Sssssssssssmokin'

Check out Louisville's offensive output its last 6 and 9 games of last year-

• 44 points vs Boise State
• 55 points at Tulane
• 70 points vs Cincinnati
• 65 points at Houston
• 55 points vs TCU
• 56 points at Memphis

For the last 6 games, and the 3 previous before that ridiculous run are as follows:

• 41 points vs South Florida
• 41 points at Miami
• 59 points vs East Carolina

And, holding with our soon-to-arrive "Battleship" theory/analogy/concept...

Louisville's first three games were relatively low-scoring compared to their great run to finish the season:

• 28 points vs Kentucky
• 52 points at Army
• 34 points at North Carolina

For those keeping score at home, Louisville scored...

0-30 points: 1 time
30-40 points: 1 time
40-50 points: 3 times
50-60 points: 5 times
60-70 points: 2 times (high: 70)

Season scoring average: 50.0 PPG

Those final six games were truly remarkable, at 57.5 PPG.

Argue what you want about their level of competition, but even the most high-octane teams don't put together that kind of scoring offense, no matter who the combination of opponent.

This year Louisville's schedule takes a step up, and their scoring in theory should go down, especially with a gifted but first-time starting quarterback in Brian Brohm.  That said, they should once again be amongst the NCAA's best offenses this year and are just plain fun to watch.

Too bad Auburn never let Bobby Petrino have more fun... they might have actually retained him as OC for another season, bypassing that embarrassing home opening shutout against USC and very likely facing the Trojans in last year's Orange Bowl for what would have been a much more interesting championship.

Comments

[Dawgy1]

O.K. I'll take your advice and argue the competition. Let's look at the collective defenses of Lousiville's "Ssssssssmokin" schedule in 2004.

Boise gave up 25.6 ppg, Tulane 32.8 ppg, Cinn. 26.7 ppg, Houston 32.1 ppg, T.C.U. 33.1 ppg, Memphis 31.3 ppg, So. Fla. 31.9 ppg. East Car. 39.9 ppg, Kentucky 31 ppg, Army 43.3 ppg, and N.C. 31.8 ppg.

Exclude Miami, and if my math's right, Louisville's other eleven opponents averaged giving up 32.7 ppg.

Not exactly "Ssssssssssmokin"

[Heismanpundit]

They gave up a lot of points per game because Louisville was on their schedule! Why not figure out their defensive average before playing Louisville?

[Dawgy1]

Try again, with Louisville.

Boise 24
Cinn. 22.7
Tulane 30.6
Hous. 28.9
TCU 30.6
S. Fla 31
E. Car. 43.3
Ken. 31.3
Army 33.6
N.C. 31.6
Memphis 29

Average for the eleven teams: 30.6 ppg

Like I said,

Not exactly Sssssssssmokin!

[Dawgy1]

Meant to say without Louisville on the sch.

[Heismanpundit]

What about Miami? I believe Louisville laid 38 on them. still think their offense isn't legit?

But then how would you know...you've never seen a legit offense in person.

[Dawgy1]

You can't back up your foolish blogs with any facts so you just start personally attacking me.

The fact is that Louisville, while I believe to be a fine football team, played against a bunch of bad defenses.

Give a list of your so called legit offenses and I'll be sure and try to watch and learn.

[Heismanpundit]

List of legit offenses:

usc, cal, lousiville, boise, utah and now florida...

watch and learn....

[sportsbiz]

I'll concede that the defenses Louisville faced were not the nation's toughest, although they did lay 38 on Miami. However, it should be noted that at least 1/2 of that point total was run up by the second and third team offense playing against the first team opponent's defense. Yes, the schedule is tougher this year and I don't expect comparable point totals, however I do expect performance that will once again place Louisville's offense among the nation's leaders. Why? It involves a combination of the Petrino brothers' (Paul is the offensive coordinator) scheme and experience at skill positions and one of the nation's best offensive lines.

The magic to Petrinos' offense is the confusion generated by not knowing what is coming from a myriad of ever changing sets. It helps to have mulit-purpose backs but it's not a necessity. What is required is simply masking what's coming and having a power running game to keep the pressure off the passing game. That last part may not be novel but it sure is effective.