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Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009

Kragthorpe apologizes for Saturday's rant

CARDS FACE UTAH ON THE ROAD SATURDAY

LOUISVILLE — Steve Kragthorpe admits it was not the best choice of words.

Moments after a draining 31-27 loss to Kentucky in the Governor's Cup, the normally reserved Louisville coach twice used a mild expletive while praising the play of wide receiver and punt returner Trent Guy. The Cardinal senior fumbled a punt late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Wildcats to take the lead.

Kragthorpe later used the same expletive several times while talking about how the Cardinals attacked Kentucky All-American cornerback Trevard Lindley.

Kragthorpe apologized on Monday if he offended anyone. He could have phrased it better, maybe, but the message would have been the same.

"I was just trying to let everybody know how much I felt about our team, how proud I was of our team, how much I felt like they laid everything on the line in the game," he said.

The Cardinals (1-1) will have to find a way to summon that energy and then some again on Saturday when they head west to play Utah (2-1).

Kragthorpe believes they can. He also knows they don't really have a choice if they want to capitalize on the strides he thinks they made against their arch-rivals.

Louisville quarterback Justin Burke played a nearly flawless game in his second collegiate start, throwing for a pair of touchdowns. The defense forced three turnovers. Running back Victor Anderson rushed for 110 yards and a score. And the Cardinals twice rallied in the fourth quarter to take the lead.

For a team expected to lose by two touchdowns, one that looked lost at times in the season-opener against Indiana State, Kragthorpe is trying to view the game as a much-needed confidence boost.

"There were times where we could have just folded our hats and said 'Oh, let's just get the heck out of here, take our lumps and go eat chicken sandwiches and go home,'" he said. "But our guys, they fought and they fought and they fought and they fought."

It wasn't enough, and while Kragthorpe praised his team's effort, his players are in no mood to claim a moral victory. Despite handling himself with aplomb in his first road start and consistently leading the Cardinals up and down the field, Burke didn't exactly spend a lot of time looking at the stat sheet.

"Winning the game is the next big step," Burke said. "You can play well but I would prefer to play terrible and win a game than not."

He had the opportunity to play well and win, but problems converting in the red zone prevented the Cardinals from putting the Wildcats away. Louisville missed a short field goal on one red-zone possession and turned it over on downs in another. They had the ball at the Kentucky 21 with less than 2 minutes left when Burke's pass was tipped at the line and intercepted.

"I lost my focus a couple times down there and that hurt us," Burke said. "But it's one of those things, you grow as a player and as a team and we're going to learn how to close out games like that."

It's something the Cardinals have been unable to do under Kragthorpe, particularly on the road. They've lost four straight away from Cardinal Stadium and are just 3-8 on the road over the last two-plus seasons.

Heading west to face the Utes, who are coming off their first loss in more than a year, won't be easy. Utah beat Louisville 44-35 in 2007 and is 6-0 all-time against Big East teams.