If you listened carefully Thursday night, you could hear Florida fans giggling. Or was that the sound of Auburn fans snickering?
Third-ranked West Virginia and No. 5 Louisville set out to prove that they belong among the nation’s elite. But they didn’t help their cause during a messy third quarter that was marked by fumbles, penalties, special-teams breakdowns–and more fumbles.
Oh, and half the lights at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium lost power.
To be fair, Louisville, which emerged with a 44-34 victory, did little to lose points on the all-important respect-o-meter. The Cardinals’ quarterback, Brian Brohm, guided an electric offense by completing 19 of 26 passes for 354 yards.
Louisville fans celebrated the victory by rushing the field and dancing with the players.
“It has been dream of mine, growing up in Louisville, to be on this type of stage,” Brohm said.
But West Virginia played so sloppily during a key second-half stretch, it made you wonder.
Wonder whether an undefeated Louisville team should trump a one-loss Southeastern Conference team–or the loser of the Michigan-Ohio State game–on the road to the BCS title game.
Louisville (8-0) still has to play four respectable Big East opponents–including undefeated Rutgers–before the final decision is made on its case.
“We just need to worry about Rutgers,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. “Everything else will play out.”
But the next batch of polls Sunday will be telling. The Harris Poll and USA Today coaches poll make up two-thirds of the BCS rankings. The final component is the computer rating, and Louisville was merely ninth entering Thursday because of its mediocre non-conference schedule.
Neither team had played a top-notch opponent, and the Mountaineers knew it. Asked if West Virginia’s schedule–ranked 97th toughest of the 119 Division I-A teams–had prepared the team adequately to face Louisville, Mountaineers safety Eric Wicks told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “No. [But] it doesn’t scare me because I know we get better every week.”
Not this week.
No one would question West Virginia’s talent after quarterback Patrick White and tailback Steve Slaton combined to produce 281 rushing yards on 41 carries. But Slaton fumbled on consecutive runs early in the third quarter, the second at his own 15. Linebacker Malik Jackson scooped it up and ran it back for a touchdown.
It was West Virginia’s sixth fumble of the game–and the third it lost. Odd for a team that had lost just four fumbles in its first seven games.
The stunned Mountaineers went three-and-out in their next series, and then things got worse. Louisville’s Trent Guy returned a punt 40 yards for a touchdown to give the Cardinals a 30-14 lead and thrill the stadium-record crowd of 43,217.
So the Cardinals passed the test Thursday, but the Big East might have bombed in the beauty contest. Especially if you judge by defense: The teams combined to produce a conference-record 1,008 yards.
Earlier Thursday, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese said he would not attempt to convince the public–and the pollsters–of his league’s mettle. The numbers spoke for themselves. The Big East went 32-8 in non-conference games, including 11-7 against foes from the six major leagues. The Big 12 is 3-8 in such games; the ACC 4-8.
“If the other conferences want to politic, [they can]. But I don’t think it’s going to do any good,” he said. “I think the Harris Poll people are immune to it. Maybe [other conferences] think they can influence the computers. I know they’re smarter than me, but they ain’t that smart.”
They might not be smart, but they like to chuckle at the Big East’s expense.
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tgreenstein@tribune.com
