Saturday, October 14, 2000
End presents problems for Bearcats
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Look out Stork, here comes Michael Josiah, Louisville's terrifying defensive end, who already has eight sacks and three other tackles for losses in only five games.
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UC at LOUISVILLE
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• Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. today, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (42,000), Louisville.
• Records: UC 3-3 (2-1 Conference USA), Louisville 4-1 (1-0).
• TV: Fox Sports Net.
• Radio: WLW-AM (700).
• Series: UC leads 25-13-1.
• Line: Louisville by 6
• What to watch: The Bearcats need to win this game to remain alive in their bid to win Conference USA, and it wasn't until last week — behind junior backup QB Adam Hoover — that UC exploded for big plays and displayed some red-zone efficiency for the first time this season. Normal starter Deontey Kenner is back after missing 2 1/2 games with a torn stomach muscle. But don't be surprised if Kenner is pulled for Hoover if the offense struggles. Since taking over for the injured Kenner, Hoover has completed 44-of-78 passes for 560 yards and three TDs. His QB efficiency rating is almost 11 points higher than Kenner's (119.2 to 108.6).
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The University of Cincinnati offensive linemen will try to neutralize him in today's 3:30 p.m. game at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.
If they can't neutralize him, they risk the loss of their quarterback, Deontey Kenner, who is returning to action today after missing 2 1/2 games with a torn stomach muscle.
Josiah, who is only a sophomore — and a rather large one, at 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds — is capable of re-tearing stomach muscles.
“He's the most dominant pass-rusher we will have seen in all of our games so far,” said UC coach Rick Minter. “He's athletic, explosive and all I can say is, I hope he goes out (i.e. turns pro) early.”
On film, Josiah conjures a name from the past: Ted “The Stork” Hendricks, the retired great D-end of the Oakland Raiders.
As Oakland did with Hendricks, Louisville occasional ly lines up Josiah at stand-up linebacker, as well as playing him at left or right end, and sometimes even drops him into pass coverage.
“Josiah is a great athlete,” Minter said. “He really brings it and he knows what he's doing.”
“It's tough enough to stop this guy from running around you, but then all of a sudden he's head-and-shouldering you and faking you and coming under you. You can say, "Well, we'll put two guys on him,' but then that gives Louisville the advantage, because you're saying, "We're not going to get a (running back out for a pass) because we've got to wait to see if our tackle gets beat.'”
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End presents problems for Bearcats
