The Cats and the Cards will battle it out in Louisville tomorrow as the college football season begins in the Bluegrass state. A victory in tomorrow's Governors Cup will give either team a good shot for a great season. Here is a quick preview of tomorrows game.
Last Season:
Kentucky went to it's fourth consecutive bowl game last season after finishing 7-6. The Cats used a balanced rushing attack to compile victories on the road at Georgia and Auburn. Louisville fell way short of a bowl bid by finishing the season 4-8. The Cards biggest win last season came against Syracuse.
Coaching:
New faces will make the calls for both teams tomorrow. Louisville will feature first year head coach Charlie Strong. Strong was the former defensive cordinator for Florida, and looks to return Louisville to it's winning ways. Joker Phillips is no stranger to UK, but will make his coaching debut on Saturday. Coach Phillips takes over the Cats after spending the last few season as UK's offensive cordinator under Rich Brooks.
Quarterbacks.
Mike Hartline will make his third start against the Cards on Saturday. Hartline looks to cement his hold on the starting position as UK QB. Mike could have a big day tomorrow if UL is able to slow down UK's running game. Also expect Randall Cobb to spend some time at QB if the Cats line up in the Wildcat Formation.
Louisville will feature Adam Froman as their starting QB. Froman will run UL's spread offense as the Cards hope to give Coach Strong his first victory. Adam played in 7 games last season completing 111 passes on 185 attempts. He threw 6 tds and had 5 interceptions.
Running Backs
A healthy Victor Anderson returns after sitting out 4 games in 2009 with a shoulder injury. Anderson rushed for over 1000 yards his freshman year. He looks to get back to form this season after only rushing for 473 yards in 2009. The junior will join Bilal Powell in UL's running attack.
Behind Derrick Locke, Kentucky should have an advantage on the ground. The 1st Team Preseaon All-SEC preformer will lead a talented group of running backs into Papa Johns Stadium. Helping Locke will be Donald Russell and true freshman Raymond Sanders.
Recievers:
The recieving core could determine the game for either team on Saturday. Louisville is led by Troy Pascley, Doug Beaumont, and Andrell Smith. Leading the Blue will be Chris Matthews and Randall Cobb. Beaumont is UL's leading reciever that has returned from the 2009 season. He had 465 yards on 38 receptions last season. Cobb led UK with 447 yards on 39 receptions and 4 TDs. Both teams will need to get their recievers some more touches if they look to be better in 2010.
Offense:
Louisville is returning 8 starters on offense and looks to give UK's defense some trouble. UK's is going to be without John Connor and Alfonso Smith, but returns its core guys in Cobb and Locke. UL may be experienced, but went 1-6 in Big East Conference play. They are also going with a new system and could expe UK's offense had a lot better showing with wins against Auburn, Georgia, and Vandy in the SEC.
Defense:
Both UK and UL field inexperienced defenses on Saturday. UK features 2nd team All-SEC DeQuin Evans, but will be without Corey Peters, Micah Johnson, and Trevard Lindley who are all now in the NFL. UL also has problems in that their defensive line will be undersized against the Cats.
