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Louisville looks for successful debut under Kragthorpe

Aug 30, 2007 - 10:24 PM Murray St at No. 10 Louisville 7:30 pm EDT

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Steve Kragthorpe should not be too concerned about recording his first win at Louisville.

Kragthorpe's 10th-ranked Cardinals commence their 2007 season against Football Championship Subdivision - formerly Division I-AA - squad Murray State on Thursday.

Last season, Louisville went 12-1 under coach Bobby Petrino, winning the Big East Conference and then defeating Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.

But Petrino was hired by the NFL's Atlanta Falcons days later, and the Cardinals turned to Kragthorpe, who had taken Tulsa to three bowl games in four campaigns.

Immediately after landing his new job, Kragthorpe helped convince star quarterback Brian Brohm to return for his senior year.

A potential No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft, Brohm tossed just 16 touchdowns but passed for more than 3,000 yards while completing nearly 64 percent of his attempts last year, when he missed a pair of games with ligament damage in his right thumb.

Louisville finished second in the nation in total offense (475.31) and fourth in scoring (37.77) last year and returns not only Brohm but star receivers Mario Urrutia and Harry Douglas, who combined for 128 catches and 12 touchdowns.

Murray State, by contrast, posted just one win in 11 games in 2006, its first campaign under Matt Griffin.

The Racers, who went 0-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference, started 12 true freshmen last year and have 57 freshmen and sophomores on this year's team.

The teams have not met since 1990, when the Cardinals thrashed the Racers, 68-0.