The embarrassing coaching mistake that led to 4 of Louisville’s illegal substitutions against Alabama
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Against Alabama, the Louisville Cardinals were penalized 11 times for 93 yards — not what you want to do against the defending national champions.
Several of those penalties came on illegal substitutions, which is something that should have been worked on this summer.
But, according to coach Bobby Petrino, the confusion stemmed from the fact that the Louisville staff had a phrase that meant both a formation and a personnel group:
Bobby Petrino says the staff was calling out a phrase that means the same thing for both a personnel grouping and a formation, which confused the players and led to four illegal substitution penalties.
— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer) September 2, 2018
While that explains the errors, it raises a bunch of new questions about Petrino and his staff. How did this happen? How did it not come up during fall camp? Did it cause confusion at scrimmages?
The penalties weren’t the difference in Alabama’s 51-14 victory, but it’s something the Cardinals will certainly have to clean up moving forward.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
