It was less than an hour before kickoff on Nov. ą½§29, and Louisville athletišŖc director Tom Jurich was standing on the top row of the press box at Rutgers Stadium with a chagrined look on his face.
Louisville sātar Teddy Bridgewater was on the field, trying to warm up despite a broken left wrist and severely sprained right ankle. He looked more mummy than quarterback.
āI just donāt see how he can play,āā Jurich said. āHe couldnāšt really walk this weź§ek.āā
The game kicks off and Bridgewater is on the bench. His team is struggling offensively, trailing 14-3. Bridgewater grabs his helmet and goes on to grab the game bą½§y the throat.
He completes 20 of 28 passes for 263 yards with two touchdowns and one interception as Louisville rallies for a 20-17 win that sends the Cardinals to the Orange Bowl.
āI donāt thinkļ·½ heās the toughest quarterbāack in the country,āā Louisville safety Preston Brown said this summer. āI think heās the toughest football player in the country.āā
If thatās the case, then the toughest college football player in the nation is afraid of needles. Therefore he couldnāt take a pain-killing injection before the game. It wasnāt until the adrenaline kicked in once he took the field that Bridgewater was able to block out the pāain.
āIt was obvious he was really hurting and we went āafter him, clean, but we went after him,āā Rutgers linebacker Kevin Snyder said. āHeād take a hit and have trouble getting up. You could hear him moaning. But he kept getš»ting up. You have to respect that.āā
Respect is exactly what tšÆhis Louisville team is after, and the quest begins today (3:30, ESPN) at home against a well-coached Ohio team accustomed to winning under Frank Solich.
Louisville is a 20 1/2-point favorite, and weāll give the points. The Cardinals went 11-2 last season and have 14 starteą¦rsš ° returning from a team that blitzed Florida, 33-23, in the Orange Bowl.
Yet Louisville couldnātā crack the Top 10 in either preseason poll. The only one pleased by that is coach Charlie Strong, the former Florida defensive coordinator whź¦o quickly has built Louisville into a national championship contender.
āWeāre not even close to being in thatš² conversaātion,āā Strong said.
Strong has reason to doubt. Louisville blew consecutive games last season to Syracuse and Connecticut. And with a non-conference schedule that is weaker than Anthony Weinerās poll numbers (Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, at Kentucky, Florida International), combined with conference strength that took a hit on Thursday with losses by Rutgers (52-51 in overtime at Fresno State) and, more troubling, UConn (33-18 at home against FCS Towsāon), even an undefeated season wonāt guarantee Louisville a spot in the BCS tāØitle game.
But if youāre looking for a team thatź¦« can run the table and that no team from a BCS conference wants to face in a bowl game, look no further than Louisville. If youāre looking for Heisman Trophy candidate not at the top of every list, look no further than Bridgewater.
āWe donāt fear any team,āā Bšridgewater said. āWe respect ā±each opponent. Whether or not they respect us, well, we can do something about that.āā