Louisville thinks program-changing win is in the Cards

Everybody knows they're not the same Miami team like they used to be.
--Louisville linebacker Nate Harris

We're on the same level as they are. Obviously they're a big-time program and a big-time name but we think we have just as much talent.
--Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm

Bobby Petrino needs a victory to justify the money Louisville is paying him. (Getty Images)

I've been watching Miami film all summer. I know their offense better than I know (rival) Kentucky's.
--Louisville center Eric Wood

Tough talk for a program that has yet to get its recommendation to the country club. Let's try another analogy: If the Rat Pack blew into town, Sinatra would have tossed Brohm a dollar and told him to fetch his car.

Got it yet? Louisville needs the Miami game like Kevin Federline needs a hit. For football credibility, for its self-esteem, for its fans.

For once, for gosh sakes, Louisville needs to prove it belongs with the elite of college football.

Coming into Saturday's game, Louisville's football essence can be boiled down to Unitas, Schnellenberger, three Conference USA titles, a few more quarterbacks and a lot of offense. Oh, that and a funky-named stadium that makes your mouth water.

"You know what? I really do like it," Miami's Larry Coker said of Papa John's pizza. "I had some Sunday. I think it was free so we didn't give any of that money back to Louisville."

Even the Cardinals have to admit they are not sitting at the head table with national powers just yet. They have been on the brink a few times. The 1990 team won 10 games and beat Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl. They won more than seven once in the next nine years.

The Cardinals knocked off Florida State in the rain at Louisville in 2002, then finished 4-4. Two years ago might have been the worst. Louisville blew a 17-point lead in the final 20 minutes at the Orange Bowl. Defensive back Kerry Rhodes dropped an interception that would have sealed the biggest win in school history.

"That's what a lot of talk was after the game, 'Louisville had reached the next level,'" Wood said. "As a player, you can't see loss as a moral victory. ... But, yes, it did feel like we started to take that next step."

Mostly, Louisville has been Team Potential. Coach Bobby Petrino parlayed an embarrassing game of footsie with Auburn three years ago into an obscene new contract in July -- 10 years at $2.5 million per.

But for what? Petrino is the fifth-highest-paid coach in the country, but the only member of the 10 highest-paid coaches who hasn't led his team to a BCS bowl.