LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe went to great lengths during the first month of the season to avoid a quarterback controversy between Justin Burke and Adam Froman.
The Cardinals might be facing one anyway.
A week after saying he didn’t want Burke – who won the starting job during training camp – looking over his shoulder at Froman, Kragthorpe said there’s a chance both could play Saturday when the reeling Cardinals (1-3) host Southern Mississippi (3-2).
“I’m not opposed to playing two quarterbacks,” Kragthorpe said. “Both those guys are good football players. They’re both proven guys. Whatever it takes to win. At the end of the week if that’s what we need to do to win the game, then we’ll do it.”
Froman was solid in a 35-10 loss to Pittsburgh last week after Burke was sidelined by a bruised sternum. The junior college transfer completed 18 of 30 passes for 166 yards and his ability to escape Pittsburgh’s relentless pressure kept plays alive, though his fumble in the third quarter allowed the Panthers to blow it open.
football,” Kragthorpe said. “He got the dog knocked out of him a couple times where it looked like he might get a ball stripped or get knocked out … I feel very confident and very comfortable.”
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TAKE ‘EM DOWN: With its secondary drained by injuries, No. 8 Cincinnati has been dropping back in safe coverages and letting its line do most of the work at slowing down runners and quarterbacks. The makeshift strategy has succeeded so far.
The Bearcats sacked Miami (Ohio) redshirt freshman Zac Dysert 10 times during a 37-13 win last Saturday. Eight of the sacks came in the second half, when the Bearcats let senior end Alex Daniels go after Dysert aggressively. Daniels finished with a career-high four sacks – he had 1.5 coming in.
“I was just out there working some moves, feeling around in the first half,” Daniels said. “Then in the second half, they let me go and let me rush. Some good things came out of it.”
The defensive line was put in a tough spot in each of the last two games, including a 28-20 win over Fresno State. Worried that his young backup defensive backs were vulnerable, coach Brian Kelly went with a conservative plan that gave up yards but protected against big plays.
It worked because the linemen held up even though they were on the field for 43 minutes against run-oriented Fresno State and nearly 41 minutes against Miami’s scrambling quarterback.
me (against Fresno State) was more of a ‘not give up big plays,”’ Daniels said. “That gave them a doorway to run the ball right down our throat. This week it was more that we were going to shut them down in every aspect of the game. That’s why we put more pressure on the quarterback in this game, to help out the secondary to not give up big plays.”
With 5.5 sacks, Daniels is on pace to match Connor Barwin’s total of 11 last season, which led the Big East. The school record is 13 sacks by Anthony Hoke in 2007.
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TURNOVER TROUBLES: The outcome of Saturday’s West Virginia-Syracuse game could hinge on what team takes care of the ball better.
Both teams have turned the ball over 14 times this season, while West Virginia ranks 118th out of 120 FBS teams in turnover margin.
“Sometimes you have to play more conservative, more aware and more responsible,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “I guess responsibility is the biggest word I’m going to hit on this week. All those ability words … responsibility, accountability, dependability. We’ve got great ability on this football team, but it seems we’re forgetting some of those key buzz words.”
Stewart spent the weekend seeking advice from several other coaches about what they did when they were faced with the same issue.
s yell at players who cough up the ball. He said screaming isn’t part of good coaching.
“What you do is pull him aside and tell him to strain himself a bit more mentally and that he is letting himself, his team and the school down. You tell him to play tougher,” Stewart said. “They are giving us 90-95 percent effort, but they aren’t closing the deal. Just hold the ball high and tight.”
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MARRONE’S WAY: Rookie Syracuse coach Doug Marrone has set high standards for his players. Accountability is paramount, and he holds himself to it.
At his weekly press conference on Monday, Marrone apologized to assistant athletics director for communications Sue Edson and the rest of the athletics staff about not announcing a player move.
“I never really told anyone that we moved (junior Da’Mon) Merkerson to defensive back, and I apologize,” Marrone said. “That’s my fault. I just wanted to bring that up because that’s something that’s been bothering me. I didn’t realize that until after the game.”
Merkerson played wide receiver the first four games of the season before being moved to defensive back for Saturday’s game against South Florida. He played most of the second half in relief of Nico Scott, who was beaten for an 85-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the third quarter.
previous year under Greg Robinson.
“He was doing a tremendous job for us on special teams, but he wasn’t getting involved as much as he would have liked in the offensive game plan,” Marrone said.
Marrone said he hasn’t decided which player will start Saturday against West Virginia.
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RUTGERS NEARS MILESTONE Rutgers, which played the first college football game against Princeton in 1869, is one win away from recording the 600th win in its 140-year history, a fact lost on coach Greg Schiano.
The Scarlet Knights (3-1) can hit the mark when they face Texas Southern in a homecoming game on Saturday at Rutgers Stadium.
“I didn’t know that,” Schiano said Tuesday after practice. “I’m stuck here in a cave. It’s a nice round number, I guess.”
Rutgers would become the 38th school to win 600 games. The Scarlet Knights have a 599-591-42 record.
Ironically, the victory could come in a game against Texas Southern that is basically meaningless. It is Rutgers’ second against a Football Championship Subdivision school this season, but the NCAA allows FBS schools to count only one victory over an FCS opponent toward the six-win minimum to qualify for a bowl berth.
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ar performance against Louisville. Stull completed 16 of 23 passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-10 win. He hit a pair of bombs early in the second half to help the Panthers erase a 10-7 halftime deficit.
South Florida safety Nate Allen was named defensive player of the week after collecting a team-high eight tackles and two interceptions in USF’s 34-20 victory over Syracuse.
West Virginia punter Scott Kozlowski was selected special teams player of the week after helping the Mountaineers beat Colorado 35-24. Kozlowski averaged 48 yards on four punts.
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AP Sports Writers John Kekis in Syracuse, N.Y., Joe Kay in Cincinnati, Tom Canavan in Piscataway, N.J., and John Raby in Morgantown, W.V., contributed to this report.
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