How does Bobby Petrino survive at Louisville after a 77-16 loss to No. 2 Clemson?
Louisville is making an incredibly strong case for the title of worst Power Five conference team in college football.
The Cardinals’ moribund season hit a new low in a 77-16 loss to No. 2 Clemson on Saturday. No one expected Louisville to have a shot at Clemson. The Tigers closed as a near 40-point favorite. And they covered that number halfway through the third quarter.
The 77 points Clemson scored are the most Louisville has given up in modern history. The program’s worst loss came all the way back in 1932 when Murray State dropped 105 on the Cardinals. Post-1962, Kentucky previously held the record for most points scored against Louisville when it scored 68 against the Cardinals in 1998.
Where does Louisville go from here?
The second go-around with coach Bobby Petrino seems to quickly be coming to an end. But just how soon is that end? Petrino has a $14 million buyout and the school already paid money to part ways with Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich. In football terms, it’s pretty clear that Louisville needs a new direction. In financial terms, it’s a little less clear. A board member said in October that the school may not have the money to fire Petrino.
Those comments came on the heels of a 66-31 loss to Georgia Tech. That game looks like a nail-biter compared to Saturday. Clemson became the fourth team this season to score over 50 points against the Cardinals.
At 2-7, Louisville is now officially eliminated from bowl contention. But that’s superfluous at this point. With an offense that averages just over 20 points per game and a defense that gives up over 40, it was clear the Cardinals weren’t making it to the postseason a long time ago.
It’s also clear that this isn’t simply a sluggish season after Lamar Jackson. The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner was really good and covered up a lot of flaws for the Cardinals. But Jackson — or anyone else for that matter — couldn’t make this Louisville team look competent.
Petrino clearly can’t either. The quick demise of the program is all on him. Brian VanGorder, the team’s third defensive coordinator in three seasons, isn’t working out. A Petrino son coaching quarterbacks and a son-in-law coaching safeties don’t seem to be success stories either. Will Louisville find a way to pay that buyout?
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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