Cardinals dress, impress

The University of Louisville football team's first dress rehearsal under coach Steve Kragthorpe received strong reviews from its most important critic.

"I was very, very pleased with the execution and thought we did good things on both sides of the ball," Kragthorpe said last night after the Cardinals held their first spring scrimmage at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. "As a head coach, you walk off the field feeling good about things."

The offense, which returns eight starters from last season, held the early edge over the defense, which lost seven starters. The first-team offense needed just four plays from its own 35 on each of its first two possessions to score touchdowns. Four plays into the No. 1 offense's third possession, Brian Brohm hit Harry Douglas on a 38-yard post pattern to the 4-yard line. But then the first-team defense forced an Art Carmody field goal.

The defense also stopped the first-team offense in the next two series of the 90-minute scrimmage.

"The offense came out pretty strong and hit a few plays," cornerback Rod Council said. "It just took our defense a little time to settle down and catch our rhythm. I'd say it was pretty even out there today."