Cardinals have chance to start something special

[bullwark]

Too bad Sammy Johnson did not come along later. He would have made an ideal University of Louisville football fan.

He would have been one of the 1,500 who came to observe the team's first practice. He would have gotten his season tickets before they were all gone. Well, we are assuming he would have preferred the 'Ville to England and American football to David Beckham football, but continue down this path, OK?

Johnson presented contentment as farcical in an evolving world. The same concept applies for an evolving football program. If you want verification from someone from this century, we go now to defensive end/philosopher Montavious Stanley.

"We don't ever want to get satisfied or think we're too good to improve," he said. "We also understand our coaching staff is going to push us even harder to do better than we did last year."

Therefore, it is time to acknowledge a truth about the upcoming season: This is the most important one in U of L football history.

High expectations

It is already the school's most anticipated season. Why? The fans want to see something tomorrow which they never saw be.

Greatness was witnessed last season. Greater greatness is expected this season. The stakes are higher than ever. This could be the season that vaults the Cardinals into perennial title contender status.

"We've got a big opportunity to do something great, something that hasn't been done here," wide receiver Joshua Tinch said. "We've got a mindset that we can win a national championship if we take it one game at a time."

Louisville's new conference, the Big East, is tied into the Bowl Championship Series, which remains the bouncer at college football's hippest club. The Cardinals are joining the league after finishing last season with an 11-1 record and No. 6 ranking. They are entering a new era with BCS-worthy talent, including quarterback Brian Brohm, who has a chance to be one of the school's revolutionary figures.

Unless a disaster happens, Louisville should be favored to win all 11 of its games. An undefeated team? That certainly falls in the "never saw be" category.

This challenge is more difficult than stated. The plan has been laid out nicely, but the execution will be difficult. The schedule is tougher than it looks. Expectations bring a new kind of pressure. And though the Cardinals want to remain the attackers, being a known commodity makes them a target.

Keeping it going

"We're going to have to win a lot more games in the fourth quarter this season," Brohm said.

Can they do this? It is a fair question.

It is tough to enter this exclusive club. Teams on the outside must capitalize on every opportunity. Louisville has never been this significant in college football, but it could lose the fame so quickly.

From now on, every new season is the most important ever. Tradition does not build itself. And excellence does not come with a pause button.

"I can't wait until the day it's a continual thing," Brohm said, referring to Louisville's dominance.

Brohm, his teammates and Bobby Petrino's coaching staff have the school's best chance ever to make it that way. And then it will be time to do it again. And again. The possibilities are not yet exhausted.