Wait Finally Over For Kragthorpe, Cardinals

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ Enough with the practices, press conferences and pep rallies. Steve Kragthorpe's had his fill. <br/><br/>After more than eight months of answering questions about why he thinks

Wednesday, August 29th 2007, 2:34 pm

By: News On 6

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ Enough with the practices, press conferences and pep rallies. Steve Kragthorpe's had his fill.

After more than eight months of answering questions about why he thinks he's a perfect fit at Louisville, the new head coach is ready for the 10th-ranked Cardinals to start doing some of the talking for him.

Yet for a coach who credits his tireless preparation as a key to his success, even Kragthorpe admits he's not sure what to expect when the defending Big East champions begin the post-Bobby Petrino era against overmatched Murray State on Thursday night at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

``Until you put people in the seats and put a scoreboard up there and put an opponent out there, you really don't know,'' Kragthorpe said. ``There's a lot of guys who can hit it on the driving range. There's not very many guys that can hit it on the first tee.''

The Racers, a member of Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), will hardly be the Cardinals' sternest test. But Kragthorpe knows it's important to make a good first impression for a fan base that's spent months listening to him assure them that the coaches may have changed but the expectations have not.

``This is why you coach,'' he said. ``This is why you play is to play in games like these and get to play in venues like we have.''

Kragthorpe doesn't expect perfection from the Cardinals _ not yet anyway _ but won't complain if he sees glimpses of it against the Racers, who went 1-10 last season under first-year coach Matt Griffin and have a staggering 72 underclassmen on their roster.

``You want to play as close to error-free as you can,'' Kragthorpe said.

Errors at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium under Petrino were about as frequent as smiles on the ever prickly coach's face. Louisville hasn't lost a home game since 2003. The team's current 18-game home winning streak is the second longest in the country behind USC.

The streak has coincided with the career of quarterback Brian Brohm, the hometown kid who chose to stay at Louisville rather than enter the NFL Draft last spring in hopes of leading the Cardinals to the national title. The importance of the team's success at home isn't lost on a player who grew up watching older brothers Jeff and Greg play in front of half-filled houses at dilapidated Cardinal Stadium in the early 1990s.

``It's a great atmosphere here and it's a big-time place to play college football,'' said Brohm, who is 12-0 as a starter at home.

It's an atmosphere that will be curious to see how Kragthorpe handles himself in the spotlight. Petrino tended to prowl the sidelines with a perpetual scowl regardless of the score. The more laid back Kragthorpe insists he can be just as intense, though his players say it'll be what he says, not how he says it, that matters.

``Some of the best things a coach does is his halftime adjustments and that's how some distinguish good coaches from great coaches,'' said center Eric Wood. ``I guess we'll learn more about Coach K as the season goes on.''

And he'll learn about his players. Despite all the firepower at the offensive skill positions, the Cardinals have question marks on the offensive line and the secondary. While Kragthorpe doesn't expect to get all the answers against the Racers, he does hope to give his youngsters extensive playing time.

``There's certainly some areas on our football team where we're going to have to stay healthy to be the team we want to be, and some guys are going to have to grow up very fast,'' Kragthorpe said.

Not as fast as the Racers. Despite their inexperience, Griffin said he doesn't expect his players from the school in far western Kentucky to be in awe of their counterparts from the big city.

``Playing Louisville really sets a standard for us,'' said Griffin. ``If we play 15 games this year, all the way to the national championship game, we won't play a team as fast and physical as Louisville. But I think our kids are excited to show what they can do.''