A resolution honoring the University of Louisville Football Cardinals, 2007 Orange Bowl Champions

A RESOLUTION honoring the University of Louisville Football Cardinals, 2007 Orange Bowl Champions.

WHEREAS, on Tuesday, January 2, 2007, before a crowd of 74,470 at Dolphins Stadium in Miami, the University of Louisville Cardinals defeated the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest University by a score of 24-13 to win the 2007 Orange Bowl; and

WHEREAS, the victory capped off what was the finest season in Cardinal gridiron history, with a 12-1 final record, the most wins in a season in school history, a Big East Conference Championship, and the school's first win in a Bowl Championship Series game; and

WHEREAS, the Cardinals were led on the field by junior quarterback Brian Brohm, who completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 312 yards and was named the MVP of the game, and junior wide receiver Harry Douglas, whose 10 catches tied an Orange Bowl record and 165 receiving yards in the game gave him 1,265 receiving yards for the season, setting a new school record; and

WHEREAS, the Cardinals overcame the loss of Heisman Trophy candidate running back Michael Bush in the season-opening victory over the University of Kentucky by spreading the load out among several backs who played vital roles in the Orange Bowl win, with senior Kolby Smith accounting for 115 total yards, junior Brock Bolen accounting for 61 yards and a touchdown, and freshman Anthony Allen scoring two touchdowns; and

WHEREAS, the engine that drove the Cardinals' high-powered offense all season and led to 475 yards offense in the Orange Bowl was the offensive line, led by seniors Renardo Foster and Kurt Quarterman, junior Danny Barlowe, and sophomores George Bussey and Eric Wood; and

WHEREAS, the gritty Cardinal defense, which played a key role in the Cardinal victory, forcing turnovers at key times and recording four sacks of the Wake Forest quarterback, was led by senior tackle Amobi Akoye, who recorded two sacks, junior linebacker Malik Jackson, who recovered a fumble and recorded one sack, and senior cornerback William Gay, who broke up two critical passes and stopped Wake's last gasp drive with an acrobatic interception late in the fourth quarter; and

WHEREAS, defensive stalwarts for the Cardinals included Zach Anderson, Nate Harris, Rod Council, Adrian Grady, Abe Brown, and Jon Russell; and

WHEREAS, the success of the Cardinals program is directly a result of the efforts of head coach Bobby Petrino and a young and talented staff of coordinators and position coaches who have led the Cardinals to a 41-9 record, four consecutive bowl appearances, and two conference championships in the last four years; and

WHEREAS, the accomplishments and efforts of this talented group of young men will forever be remembered in the annals of Kentucky gridiron history, as the 2006 Louisville Cardinals are arguably the finest college football squad the Commonwealth has produced; and

WHEREAS, after losing their head coach to the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League, the Cardinals tapped Steve Kragthorpe, an innovative offensive mind at both the college and professional levels, to become the leader of the football program, with an eye towards continuing the football success of the past decade; and

WHEREAS, it is only fitting that this team be publicly saluted for its tremendous achievements and the notoriety it has brought to the Commonwealth;

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