2012 Louisville Cardinals football team

The 2012 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals were led by third-year head coach Charlie Strong and played their home games at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. They were a member of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 11–2, 5–2 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for the Big East championship. As the highest rated of the four Big East champions in the final BCS poll, the Cardinals received the conference's automatic bid into a BCS game. They were invited to the Sugar Bowl where they upset the heavily favored Florida Gators.

2012 Louisville Cardinals football
Big East co-champion Sugar Bowl champion
Sugar Bowl, W 33–23 vs. Florida
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
Record	11–2 (5–2 Big East)
Head coach	Charlie Strong (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Shawn Watson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Vance Bedford (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium

2012 Big East Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Louisville $+		5	–	2					11	–	2
Cincinnati +		5	–	2					10	–	3
Rutgers +		5	–	2					9	–	4
Syracuse +		5	–	2					8	–	5
Pittsburgh		3	–	4					6	–	7
Connecticut		2	–	5					5	–	7
Temple		2	–	5					4	–	7
South Florida		1	–	6					3	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Louisville	Alma mater (Year)
Charlie Strong	Head Coach	3rd	Central Arkansas (1983)
Shawn Watson	Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks	2nd	Southern Illinois (1982)
Vance Bedford	Defensive Coordinator	3rd	Texas (1981)
Clint Hurtt	Associate head coach, Defensive Line and recruiting coordinator	3rd	Miami (FL) (2001)
Ron Dugans	Wide receivers	3rd	Florida State (1999)
Brian Jean-Mary	Linebackers	3rd	Appalachian State (1998)
Tommy Restivo	Secondary	3rd	Georgetown College (2006)
Dave Borbely	Offensive Line and Running Game Coordinator	3rd	DePauw (1981)
Kenny Carter	Running Backs and Special Team	3rd	The Citadel (1989)
Sherrone Moore	Tight ends	4th	Oklahoma (2008)
Reference:

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	3:30 p.m.	Kentucky*	No. 25	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky (Battle for the Governor's Cup)	ESPN	W 32–14	55,386
September 8	3:30 p.m.	Missouri State*	No. 23	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	WHAS	W 35–7	47,553
September 15	3:30 p.m.	North Carolina*	No. 19	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ABC/ESPN2	W 39–34	53,334
September 22	7:00 p.m.	at FIU*	No. 20	FIU Stadium Miami	ESPN3	W 28–21	12,318
September 29	8:00 p.m.	at Southern Miss*	No. 19	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi	CBSSN	W 21–17	23,492
October 13	11:00 a.m.	at Pittsburgh	No. 18	Heinz Field Pittsburgh	ESPNU	W 45–35	42,432
October 20	3:30 p.m.	South Florida	No. 16	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ABC	W 27–25	50,167
October 26	8:00 p.m.	Cincinnati	No. 16	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky (Battle for the Keg of Nails)	ESPN	W 34–31 OT	53,271
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Temple	No. 10	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	ABC/ESPN3	W 45–17	44,609
November 10	12:00 p.m.	at Syracuse	No. 9	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York	ABC	L 26–45	40,312
November 24	12:00 p.m.	Connecticut	No. 19	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky	Big East Network	L 20–23 3OT	45,618
November 29	7:30 p.m.	at Rutgers		High Point Solutions Stadium Piscataway, New Jersey	ESPN	W 20–17	52,798
January 2, 2013	8:30 p.m.	vs. No. 4 Florida*	No. 22	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans (Sugar Bowl) (College GameDay)	ESPN	W 33–23	54,178
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Rankings

See also: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	25	23	19	20	19	19	18	16	16	12	11	20	19	RV	22	13
Coaches	RV	24	20	18	17	16	16	14	14	10	10	18	18	23	18	13
Harris	Not released						18	16	14	10	10	17	18	24	19	Not released
BCS	Not released							16	16	10	9	19	20	—	21	Not released

Roster

2012 Louisville Cardinals
Running backs 36 Bo Eggers – Senior 10 Dominique Brown – Junior 32 Senorise Perry – Junior 20 Corvin Lamb – Freshman 28 Jeremy Wright – Junior 30 Kamal Hogan – Sophomore 48 Nick Heuser – Senior 49 Jarel McGriff-Culver – Sophomore Wide receivers 2 Michaelee Haris – Sophomore 3 Charles Gaines – Freshman 4 Robert Clark – Sophomore 7 Damian Copeland – Junior 9 DeVante Parker – Sophomore 14 Andrell Smith – Senior 29 Stephen Goodwin – Junior 31 DeMarcus Topp – Senior 82 Eli Rogers – Sophomore 84 Aaron Nace – Sophomore 84 Matt Milton – Sophomore 87 Kai Dominguez – Sophomore 88 Jarrett Davis – Junior 89 Scott Radcliff – Senior Offensive line 53 Jake Smith – Sophomore 54 Mike Romano – Freshman 55 Mario Benavides – Senior 59 Zach Perkins – Junior 63 Josh Stearns – Freshman 64 David Noltemeyer – Sophomore 64 Brandon Bramer – Freshman 66 Alex Kupper – Senior 68 Kamran Joyer – Junior 69 Chris Walker – Junior 70 John Miller – Sophomore 71 Chris Acosta – Sophomore 72 Hunter Stout – Junior 74 Ryan Mack – Freshman 76 Chase Petersen – Freshman 78 Aaron Epps – Freshman 79 Jamon Brown – Sophomore		Quarterbacks 4 Will Stein – Senior 5 Teddy Bridgewater – Sophomore 12 Luke Brohm – Freshman 19 Jerry Arlinghaus – Freshman Tight ends 32 Gerald Christian – Sophomore 80 Stephon Ball – Senior 81 Chris White – Junior 83 Ryan Hubbell – Sophomore 85 Nate Nord – Senior 15 Hunter Bowles – Freshman Defensive line 17 Marcus Smith – Junior 44 B.J. Butler – Junior 47 Malcolm Mitchell – Junior 48 Deiontrez Mount – Sophomore 57 Jordan Tennyson – Sophomore 90 B.J. Dubose – Sophomore 92 Brandon Dunn – Junior 93 Roy Philon – Junior 94 Lorenzo Mauldin – Sophomore 98 Dominique Dishmon – Freshman 99 Jamaine Brooks – Sophomore Defensive backs 8 Gerod Holliman – Freshman 15 Andrew Johnson – Sophomore 18 Titus Teague – Junior 19 Terell Floyd – Sophomore 21 Adrian Bushell – Senior 22 Jordan Paschal – Sophomore 25 Calvin Pryor – Sophomore 26 Zed Evans – Junior 27 Jermaine Reve – Freshman 29 Hakeem Smith – Junior 30 Anthony Branch – Junior 41 Stephan Robinson – Sophomore 45 Mitchell Nelson – Freshman		Linebackers 1 Keith Brown – Freshman 2 Preston Brown – Junior 13 James Burgess – Freshman 24 Daniel Brown – Senior 27 Mike Adessa – Junior 31 Champ Lee – Junior 32 Alex Witcpalek – Junior 34 George Durant – Junior 37 Tyon Dixon – Sophomore 38 Thaddeus Franklin – Sophomore 40 Chris Zelli – Senior 42 Jalen Harrington – Freshman 43 Deon Rogers – Junior Special teams 18 Matthew Nakatani – Sophomore (K) 33 Grant Donovan – Sophomore (LS) 35 Andrew Fletcher – Freshman (K) 38 Ryan Johnson – Sophomore (P) 45 John Wallace – Freshman (P/K) Head coach Charlie Strong Assistant coaches Shawn Watson – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Vance Bedford – Defensive coordinator Kenny Carter – Special teams coordinator/running backs coach Dave Borbely – Offensive line coach Ron Dugans – Wide receivers coach Sherrone Moore - Tight ends coach Clint Hurtt – Recruiting doordinator/defensive line coach Brian Jean-Mary – Linebackers coach Larry Slade – Secondary coach Pat Moorer – Strength and conditioning coach