“ALL RISE!!! Court is now in session. The honorable Bucket Hat King LJ tha Fiasco presiding. Please be seated and come to order”
I got nothing.
I am literally still riding an emotional high from the events of Saturday and I won’t taint that by speaking on the events that led up to it. For now, I will shut my mouth and enjoy the present. Louisville won a meaningful game against a Power 5 opponent for the first time in nearly two years. Don’t ever take winning for granted. EVER.
To the notes:
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I gave the bailiff the day off to celebrate. This is the equivalent of sitting in class as a kid and seeing the teacher roll in a TV during March Madness so that everyone can watch the games. Clutch than a mother******r.
- Welcome to the party Seth “Man Hands” Dawkins. The senior wideout finished the game with six receptions, for 170 yards, and one touchdown. Dawkins could have easily had two scores but was tracked down before crossing the goal line. It took them a few weeks, and it also took the right QB to throw them the ball, but the receiving corps finally woke up and not a moment too soon.
- Speaking of receivers. Dez 6-Patrick made another appearance on Saturday when he hauled in a 23 yards score late in the game. And it was perfect timing as the Cards were fighting tooth and nail with a stubborn BC team.
- Javian Hawkins joined in on the “100 yards” fun as well. Hawkins had a monster day running for 172 yards and a touchdown. Personally he should have had two touchdowns but the refs showed every level of incompetence they could muster up during the game, but more on that later. It also helps when your offensive line is opening up holes as wide as Dixie Highway for you to run through:
- Malik, er, Micale Cunningham has the QB1 spot on lock unless his ankle has a say. Cunningham has filled in nicely for Puma who is still dealing with a stubborn foot injury. It is safe to say that even if Puma was healthy there is still a chance he would be sitting behind Cunningham at this point. Since entering the EKU game late, Cunningham and Evan Conley have both been able to lead the Cards to wins. The quarterback position had us all up late at night worrying who would step up if someone was injured, now we know.
- Speaking of Evan Conley, lets talk about the stones on this guy. In Nashville against WKU he promptly comes in and throws a touchdown to seal the game away. Then he comes in on Saturday with the game on the line and leads Louisville down the field to set up the winning field goal. All Evan does is show up, smile for pics, and then win games. We got a good problem man…
- Louisville was two dropped passes away from blowing out BC. The receiving corp did what they wanted, when they wanted. I loved every moment of it.
- I think Louisville is the only school to honor past cheerleaders and dance team members. I have never saw that before from any other school. That being said, no other school has won 986 straight championships.
- Loved the variety of the 3rd down songs used during the game. We have three home games left. We may make it a season without the damn piano riff.
- Not sure how I feel about this new defense we are playing. You know the one where we cover everyone on the field except the tight end?? Yeah, that one. The one that makes an average tight end look like Travis Kelce and Gronk. Boston College’s tight ends put together NFL draft footage on Saturday. I am not sure anyone else caught a touchdown other then the tight end group. Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison have to find a way to correct that issue. Four out of the last five games, Louisville has allowed a long score by someone who was left completely uncovered.
- Shout out to the Band of Brothers who easily one of the most improved groups on the team this season. And I am not just saying that because I want Mrs. Ledford to bake Dave and I some cookies…….okay I am saying that because of the need for cookies but that is besides the point. Guys are finishing their blocks, moving as a unit, and opening lanes for the backs to run through. Mekhi is causing guys to sh*t themselves as well:
I hate blaming the refs in most cases but on Saturday the level of incompetence was on full display in Cardinal Stadium. So you’re telling me a guy can finish his block and because he pushes a defender to the Kentucky-Tennessee border that is a personal foul??? Hell, it should be a flag that the defender is not strong enough to fight back. Don’t get upset with us because your strength and conditioning coach is a bum and doesn’t put in the same work ethic as Coach Mike does.
How many times have you heard “play to the whistle”? During the game, Boston College fumbled, and it was recovered by Louisville. The whistle had not blown the play dead yet. But the zebra’s determined that forward progress had stopped even though the BC player was clearly fighting for more. I also lost track of how many holds BC got away with. Doesn’t matter the conference, Louisville has never had home cooking at any point of my fandom.
- Congrats to Anthony Johnson who notched the first interception of the year for the Cardinal defense. It took five games to get one but better late than never right? Let’s get a few more on Saturday against Wake.
- Hey fellas, can we stop negating great plays by Rodjay Burns? I would really appreciate seeing him break a big punt return without dropping to my seat knowing a flag is on the field.
- Speaking of Rodjay, someone please let him know fielding a punt on the 4 yard line is not the move.
- Props to the Cardinal defense for keeping AJ Dillon in check for most of the game. Aside from a 31 yard run late in the game, the big man who torched Louisville two years ago finished with 118 yards, and no scores. He burst on the scene in 2017 when he ran for 272 yards and four touchdowns. Improvement.
- This seems good…..
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The courtroom will now be open for questions as well as statements:
Young OG (@Ville_Hayes): Why do we make it hard and keep changing the 3rd down music and just not riding with Three Six “Who Run it”’?
I kind of like the variety that they have shown this season. And let’s be honest, pretty soon we will be begging for them to change the 3rd down music again. Everything runs it’s course but Van Halen was about 15 years overdue for a change.
Chrissy Banta (@Chrissy_Banta): How did you all feel (in the moment) relying on Conley with three minutes left in the fourth and being down by one?
Surprisingly I felt good about it. He came in late during the WKU game when they were seemingly making a small comeback and he responded with a TD strike to Tutu. These are the types of situations that mold freshmen. If needed, Conley can be called on again being that he has already excelled in that position.
Bubba Ray Lindy (@jclindeman): Why are the officials increasingly inept? For college and the pros.
Because of Ted Valentine. TV Ted ruins everything.
Batty Vice (thetruefeny_t): Yesterday I watched Yesterday so this is a Yesterday’s viewing of Yesterday inspired question: If you woke up and a pivotal piece of pop culture was wiped from the world and you could take credit for it and recreate it , what would you want it to be and would feel guilty?
Not sure about pop culture but if I had the means to create Twitter or IG and take credit for it I would do it and not feel guilty AT ALL. It wouldn’t be called Twitter anymore either. I would call it “Venting” because that is what the majority of us do on it.
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Person(s) or things that earned a shot of top shelf liquor this week:
- Seth Dawkins
- Micale Cunningham
- Dez 6-Patrick
- Tutu Atwell
- Javian Hawkins
- Evan Conley, we got a problem.
- Fall like temps
- Anthony Johnson getting the first INT of the year
- Jeff Greer. Gonna miss reading your stuff bro.
- Halloween names on Twitter
Person(s) or things that must eat lunch in a hot port-o-potty for a week
- ACC officials
- Cleveland Browns. My FF team is 0-5, four of those losses are on you guys.
- Matt Colburn. I will forever hate Wake because of you and Tim Duncan.
- Dixie Highway. I have never seen a major road be under construction for 2 years and somehow get worse.
- Bobby and the old staff. They are etched in stone on this list
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And in closing, I still have nothing. I just simply want to enjoy the win and worry about the rest later.
The column next week may be delayed, there are some things going on this weekend and early next week so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see it on Tuesday.
Enjoy not being in the basement of the ACC folks, we’ve all earned it.
Be cool in this hot city.
Court adjourned (bangs gavel)
LJ Nesbitt
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