Louisville

 We all have moments in our lives that are worth noting. Marriage, babies and the first time you taste cheese fondue. There are also professional moments that carve a spot in your brain. Your first job interviews, the big promotion, the party after the promotion. My first and only firing happened on Christmas Eve and in my gut I knew the moment that our new owners bought the Bucs, it was a matter of when not if. Judging from the post game press conference, I have serious doubt that our Head man knows that his big moment hit last night and it 100% his doing. 

Our seats in this awful collegiate environment were again just four rows behind the Marching Chiefs tuba section. Thank goodness for the four rows or we would spent the whole night judging our reflections on the back of concave brass. Well on the fateful drive there was a lively discussion on the 4th and one on the ten yard line. The consensus between the brass experts who were in busses for 15 hours and our group was that we needed to kick. That was a very short conversion and Ous again came through when called upon. Well,  three plays later and we had a 4th and almost three and there was no longer a meaningful discussion. Every football fan in our  section strapped to an instrument or their heartstrings absolutely knew that you had to go up three scores. Being in the building makes this decision even easier. You see the Cardinal fans had already punted on their team. The building that Papa John built was only about 60% full and except for the canned rock and rap music they play at ear splitting decibels, it had all the excitement of a French funeral.Their team had lost two in a row, and was getting beaten like a skinny red head on the bus with a pocket full of quarters on laundry day. Three points here and it might have just been duces for the night. Their defense honestly looked like they had already given up. An injury and a silly timeout gave them extra time to get charged up for The Decision. False arrogance and greed took command and we threw a behind the line screen to a freshman. One play later, the crowd was drilled with collective narcan, and the home team would rattle off five straight touchdowns. 

Again, all of this is a prelude to Mike after the contest when he was visibly pissed about his team’s response to the 4th down mess. Nope, finger is pointing in the wrong direction. His tenants are response and special teams, and there might be nothing that is failing more in his 7th season than his club’s response to either adversity of success, and goodness gracious are the special teams special. Twice more last night, we did not have enough men on the field for a play, and when Louisville brings their literally only healthy dynamic player in to return a kick, we hit the first low, short kickoff of the year. I hope his Irish parents were still flying home... 

The anachronism here is that club was absolutely prepared to break the three year road kill streak. The script was on point and we just shredded a low confidence Cardinal defense with a terrific combination of Ousmane and Danzy (you know - the two guys who will hold out all offseason before signing with someone with ugly colors). The second scoring catch by Micahi was a Michelangelo moss and it was only 10 minutes in, and Louisville was done tackling Kromah. With the script, Ash did not have to process, and those single read set plays were money. Then, following another script, after the 98 yard dash, we refused to execute even the simplest calls. False starts, dropped balls and an All American receiver suddenly mailing it in. 

The defense took their cues from the sideline directors as well. There is no unit in the country that is as (in)effective on 3rd and an Uber as our heroes. Opponents are absolutely guaranteed to be greeted by downy softness which translates to a deep zone that will gift all but a yard or two bringing a cleansing 4th down conversion. Anderson and Diggs were completely befuddled by the concept of edge control and when the qb muddled outside on an achingly slow option look with (again) the only danger in black on his outside, your job is to be wider than the back and force everything back inside. Instead our ends dove fruitlessly at the quarterback and tossed a welcome mat to Abraham to scoot outside for 20. Louisville ran for 350 yards in the last three quarters, so there might be some drano needed in the pipes. The frustration for this fan is that I am convinced that if we are super aggressive, this defense could be competitive. We have enough high quality kids to be decent. We are just a half dozen fat boys away from there right now. Kevin Wynn can not do it alone...

We enjoy the Louisville trip. The B&B we stay at is outstanding and we got to preview a half dozen more in the incredibly charming Old Louisville neighborhood this week. The bourbon scene is well documented, and the bars and big time restaurants make for a fun weekend. But, make no mistake, this is not a college town. The night before a game in downtown Lville, you could win money if you see Louisville Cardinal gear (the campus is but two miles away). Their band could comfortably back up KC and his Sunshine troupe and fit on stage belting Celebration. Their "dance" team, which they tout as 21 time national champs, must be in an online competition category that my parental advisory does not let me see. Their in game performance made me blush, and the accompanying lyrics were rejected by Jay-Z as too racy. Their 4th quarter tradition is to turn off the stadium lights, play random rock tracks, and watch your iPhone flashlights turn on. Phew, homecoming must be a beaut. Much like NC State, their fans are over the top obnoxious - maybe because they have won absolutely nothing in their 100 year football history. So, make the trip. Just go when you might match the on field fun with your off field excursions. 

I went into this game in such a crazy mental state. Maybe some of you felt the same. If we won the game, we break the ridiculous road woes, and start to believe we could go on a mini run resulting in a 9-3 type finish. Then, a coach that I genuinely want to succeed because of all the well chronicled boxes he checks, gets the chance to bring us back. Or, we lose and then staring at the Death Star next week, the bye week most likely brings us the end of this extended era of ACC disaster. Either way, we have real hope of 2027 being a renewed day of FSU football. The latter now looks inevitable. I am not cheering this in any way, but The Decision made his very expensive California king bed.