To state the blindingly obvious, Fumbles and False Starts have been the difference between being 9-3 and probably 12-0.
This team outgained the world. Yards Gained vs Yards Allowed.
It takes a lot of either mistakes or bad defense to undo such a huge yardage advantage. In the Cards case this year, there were lots of mistakes throughout the season and a weakened patchwork defense at the end.
Long ago, I was bolstered in my opinion about turnovers by Phil Steele. He said it is THE most important measure (and determinant) of game outcome success. And he was right and I was right.
This team gave up countless scoring opportunities with Fumbles. Also these Fumbles allowed easy scores.
But also, False Starts gave the Cards over 100 yards of field distance to make up.
This team had probably THE BEST OFFENSE in Football. And it was consistently very good.
But this team gave up much of what it gained through cavalier treatment of ball possession (the Cards didn't value possessing the ball). Fumbles and False Starts were the nuggets of cancer that started the disease that destroyed the Cardinals Collision Course season.
The False Starts were a function of a badly implemented Crowd Noise strategy. The Cards lost two AWAY games to teams which brought the 12th man (noise).
Without False Starts and Fumbles, Louisville wins all three of these games.
The Cards' Defense faltered in the last two games. The Defense was thin throughout the season, but injuries took their toll. Against Houston, nothing seemed to work, while against Kentucky the Defense made sure they gave up scores instantly after Card scores. The Defense could never hold serve. In the Kentucky game, this made a difference.
There were many offensive play-call mistakes and plenty of Lamar decision mistakes throughout the season, but the yardage advantage was staggering despite this. The Yardage Advantage should have been enough for this team to go 11-1 or 12-0. Easily. But the Fumbles and False Starts ruined it all.
This team outgained the world. Yards Gained vs Yards Allowed.
It takes a lot of either mistakes or bad defense to undo such a huge yardage advantage. In the Cards case this year, there were lots of mistakes throughout the season and a weakened patchwork defense at the end.
Long ago, I was bolstered in my opinion about turnovers by Phil Steele. He said it is THE most important measure (and determinant) of game outcome success. And he was right and I was right.
This team gave up countless scoring opportunities with Fumbles. Also these Fumbles allowed easy scores.
But also, False Starts gave the Cards over 100 yards of field distance to make up.
This team had probably THE BEST OFFENSE in Football. And it was consistently very good.
But this team gave up much of what it gained through cavalier treatment of ball possession (the Cards didn't value possessing the ball). Fumbles and False Starts were the nuggets of cancer that started the disease that destroyed the Cardinals Collision Course season.
The False Starts were a function of a badly implemented Crowd Noise strategy. The Cards lost two AWAY games to teams which brought the 12th man (noise).
Without False Starts and Fumbles, Louisville wins all three of these games.
The Cards' Defense faltered in the last two games. The Defense was thin throughout the season, but injuries took their toll. Against Houston, nothing seemed to work, while against Kentucky the Defense made sure they gave up scores instantly after Card scores. The Defense could never hold serve. In the Kentucky game, this made a difference.
There were many offensive play-call mistakes and plenty of Lamar decision mistakes throughout the season, but the yardage advantage was staggering despite this. The Yardage Advantage should have been enough for this team to go 11-1 or 12-0. Easily. But the Fumbles and False Starts ruined it all.
