The University of Louisville Cardinals held serve.
Cardinals 44, Ramblin’ Wreck 17.
Which use of tennis vernacular is meant to impart for the diehard believers, U of L is still in contention for the ACC title game.
Therefore also, the College Football Playoff.
And down the stretch they come.
Yes, ye eagle eyed all knowing sports fans, horse racing lingo to indicate Louisville and Southern Methodist and Wake Forest are jockeying for position to determine who meets Miami for the conference crown.
Duke is
off the pace but not out of the race. (Or, so I would surmise, not having run all the permutations through my Commodore 64.)
What we seem to have is a classic Three Stooges situation.
Cards bopped Mustangs. Demon Deacs noogied Cards. A Mustang stampede over the Deacons next week would complete the roundelay.
If I understand the total landscape, Duke in Car Talk terminology could drop a screw in the flywheel and mess up the whole sequencing. They finish the season at Wake.
Remember last year’s bluedevilment?
U of L has the Tar Heels and Pitt. In addition to SMU, Wake has Georgia Tech. SMU has Stanford.
After last season, the league changed its tiebreaker rules.
Should the above bam bam bam situation come about, and there are no other Ls by any of the trio, head to head tiebreakers would not apply.
An official communication from the conference states what happens then.
When head-to-head competition cannot separate tied teams, the team with the strongest overall body of work will earn the opportunity to compete for the ACC Championship and the conference’s automatic qualifier to the College Football Playoff.
Whatever that means???!?@#?%#!??
Wake is the only one of the teams ranked now.
If they fall to the Mustangs, it’s a huge I Got No Clue.
So that’s all I am going to weigh in about that.
Other than to say, hope springs at Granville Pub, Milo Butterfingers and Last Resort.
* * * * *
As for today’s football game:
The Cards had this one in hand from the get go, despite a fumbled punt and a roughing the punter gaffe which gave Tech’s opening foray three lives for three points.
From then on, a U of L victory was inexorable.
Brent Key was alternating QBS. Never a good sign.
Asked about them by ACCN’s feckless sideline “reporter,” a not so happy coach mumbled something about needing more than three and outs, and then the ultimate non-compliment.
“Well, they’re both playing.”
Bored, the Cards surrendered a late score before halftime, when they led 27-10.
Wes Durham put it all in perspective late in the 3d, “Louisville is in full control.”
* * * * *
Highlights included Tre Richardson’s 52 yard TD on a wide receiver sweep.
Jackson Voth’s 68 yard punt return.
Two Clev Lubin sacks.
258 yards rushing.
My favorite play of the night is one most probably consider an afterthought.
Up 24-3 in the 2d, the Cards had the ball 1st & 10 at the Tech 48.
Out of a shotgun, Isaac Brown swept outside for 8 yards.
But, oh my, how he did it.
Cutting to the edge and shaving past it. Hesitating his stride so a wannabe tackler would tumble by, then cutting inside on the proverbial dime for extra yardage.
Doubling down on the proverbiality, he crafted something out of nothing.
It was Barry Sanders quality ball carrying.
* * * * *
Now the mea culpa.
It was a long day.
Only some sense of morbid professionalism kept me tuned in until Braxton Jennings final TD.
Plus, I had the Miami/ Notre Dame game on my Macbook, and found myself viewing that screen more then the Cards on the big Samsung.
Trap game coming up: North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
— c d kaplan
