So, we aren’t going to play for a national title.  Is that so bad?

The team that finished 11-2 in 2012 is taking their 6-1 mark into South Florida.  For those bad in remedial math (I suspect only a few UK fans), that is 17-3.  Remember the Kragthorpe years?  Yeah, me neither.

Even though USF seems to be down, let’s not underestimate the goliath effort Florida kids put on the table when facing each other – see UCF game results.  Add to that Louisville has only won a single game in Tampa against USF – ever.

“Yeah, but…”

Yeah, but nothing, I watching a heavily favored Louisville team led by Brian Brohm and Michael Bush get steam rolled in Tampa.  This is college football, not the pro’s, anything can happen.  The more we start respecting opponents, the more we can enjoy each victory.

Enjoyment?

We lost against UCF, and a lot of fans felt the season was already a disappointment.  “With this schedule, we should go undefeated”.  I would have replaced “should” with “could”.  It is hard to go undefeated.  Factor in that last year’s team had 8 of their 12 games either losing or winning by single digits – you knew there were going to be some tests.  Both likely and unlikely.  Teams can spring a good game at any time.  A team has to work really hard to get its wins, and Louisville will be working its tails off to get their season back on track this Saturday.  Let’s enjoy and appreciate the hard work this team puts into practice every day.

“But, we ruined our BCS shot…”

No we didn’t.  Are we in the driver’s seat?  No, but we are in the car.  UCF still has tough tests with Rutgers, Houston, and SMU.  Who knows what can happen.  I don’t anticipate they will be up quite as much as when they played Louisville – facing off against their Florida high school opponents.

Louisville has to keep the pressure on the driver.  Louisville has nothing to lose at this point, and the leader – everything.  I say it again, EVERYTING. Let’s see if UCF can wear that pressure, as heavy as a wet sweater for the final 5 of the football regular season.

Where do we go from here?

The Louisville football team has learned their lessons.  I expect them to turn up the heat for the rest of the season, knowing full well that this BCS race is far from over.

Fans need to sell out the final 2 games to say “thank you Teddy Bridgewater, and the rest of the super Frosh that came in with you”.  We could lose a few to the NFL soon.  Game sellouts make Charlie happy, and we want to keep Charlie happy.  Game sellouts expand stadiums, and that would be pretty awesome to head into the ACC with expansion plans on the table, because that helps recruiting.

There is so much to gain, so much to enjoy, and no – we aren’t playing for the national title.  We can’t lose sight of what we are truly playing for – advancing the program from where we are today.  It is a long road to a title, and nobody can take a game off.

Inching the program forward is always on the line, every single game, and we take another stab at inching forward this Saturday.

Go Cards, Beat South Florida.

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@CrumsRevenge

Former D1 Player and Coach. Life long fan of the Cardinals. CR makes movies, takes photos, co-host of "The Crunch Zone" Podcast, and can be heard on ESPN680 Wednesday 7-8:30am. Follow on Twitter, Instagram, and Vine (CrumsRevenge).

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