Bobby Petrino’s denouement in the NFL was memorable for how poor, pathetic, and sad his Atlanta Falcons were in the final weeks of his last season.
In one meaningless December Thursday Night Football broadcast, the exiting Petrino’s Dirty Birds and the Jacksonville Jaguars humiliated each other in a game that included out-of-shape “pear” linemen chasing Football Follies-style fumbles.
Will it come to that for the cyclin’ skipper in Louisville, or are there better days ahead? The Cardinals have dropped their pair of opening ACC games to fall to 2-3 on the season, with the only triumphs coming against Indiana State and Western Kentucky.
But a visiting Georgia Tech team that is playing nowhere near its usual standards also stands at 2-3. The Week 6 point spread reflects the uncertainty swirling around both programs’ bids to make a decent bowl game.
Who: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Louisville Cardinals
When: Friday, October 5th, 7 PM EST
Where: Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY
Lines: GT (-3.5) at UL (+3.5) / O/U Total: (57.5)
Georgia Tech seemed to finally put the pieces together offensively last against Bowling Green, running the ball for 372 yards in route to their 2nd victory at home in Atlanta. GT always wants to pound the football with the Flexbone option offense – quarterback TaQuon Marshall only attempts around 13 passes a game and completes less than half of them. 63-17 reflects a Ramblin’ Wreck offense that is humming right on schedule.
Still, Bowling Green isn’t exactly the stiffest competition. The team is 1-4 and hasn’t won a game in the MAC; they gave up 289 yards rushing to Miami (OH) the week before. You have to think that for Georgia Tech to have any real ACC, success they need to be more efficient when passing, to prevent teams from loading the box.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets have doing a good job turning the ball over, ranking T-3rd in the ACC in interceptions with 7. That said, they are one of the worst FBS at generating pressure on the quarterback, forcing only 6 sacks through their first 5 games, ranking them T-102nd in the FBS of 130 schools. The lack of edge rush in the organization has handed the defense a scenario where forcing turnovers is, at times, their only true hope of success. Look for safety Malik Rivera (25 total sacks and 2 interceptions) to try to lead that charge on Friday.
It was hard to expect Louisville to pick up exactly where they left off when former Heisman-winning quarterback Lamar Jackson played his final down, but it was also hard to see them being this bad offensively.
The Cardinals rank near the bottom of he FBS in nearly every offensive stat; they’re 102nd in passing (191.6ypg), 113th in rushing (120.0ypg), and T-123rd in points scored (18.4). Many reporters around the Louisville team have been questioning head coach Bobby Petrino’s decision making early in the season, but others feel it is unlikely the school would move on from the coach anytime soon due to Lamar Jackson’s, I mean, Petrino’s recent success.
The Card Chronicle weighs-in while lamenting the 28-24 loss to sagging Florida State last weekend:
In three of the last four games that he has coached for Louisville, Bobby Petrino has owned coaching errors that he has made. After the Indiana State game he said that he shouldn’t have come out throwing the football to start the game because the game was being played in heavy rain. After going for it on fourth down deep in his own territory against Western Kentucky, he owned the fact that it was a bad decision. Now he has said that he guesses he should have run the ball late in the game against Florida State after Jawon Pass threw an interception when the game was nearly in hand.
At some point this is just a coach telling the world that he is inept. Bobby Petrino has been a head football coach for over thirteen years now and he is making decisions that you would expect from an interim coach that’s in over his head. Veteran coaches shouldn’t have to tell fans that they “have to do better”. This is why you were hired and why you collect a check that is the size that it is.
Keep in mind that I’m only speaking on the three times this season that Petrino has had to answer to his gaffes. There is a separate list of head scratching decisions that no one took the time to ask him about over the years. Clock management issues and personnel decisions have been a running discussion amongst fans for a few years now.
To be fair, last week’s offensive numbers were significantly better than in previous weeks. Sophomore QB Jawon Pass threw for a career high 306 yards, however he did turn it over twice. The defense also held Florida State to only 76 rush yards on 31 carries, totaling 6 tackles for loss.
But playing against FSU’s zone-read is far, far different from defending the Flexbone.
Louisville’s defense won’t have the patience or the temperament to stop Paul Johnson’s playbook for 60 minutes, and if there’s an offense GT’s passive defense can look decent against in the Power-5, this opponent is it.
Take the Yellow Jackets to cover on the road.