Cards already prepping for Miami rematch

The University of Louisville’s football team won’t play its season opener against the University of Miami for another five weeks, but preparations for the game began months ago.

That’s the plus side of hosting an important game in the season opener, U of L coach Bobby Petrino said, and the benefit of joining the ACC’s game-film exchange program.

The Louisville-Miami game, like the Pittsburgh-Florida State Labor Day matchup last year, will be on national television at 8 p.m. Sept. 1.

“I like having an opener with a lot at stake,” Petrino said. “It’s important for our players to understand everything’s new and prepare well for this game.”

Petrino all offseason has stressed that last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl means nothing to his new team.

Louisville overwhelmed Miami 36-9 in what turned out to be a sending-off party for Teddy Bridgewater, Calvin Pryor and the former U of L coaching staff.

“We don’t get to carry any of those points over,” Petrino said. “I wish we could.”

One of the perks of moving into the Atlantic Coast Conference is the league’s membership on DragonFly, the video-sharing program that allows teams to upload their film to the site within hours of the game’s completion.

Louisville’s coaching staff spent part of its summer sifting through every upcoming ACC opponent’s games, cataloguing offensive and defensive schemes and taking notes.

Part of that process involved identifying other teams’ talent, which Petrino said will help his coaches get a clearer picture of the type of players they need to recruit.

For the more immediate games, like the season opener against Miami or the Sept. 13 road trip to Virginia, Petrino’s staff already put together scouting reports and game plans.

“(Miami) has good team speed,” Petrino said. “They have the ability to run the ball.”

Of Virginia, Petrino said the Cavaliers have a lot of returning talent, and present their own challenges. But the Miami game takes precedence because it’s the first one.

Like U of L, the Hurricanes will look very different. Quarterback Stephen Morris is gone, and star running back Duke Johnson is healthy again.

The Miami native’s ankle injury last fall started the late-season tailspin that saw Miami finish 2-4 over its final six games after starting 7-0.

U of L linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin said the Cards have to swarm to Johnson to off-set his speed.

“He’s really, really good,” Petrino said. “He’s a great player who’s powerful and fast and has great vision.”

The banter started last Sunday, when U of L and Miami players both met with media members at the ACC Football Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C.

“I’m 0-1 against those guys,” Miami’s All-ACC linebacker Denzel Perryman said. “I ain’t going 0-2.”

In truth, so much is different about both teams that “those guys” doesn’t quite fit in this situation.

That’s why watching all that film can only help so much. Just ask both coaches.

“You don’t know what you’re going to see,” Miami coach Al Golden said. “We may know some of the personnel, but we don’t know what the offense, defense or special teams are going to be.”

The motivation side of the matchup? That doesn’t seem like it’ll be much of a problem for either coach.

Reach Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_CJ).