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
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
ConfOverall
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.

US college sports recruiting information for 2007 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Victor Anderson
RB		 Louisville, KY St. Xavier HS 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 4.44 Jan 28, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Doug Beaumont
WR		 Louisville, KY Male HS 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 176 lb (80 kg) 4.45 Sep 17, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 78
Michael Fennerty
TE		 Olympia, WA Olympia HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 4.86 Feb 24, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Patrick Grant
DE		 Lauderdale Lakes, FL Boyd H. Anderson HS 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 4.6 Feb 7, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Zach Kiernan
OT		 Newport, KY Newport Central Catholic HS 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 242 lb (110 kg) NA Oct 10, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Dale Martin
RB		 Bolingbrook, IL Bolingbrook HS 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 4.5 Jan 6, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 77
Josh Miller
WR		 Palatka, FL Palatka HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 4.5 Jan 25, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
C.J. Peake
S		 Trotwood, OH Trotwood-Madison HS 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 4.55 Jan 26, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76
Bilal Powell
S		 Lakeland, FL Lake Gibson Senior HS 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.5 Jan 24, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 40
Matt Simms
QB		 Ramsey, NJ Don Bosco Prep School 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.8 Jan 29, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 70
Chaz Thompson
CB		 Weed, CA College of the Siskiyous 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 4.35 Jan 21, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NA
Greg Tomczyk
OT		 Princeton, NJ The Hun School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 290 lb (130 kg) 4.88 Jan 17, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 60
Woodny Turenne
DB		 Visalia, CA College of the Sequoias 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 4.34 Jan 25, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:5/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NA
Mark Wetterer
OG		 Cincinnati, OH Anderson HS 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 292 lb (132 kg) 5.3 Dec 2, 2006 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 74
Willie Williams
LB		 Culver City, CA West Los Angeles 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 232 lb (105 kg) NA Jan 25, 2007 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NA
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #47   Rivals: #41
  • ‡ Refers to 40 yard dash
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height, weight and 40 time.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Louisville Commit List 2007". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  • "Scout.com Football Recruiting: Louisville". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  • "2007 Player Commitments - Louisville". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  • "2007 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 14, 2007.

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. 10
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. 18
  • 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 pmPittsburghdagger
  • 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 January 18, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.
  3. "Cards Picked to Finish Second in BIG EAST in 2007". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  4. "No. 13: Loaded Cardinals welcome Kragthorpe". athlonsports. Archived from the original on May 19, 2007. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
  5. "SI.com - Writers - Stewart Mandel: Spring Power Rankings". SI.com. April 24, 2007. Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
  6. "Schlabach: Revised early look at the top 25 for 2007". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 23, 2007.
  7. "Rivals.com College Football - Rivals.com 2007 Preseason Top 25". Rivals.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  8. "Spring Top 25: Dear Mr. Dellins -- your Bruins are here". Sportsline.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  9. "Falcons lure Louisville's Petrino to NFL with five-year deal". USA Today. January 8, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  10. "Louisville, Tulsa's Kragthorpe have agreement". Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  11. "Kragthorpe Announces Cardinal Coaching Staff". Archived from the original on January 16, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  12. "Four Cardinals Selected in the NFL Draft". Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  13. "Brohm Named to Manning Watch List". Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  14. "Wood and Grady Named to Preseason Watch Lists". Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  15. "Brohm Named to Preseason All-American Team". Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  16. "Alford Named as Kragthorpe Completes Coaching Staff". Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  17. "Patterson Leaves Louisville; Returns to Tulsa". Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  18. "Mallory Hired to Coach the Secondary". Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  19. "Cumulative Season Statistics". University of Louisville. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
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