Sleepless Kragthorpe Eager For Cardinals To Get Started

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ The sleepless nights have already started for Steve Kragthorpe. <br/><br/>Don't bother recommending the new Louisville coach sip a glass of warm milk or take a late-night jog.

Monday, August 27th 2007, 7:42 pm

By: News On 6

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ The sleepless nights have already started for Steve Kragthorpe.

Don't bother recommending the new Louisville coach sip a glass of warm milk or take a late-night jog. The tossing and turning means things are going to plan.

``It's not nervousness, it's anticipation. It's exciting,'' Kragthorpe said. ``This is why you coach.''

Though Kragthorpe's pregame jitters for Louisville's season-opener against Murray State on Thursday started a few days early, he's taken several steps to make sure the rest of the defending Big East champions are at ease when they walk onto the field against the Racers.

Before a ``mock game'' last week, the team went through its usual game day routine. They ate a pregame meal, did the traditional ``Card March'' through the stadium and even had music and crowd noise piped in.

But Kragthorpe knows things will change when the lights come on for the first time. Expectations are high for the 10th-ranked Cardinals, who went 12-1 last season and won the Orange Bowl. Quarterback Brian Brohm bypassed the NFL to return for his senior season, and the Cardinals appear to be loaded on both sides of the ball.

``It's a little bit of a different situation, but I knew what I was getting into when I took this job,'' Kragthorpe said.

What Kragthorpe got into was a team that for all its star power also has some serious questions. While the depth at the skill positions runs deep, the reserves on the offensive and defensive lines and in the secondary are largely composed of newcomers who have yet to see any significant playing time.

``If we put our second offensive line unit out there all at the same time, you'd have one guy that's taken a Division I college snap and two guys that are true freshmen,'' Kragthorpe said. ``There are 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.''

The team's depth chart has been a work in progress during training camp. Kragthorpe admits trying to determine who will play by looking at the depth chart is a waste of time. Other than Brohm and a handful of other stars, including wideouts Harry Douglas and Mario Urrutia, Kragthorpe remains largely noncommittal on who will start against the Racers.

``I'll be able to better answer that question about five seconds after (Murray State) sends their personnel on the field, if we can determine it,'' he said.

The biggest question mark, however, may be Kragthorpe himself. Though he needed just two years to turn around Tulsa, he remains a bit of a mystery. Cerebral almost to a fault, Kragthorpe seems to get a kick when asked what his demeanor is like on the sidelines.

``I can adjust to my surroundings,'' he said with a laugh.

On Thursday those surroundings will include 42,000 fans who have grown used to the Cardinals winning _ their 18-game home winning streak is the second-longest in the nation _ and fiery former coach Bobby Petrino erupting when things don't go his way. Kragthorpe insists things won't change just because the coaches have.

``What people don't understand is every time I take the field I want to win,'' he said. ``It wasn't any different my first game against Minnesota when I was at Tulsa or when I walked on the field in Norman (Okla.) with 82,000 fans trying to beat the (Oklahoma) Sooners,'' he said. ``It won't be any different on Thursday night when I try to beat the Racers.''