Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 38. Louisville
Interesting team with success at the Group of 5 and Power 5 level
I’ve been looking forward to doing Louisville for a while, as they have an interesting blend of great Group of 5 and Power 5 seasons. What used to stick out to me about Louisville is a great history of QB play. Their starting QBs since 1999 have been Chris Redman (12,541 passing yards, 2x C-USA POTY), Dave Ragone (8,564 passing yards, 3x C-USA POTY), Stefan Lefors (1x C-USA POTY), Brian Bohm (10,775 passing yards, 1x Big East OPOTY, 2nd round NFL pick)…Teddy Bridgewater (9,817 passing yards, 1x Big East OPOTY, 1st round NFL pick), Lamar Jackson (13,175 total yards, Heisman, 1st round NFL pick), and Malik Cunningham (12,839 total yards). That’s a severely underrated group of quarterbacks, and Louisville in the last 25 years can be thought of as a top 10 or top 5 QB factory.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 2 | Louisville | 2006 | 51.314 | 12-1 |
| 6 | Louisville | 2004 | 35.725 | 11-1 |
| 13 | Louisville | 2013 | 32.478 | 12-1 |
| 18 | Louisville | 2012 | 22.749 | 11-2 |
| 17 | Louisville | 1990 | 20.886 | 10-1-1 |
| 19 | Louisville | 2005 | 19.457 | 9-3 |
| 22 | Louisville | 2016 | 19.437 | 9-4 |
| 17 | Louisville | 2001 | 18.642 | 11-2 |
| 23 | Louisville | 1993 | 16.96 | 9-3 |
| 24 | Louisville | 2014 | 16.0 | 9-4 |
| 25 | Louisville | 2022 | 14.444 | 8-5 |
| 31 | Louisville | 2000 | 11.823 | 9-3 |
| 37 | Louisville | 2017 | 7.031 | 8-5 |
| 42 | Louisville | 2015 | 6.811 | 8-5 |
| 36 | Louisville | 1988 | 5.25 | 8-3 |
| 44 | Louisville | 2003 | 4.283 | 9-4 |
| 41 | Louisville | 2019 | 3.966 | 8-5 |
| 44 | Louisville | 2011 | 1.893 | 7-6 |
| 53 | Louisville | 2007 | -1.059 | 6-6 |
| 50 | Louisville | 2010 | -1.535 | 7-6 |
| 48 | Louisville | 1995 | -1.84 | 7-4 |
| 47 | Louisville | 1999 | -2.946 | 7-5 |
| 58 | Louisville | 2021 | -4.237 | 6-7 |
| 47 | Louisville | 1994 | -4.796 | 6-5 |
| 55 | Louisville | 1989 | -9.106 | 6-5 |
| 54 | Louisville | 1998 | -9.877 | 7-5 |
| 63 | Louisville | 2002 | -10.45 | 7-6 |
| 60 | Louisville | 1992 | -12.69 | 5-6 |
| 64 | Louisville | 1996 | -17.148 | 5-6 |
| 77 | Louisville | 2008 | -17.94 | 5-7 |
| 91 | Louisville | 2020 | -18.928 | 4-7 |
| 87 | Louisville | 2009 | -26.038 | 4-8 |
| 92 | Louisville | 1987 | -38.437 | 3-7-1 |
| 94 | Louisville | 1983 | -40.632 | 3-8 |
| 95 | Louisville | 1986 | -44.047 | 3-8 |
| 96 | Louisville | 1984 | -46.875 | 2-9 |
| 120 | Louisville | 2018 | -49.534 | 2-10 |
| 100 | Louisville | 1991 | -54.027 | 2-9 |
| 103 | Louisville | 1985 | -56.552 | 2-9 |
| 108 | Louisville | 1997 | -58.184 | 1-10 |
+------+------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 23848 (38th)268-211-2 record
6 conference titles
11-11 bowl record
3 consensus All-Americans
81 NFL players drafted
REALLY GOOD TEAM ALERT. 2006 Louisville is the best team we’ve encountered in the series so far, finishing #2 in my 2006 rankings. I’ll go into more detail below. Louisville’s had a surprising amount of mediocrity with 17 seasons of 6 wins or less, but make up for it with 5 seasons of 11+ wins. The 6 conference titles all came between 2000-12, winning 3 Conference USA titles and 3 Big East titles. Despite just 3 consensus All-Americans, you couldn’t ask for a better trio with DE Elvis Dumervil (2005) who led the NCAA with 20 sacks and had over 100 sacks in the NFL, DB Gerod Holliman (2014) who led the NCAA with 14(!!) interceptions and won the Thorpe Award, and Lamar Jackson (2016) who’s Louisville’s only ever Heisman winner. Surprisingly none of Lamar’s seasons make the top 5, but in his last 2 years as a starter he combined for 7203 passing yards 57 TD 19 INT with 3172 rushing yards and 39 TD. Has to be the best player in school history, surely? Top NFL players from the Ville are Lamar, DE Elvis Dumervil, QB Teddy Bridgewater, WR Deion Branch, WR DeVante Parker, CB Jaire Alexander, K David Akers, DT Ted Washington, DB Sam Madison, and DB William Gay.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1997 (1-10 overall, 0-6 Conference USA)
Despite having one of the best QBs in school history in Chris Redman, Louisville could only muster up one of the worst seasons in school history. Admittedly, Redman was just a sophomore and did all he could. Despite playing in Conference USA, former coach Howard Schnellenberger had scheduled very tough non-conference opponents in advance, giving Louisville the 63rd ranked strength of schedule. An opening loss to rival Kentucky and subsequent home loss to Utah led to boos from the home crowd. The Cards would rebound with a win over Illinois 26-14, which doesn’t sound too bad, until you realize Illinois finished 0-11 that year. While Louisville was really bad, they weren’t THAT bad for a 1-10 team, only losing by 21 to Oklahoma, by 18 to eventual #19 Southern Miss, 10-13 to East Carolina, and 20-21 to Memphis. Redman threw for over 3000 yards with 18 TD 14 INT. Coach Ron Cooper would be fired after the season, replaced with John L. Smith and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino for 1998, and with them Louisville’s offense would elevate from 22.3 PPG to 39.4 PPG, 6th best in the country.
5. 1990 (10-1-1 overall, Independent)
Howard Schnellenberger is a legend, plain and simple. He led Miami (FL) to a national title, helped start the Florida Atlantic football program, and led Louisville to a 10-1-1 season. Louisville was an independent at the time, playing a softer schedule than they would today (just the 84th ranked SOS). An opening 10-10 tie with San Jose State doesn’t sound great on the surface, but SJSU finished 9-2-1 that year, winning the Big West. Following that were wins over Kansas and West Virginia for a 3-0-1 record, before the first (and only) loss of the season to Brett Favre and Southern Miss. From then on the Ville would blow out some teams, narrowly escaping others, like just a 19-17 win over Memphis but a 41-16 shellacking of (1-10) Cincinnati. At 9-1-1 and #18, Louisville earned a Fiesta Bowl invite to play #25 Alabama. The game itself almost didn’t happen, as the state of Arizona’s voters had rejected a proposal to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a paid holiday for state workers, and teams like West Virginia and Notre Dame actually denied invites to the bowl. It’s a good thing Louisville accepted, because they wanted Bama, winning 34-7 to finish #14 in the country. 350 lb DT Ted Washington had 7 sacks and 3 blocked FGs (on the season, not in the Fiesta Bowl), and would go on to play 17 years in the NFL. Current Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm was just a freshman at the time, and threw for 4 TD 4 INT. Starting QB Browning Nagle threw 16 TD 11 INT. Washington was a 1st round pick in the 1991 NFL Draft, and Nagle was a 2nd round pick.
4. 2012 (11-2 overall, 5-2 Big East)
Heading into 2012, analysts were high on Louisville, ranked #25 in the preseason despite just a 7-6 season in 2011. They had struggled for a few years leading into 2011, but looked to be on the rise with up and coming coach Charlie Strong and talented young QB Teddy Bridgewater. And lo and behold, they’d exceed expectations, opening with a 9-0 record and moving all the way up to #9 in the country. But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows—despite playing one of the weakest schedules in the country by a Power 6 team, Louisville was barely beating teams, like 27-25 over South Florida and 34-31 (OT) against Cincinnati. Still, the non-conference wins weren’t too bad, beating North Carolina and Kentucky. Their luck would run out 26-45 against an upstart Syracuse team, who’d finish the season by winning their last 4 games with wins over Louisville, Missouri, and West Virginia. Despite at one point seeming like they had the Big East wrapped up, they had their second straight loss, this time to UConn, falling to 9-2. They still controlled their fate—a final week regular season matchup between 9-2 Louisville at 9-2 Rutgers (both unranked) would determine the Big East champion. Teddy Bridgewater was too injured to start, unable to take snaps under center because of his wrist, but after going down 3-14 at halftime, he’d take over. Leading Louisville to a game winning FG with just 1:40 left, Louisville won the Big East title 20-17 with 263 yards and 2 TD from Teddy.
Louisville’s reward? A Sugar Bowl appearance against #4 Florida in the biggest mismatch of the bowl season. Florida was 11-1 with a 3-0 record against top 10 teams, and were giving up just 13 PPG. #22 Louisville had a 38 yard pick six in the first 15 seconds and never trailed, getting a 33-10 lead in the 4th quarter before winning 33-23. Louisville moved all the way from #22 to #13 in the final poll, but only #18 in my rankings. I guess I was harsh on their losses to Syracuse and UConn. Bridgewater established himself as a top Heisman contender heading into next year, completing 69% of passes for 3718 yards 27 TD 8 INT, winning Big East Offensive POTY. NFL 1st round WR DeVante Parker had 40 catches for 744 yards and 10 TD, and NFL 1st round S Calvin Pryor was 2nd Team All-Big East.
3. 2013 (12-1 overall, 7-1 American)
Returning all the players and coaches I mentioned above, Louisville was a legitimate national title contender with a preseason #9 ranking. And while the 2013 season didn’t end with as optimistic of a feeling as 2012, they were 12-1, and I have them as the significantly better team over 2012. Louisville didn’t just have one of the easiest schedules among Power 6 teams, they had one of the easiest schedules in the country period, ranking 110 in SOS. That’s why a 6-0 start only raised them from #9 to #8, despite winning those games by an average score of 41-7. In a Friday night trap game against Blake Bortles and UCF, Louisville blew a 28-7 lead, with Bortles throwing the winning TD 38-35 with just 23 seconds left. Having lost their only real test of the season thus far, Louisville dropped to #18 and eventually as low as #21, but won out the rest of the year, beating 8-5 Houston 20-13, 9-4 Cincinnati 20-13 (2OT), and 9-4 Miami (FL) 36-9 in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Louisville finished #15 in the AP Poll, and #13 in my rankings.
Statistically, Louisville was one of the best teams in the country, scoring 35.2 PPG while giving up just 12.2 PPG, second in the nation. Teddy Bridgewater had his finest season, completing 71% of passes for 3970 yards and 31 TD to just 4 INT. WR DeVante Parker was 1st Team All-AAC with 885 receiving yards and 12 TD. The defense, which was one of the best in the country, had four 1st Team All-AAC players, including 3rd Team All-American DE Marcus Smith who led the NCAA in sacks with 16. The team overall was just STACKED, with 3 1st-round picks going in the 2014 NFL Draft and 10 players taken in the 2015 NFL Draft. Coach Charlie Strong left for Texas, and Bridgewater left for the NFL as a 1st round pick.
2. 2004 (11-1 overall, 8-0 Conference USA)
Don’t forget, Louisville played in the Conference USA from 1996-2004. This was their last year before heading to the Big East, and boy, were they ready. This team had no business playing in a “Group of 5” conference. A 4-0 start included shutout wins of 28-0 over Kentucky and 34-0 over North Carolina, not to mention 59-7 over East Carolina. A matchup of #17 Louisville at #3 Miami (FL) exceeded the hype of potential BCS buster vs a Miami team that was 50-4 in their last 54 games. Louisville took a 24-7 lead into halftime, but a furious comeback by Devin Hester and Miami saw the Canes win 41-38 in the final minute thanks to a Frank Gore touchdown. You probably think of that Miami team as stacked—of all their players who appeared in the game, 22 went on to play in the NFL. But did you know Louisville also had 22 players who went on to play in the NFL? That includes NFL 10+ year veterans DE Elvis Dumervil, DB William Gay, and DT Breno Giacomini. The game earned Louisville respect on the national level, and didn’t drop from their #17 ranking. They won out, beating 8-4 Memphis 56-49, 7-5 Cincinnati 70-7, and #10 Boise State 44-40 in the Liberty Bowl, finishing #6 in the AP Poll.
QB Stefan Lefors was the Conference USA Offensive POTY and Sammy Baugh Award winner, completing 74% of passes for 2596 yards 20 TD 3 INT. RB Eric Shelton ran for 938 yards and 20 TD, while backup Michael Bush added 734 and 7. Future NFL S Kerry Rhodes led the conference in interceptions with 6. Head coach Bobby Petrino coached the best offense in the country, averaging 49.8 PPG.
2004 Louisville is my 18th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
1. 2006 (12-1 overall, 6-1 Big East)
HOOOOLY JESUS, #2 team in the country alert! Now keep in mind, that’s just my ranking, Louisville actually finished the season #6 in the AP Poll. But let’s see how they got there. With a preseason ranking of #13, Louisville absolutely demolished rival Kentucky in the opener, winning 59-28 but losing star RB Michael Bush in the process. Undeterred, they’d run through a non-conference slate of Temple 62-0, #15 Miami (FL) 31-7 (revenge for 2004), Kansas State 24-6, and Middle Tennessee 44-17. Two more wins set up a battle of unbeatens, #5 Louisville hosting #3 West Virginia in a “blackout” home game. In one of the biggest wins in school history, Louisville handily won 44-34, moving up to #3 in the country, the highest rank in school history. It would be short-lived, as they had to go on the road to play unbeaten #14 Rutgers a week later, losing a 25-7 lead to fall 25-28. Louisville would still win the Big East by winning out, and beat #15 Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl 24-13 to finish #6 in the country.
When you look at the totality of their resume, Louisville had wins of: 44-34 over #3 West Virginia, 31-7 over #15 Miami (FL), 31-8 over 9-4 South Florida, 23-17 over 8-5 Cincinnati, 59-28 over 8-5 Kentucky, 24-6 over 7-6 Kansas State, and 44-17 over 7-6 Middle Tennessee. Their only loss was to #14 Rutgers on the road. Seems pretty damn good, if you ask me. QB Brian Brohm threw for 3000 yards 16 TD 5 INT, second in the nation in yards per attempt at 9.7, and would be a 2nd round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. WR Harry Douglas was the main target with 70 catches for 1265 yards and 6 TD, while Mario Urrutia was a solid #2 at 58 catches for 973 yards and 6 TD. TE Gary Barnidge had 500+ yards and would make a Pro Bowl in the NFL. The defense gave up just 16.3 PPG, with DE Amobi Okoye earning 2nd Team All-American honors with 8 sacks and 4.5 TFL. Kicker Art Carmody won the Lou Groza Award, hitting 21 of 25 field goals.
2006 Louisville is my 52nd best team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Thoughts on Louisville’s #38 ranking in the list? If Michael Bush doesn’t get injured in 2006, does Louisville win the national title? Did the 2006 team deserve to be ranked #2 to end the season? Did they at least deserve to be higher than their #6 finish? Are the ranking of top 5 seasons correct, am I underrating the 2016 Heisman season? Is Lamar the best player in school history? Who would win between 2004 Utah and 2004 Louisville? Which team is up next?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
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