Northwestern, will help. The strength is in the secondary with safety Gerod Holliman a future Big East star and corners Andrew Johnson and Terrell Floyd two Floridians who could see time right away.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 42. That Class Was Heavy On ... The passing game. New head man Charlie Strong brought in three quarterbacks led by Dominique Brown, and they'll have plenty of targets to work with.  Six wideouts signed on and they all fit a type with decent size and tremendous speed. Michaelee Harris out of Miami is the best of the group, but Stephan Robinson could grow into a dangerous playmaker. The defense has its star to build around in end B.J. Butler, a speed rusher who could've gone to Alabama or Florida.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 63. That Class Was Heavy On ... junior college transfers. Can you smell the desperation coming out of Northern Kentucky? Steve Kragthorpe, in need of instant help, went heavy on JUCO transfers, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The scales tipped overwhelmingly toward the D in this class, though Kragthorpe did land Santa Rosa (Calif.) College QB Andrew Froman, who’ll be in the mix to replace Hunter Cantwell.

Belk Bowl
NC State 31 … Louisville 24
- CFN Thoughts on the Game

NC State: The Wolfpack made five sacks and 12 tackles for loss. … Mike Glennon completed 21-of-33 passes for 264 yards and three scores with a pick. … James Washington ran 14 times for 45 yards. … WR T.J. Graham caught seven passes for 116 yards and two scores. … Brandan Bishop made 12 tackles with a tackle for loss, while Audie Cole made ten tackles with two sacks and four tackles for loss. … David Amerson made five tackles with two picks to close out the year with 13 picks.

Louisville: The Cardinals outgained State 391 yards to 329. … Teddy Bridgewater completed 24-of-43 passes for 274 yards and two scores with three picks. … Victor Anderson ran 15 times for 61 yards. … Eli Rogers caught seven passes for 54 yards. … Adrian Bushell made seven tackles with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble with a broken up pass.

(AP) CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mike Glennon threw for 264 yards and three touchdowns and David Amerson returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown as North Carolina State defeated Louisville 31-24 in the Belk Bowl.

T.J. Graham made the most of his final game at N.C. State with seven catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including a 65-yard score on a nifty catch-and-run, as the Wolfpack (8-5) overcame a series of special teams blunders to hold off a late charge from the Cardinals (7-6).

Amerson had two more interceptions to give him 13 for the season, the most in the country, while setting a new Atlantic Coast Conference record.

Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, who threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, nearly brought the Cardinals back from a 21-point deficit, but his final heave on fourth-and-23 was picked off by Amerson with 41 seconds left.

Louisville used a fake punt and recovered an onside kick to get back in the game after falling behind 31-10.

Bridgewater threw a pair of 2-yard touchdown passes to close the gap to 31-24 with 3:55 left in the game.

The Cardinals had once last chance to send the game into overtime after stopping N.C. State on fourth-and-2. However, on a third-and-12 Dontae Johnson sacked Bridgewater for an 11-yard loss setting up Amerson's clinching interception.

The Wolfpack came into the game leading the nation in interceptions and picked off Bridgewater three times.

On Louisville's first possession, Bridgewater came under pressure and made a poor decision to try to dump the ball off, but instead threw it in the hands of linebacker Terrell Manning for an interception. Glennon took advantage, methodically driving the Wolfpack 79 yards completing 6 of 7 passes for 49 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown strike to Graham to take a 7-0 lead.

Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien was worried about his young special teams unit coming into the game and his worst fears were realized on his team's next drive. Freshman punter Will Baumann mishandled a low snap from center and was swarmed under at the 5-yard line.

The Cardinals cashed in three plays later on an 8-yard touchdown run by Bridgewater to tie the game.

After Louisville went ahead 10-7, Glennon bounced back from an early interception by completing five straight passes for 80 yards, capped by a 35-yard touchdown to Tobais Palmer, who made a nice adjustment with the ball in midair to haul in the pass.

Then came the play of the game as Graham caught a pass over the middle from Glennon and broke two tackles en route to a 68-yard touchdown reception giving the Wolfpack a 21-10 lead at the break.

N.C. State tacked on three more to start the third quarter after a pair of costly Louisville penalties -- a running into the kicker on Adrian Bushell on fourth down and unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Preston Brown after the Cardinals stopped the Wolfpack on third down.

The Wolfpack seemingly put the game away 17 seconds later when Amerson intercepted Bridgewater downfield and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.

With his team trailing down 24, Louisville coach Charlie Strong started to gamble.

Strong called for a fake punt after the Cardinals' next drive stalled and Preston Brown, the up back on the punt team, took a direct snap from center and raced 32 yards for a first down. That set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater to tight end Nate Nord in the back corner of the end zone.

Bridgewater added another 2-yard touchdown pass to Josh Bellamy but it wasn't enough.

Nov. 25 Louisville 34 … at South Florida 24
CFN Analysis: Just when it seemed like South Florida had control of the game and stopped the bleeding, the Louisville offense got hot when it had to. This was yet another Teddy Bridgewater moment that showed what a star he’ll be to work around for the next three years completing 19-of-28 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns. … The defense didn’t need to take too many chances and sold out against the run. It worked, forcing two fumbled and allowing just 64 rushing yards. … It might still take a few breaks to get into the BCS, but just getting the offense hot and winning five of the final six games is enough for now to make this a successful season. It’ll take a West Virginia loss to South Florida to make it interesting, but at least the team has solidified a solid bowl bid.  

Nov. 19 Louisville 34 … at Connecticut 20
CFN Analysis: Here it is for Louisville – win at South Florida, go to the BCS. The Cardinals have the edge over Rutgers because of the two-point win a few weeks ago. Charlie Strong is doing a phenomenal job with the defense, while the offense is just doing enough to get by. … Teddy Bridgewater might not be bombing away, but he’s effective completing 14-of-22 passes for 174 yards with a pick. … Hakeem Smith paced the way for the great game from the defense coming up with ten tackles. Most importantly, the defense got off the field with the Cardinals holding on to the ball for over 38 minutes.  

Nov. 12 Pittsburgh 21 … at Louisville 14
CFN Analysis: After winning three straight, the Cardinals couldn’t overcome their lack of consistent scoring punch. The bigger problem, though, for a team ranked ninth in the nation against the run, was the defensive front that got pushed around for 200 yards. … Teddy Bridgewater continues to be fantastic and he continues to show off his potential, but he only led the offense to one touchdown before the final 12 seconds. He was the offense, throwing for 165 yards, spreading the ball around well, and running for a team-leading 54 yards. Victor Anderson only ran for 49 yards on 12 carries. … The Big East title is still on the table, but it’ll take some help. Getting past the loss in the final home game of the season will be tough, but this game aside, the defense is playing well enough to come up with a win at UConn next week to get to six wins. 

Nov. 5 Louisville 38 … at West Virginia 35
CFN Analysis: So, you don’t want Louisville, Big 12 and ACC? Take this. Big East, at least for the parts planning on sticking around, get ready to enjoy Teddy Bridgewater for another three years. 21-of-27 for 246 yards and a touchdown with a pick he outplayed West Virginia’s Geno Smith, even with his 410 passing yards. The Cardinal special teams were an equalizer with a key blocked field goal for a score, while the UofL punters put it inside the 20 three times. The defense got bombed on, but Bridgewater was up to the task, spreading the ball around well and keeping the mistakes to a minimum. The loss to Cincinnati a few weeks ago is still an issue for the Big East title hopes, but if the Cardinals can find a way to get by a team as good as WVU, they’re good enough to beat Pitt, UConn, and South Florida while hoping for the Bearcats to lose twice.

Oct. 29 at Louisville 27 … Syracuse 10
CFN Analysis: This might have been the coming of age game for Teddy Bridgewater. He’s had some good moments so far, but he was cool under fire completing 17-of-24 passes for 198 yards and two scores. He didn’t make any big mistakes and he and Victor Anderson provided a nice balance to keep Syracuse backed up all game long. The defensive front dominated, getting into the backfield time and again with Dexter Heyman leading the way with a sack and two tackles for loss. Winners of two straight, it’s time to go big game hunting. Beat West Virginia, and then it’s time to dream about the possibilities. But for now, this was another great step forward for a young team, and an offense, that’s taking baby steps.  

Oct. 22 at Louisville 16 ... Rutgers 14
CFN Analysis: The offense still isn’t working quite right and it’s a struggle to keep things moving, but the defense continues to rise to the occasion, highlighted by Dexter Heyman’s key interception to seal the win, and the special teams did a strong job. Jeremy Wright ripped off a few big gains on his way to 107 yards on just 11 carries, and while Teddy Bridgewater wasn’t exactly flawless, he threw a pick, he didn’t make the mistakes that Rutgers did. After losing three straight and with the season seemingly slipping away, the clutch win now puts a bowl game back on the table if, and it’s a big if, the offense can keep the running game rolling like it did this week. It’ll take even more out of the offensive line to come up with two more wins against a nasty finishing kick.  

Oct. 15 at Cincinnati 25 … Louisville 16
CFN Analysis: The Cardinals had to convert drives into touchdowns instead of field goals when they had the chance. The attack is averaging just 16.4 points per game going into this weekend, and while Chris Philpott came up with a great game in the breezy conditions, hitting three field goals, the only touchdown came on a pick-six from Mike Evans. Teddy Bridgewater was solid, throwing for 195 yards with a pick, but the offense was stagnant in the second half and the defense hit a wall. There were chances to take control of the game, but Bridgewater couldn’t move the chains. With three of the next four games at home, starting with Rutgers, the season might hinge on a win next week.  

Oct. 8 at North Carolina 14 … Louisville 7
CFN Analysis:  The last thing the offense needed was a missing offensive coordinator, and with Mike Sanford not making the trip, it wasn’t much of a help for an attack that couldn’t figure out one of the ACC’s most talented defenses. Teddy Bridgewater showed off a little bit of his immense talent and potential, but the ground game didn’t work and Bridgewater couldn’t come up with enough big plays to provide any sort of a threat until the final moments. The offense has to start taking more chances with Cincinnati up next, and with a defense that’s doing a terrific job, it’s okay for Bridgewater to make mistakes. The defense will clean them up. 

Oct. 1 Marshall 17 ... at Louisville 13
CFN Analysis: The Louisville defense did a nice job all game long right up until the end. It bent, but rarely broke against a horrible Marshall attack, but when the big stop was needed, it didn’t come. The run defense has been terrific and the line got in the Herd backfield with 12 tackles for loss, but the offense couldn’t keep drives going and the 11 penalties were a killer. Teddy Bridgewater is learning on the fly, with his two interceptions overshadowing a nice 20-of-29, 221-yard, one score, one touchdown run performance. Against North Carolina, the Cardinals have to win a turnover battle – a HUGE problem so far – and the penalties have to stop.
 
Sept. 17 Louisville 24 ... at Kentucky 17
CFN Analysis: Will Stein did a nice job over the first few games considering he didn’t get much help, but if Louisville is going to take a big leap forward, it might have to take a minor step back with Teddy Bridgewater. Stein went out with a shoulder injury, and Bridgewater stepped in and came up with a good enough game to beat the rival. He didn’t push the ball down the field and he didn’t take off, but he didn’t make any mistakes and he came through like a veteran with two big touchdown passes. Defensively, Dexter Heyman came up with a whale of a game with 12 tackles and a big forced fumble, but the defense as a whole was good enough late to close things out. Now it’s time to build off the momentum and take another step forward in two week against Marshall. 3-1 to start the season would be tremendous for a team with so many areas to improve. 

Sept. 9 FIU 24 … at Louisville 17
CFN Analysis: This is a major embarrassment for Louisville, but after the way it played against Murray State, it wasn’t shocking. The defense held FIU to nine first downs, and 157 of the 293 yards allowed came on two plays to T.Y. Hilton in the second quarter, but the Cardinal offense didn’t do enough to take advantage of the opportunities. This isn’t a team built to make big comebacks, and while it did its best late, and while the O held on to the ball for over 36 minutes, the running game wasn’t there to balance out a 349-yard passing game from Will Stein, and the points were too hard to come by. The team is really, really young, and there are still too many big mistakes.

Sept. 1 Louisville 21 … Murray State 9  
CFN Analysis: The Cardinals came out effective with Will Stein coming up with a nice, effective game completing 17-of-32 passes for 226 yards and two sores, but the running game was mediocre as the revamped offensive line struggled to generate a push. And then the O fell totally flat. The four turnovers were a big problem and the ten penalties killed any semblance of consistency, but the big problem was the inability to finish off drives. The Cardinals put it away early with a 21-0 lead, and the defense did its part against a dangerous Murray State offense, but the mistakes have to be kept to a minimum against FIU next week. Star quarterback recruit Teddy Bridgewater was supposed to see plenty of time, but he only threw one pass and it got picked off.

Five Louisville Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. QB Teddy Bridgewater
Playing for a team like Northwestern, even as a sophomore, is a good confidence builder. Bridgewater can stand safely in the pocket for extended periods of time and read defenses without fear of being hit in most games. Bridgewater has better than average arm strength, very good accuracy, and excellent mobility. He's very good at throwing on the run in either direction, uncannily so rolling left

2. S Gerod Holliman
Holliman emerged as one of the top safeties in Miami as a junior. With ideal size to play either free or strong, Holliman also has good instincts and he's around the ball a lot. He picked off four balls as a junior, while showing good hands and ball skills. He's very competitive, too. He's still a little raw in some of his coverage techniques but he has all the tools.

3. QB DaMarcus Smith
6-0, 179, Scout.com’s 20th ranked quarterback

4. WR DeVante Parker
A big receiver with long arms making him an even bigger target, Parker is a long strider who will get stronger as he matures making his change of direction and burst out of breaks better. A good route runner, Parker does a good job of going to the ball rather than letting it come to him. A raw talent with a high ceiling.

5. S Calvin Pryor
6-2, 200, Scout.com’s 31st ranked safety

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Teddy Bridgewater QB 6-3 180 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
Jamon Brown DT 6-4 300 Fern Creek, Ky./Fern Creek
Bryant Dubose DE 6-4 240 Oakland Park, Fla./Northeast
Aaron Epps OT 6-7 245 Tucker, Ga./Tucker
Terrell Floyd CB 5-10 170 Fort Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie
Charles Gaines WR 5-11 170 Miami, Fla./Central
Jarvis Giles WR 5-11 187 Tampa, Fla./South Carolina/Gaither
Brandon Golson OLB 6-2 208 St. Matthews, S.C./Fork County
Jalen Harrington S 6-3 215 Fern Creek, Ky./Fern Creek
Gerod Holliman S 6-0 185 Miami, Fla./Southridge
Andrew Johnson CB 5-9 180 Miami, Fla./Southridge
Ryan Mack OT 6-6 315 Memphis, Tenn./Wooddale
John Miller OG 6-3 295 Miami, Fla./Central
Deiontrez Mount DE 6-5 205 Fort Walton Beach, Fla./Fort Walton
DeVante Parker WR 6-3 185 Louisville, Ky./Ballard
Calvin Pryor S 6-2 200 Port St. Joe, Fla./Port St. Joe
Jermaine Reve S 6-0 180 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
Eli Rogers WR 5-10 180 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
Mike Romano C 6-4 270 Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast
John Wallace K 5-10 185 Cecilia, Ky./Central Hardin