Louisville Football: Bobby Petrino provides update on Dorian Etheridge’s injury

The Louisville football program lost Dorian Etheridge to an ankle injury during the Indiana State game on Saturday. Today Bobby Petrino updated his status.

I think we can all agree that Saturday’s game tape should be thrown away and everyone should simply move on. Not a lot of good came out of Louisville football’s 31-7 win over Indiana State, except for the performance of sophomore QB Malik Cunningham. The rain delays, poor blocking, poor tackling, and a few injuries scares left Cardinal fans worried about the remaining 10 games on the scheduling.

One of those injuries that had every single Cardinal fan holding their breath was sophomore middle linebacker Dorian Etheridge, who suffered what looked like a severe ankle sprain during the first half. In a normal play, Etheridge ran to the ball carrier in attempts to make a tackle but had his ankle stepped on, and rolled over by a teammate.

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My first thought when watching when Etheridge went down was his season was over simply because of the way his ankle bent inward/backwards. You see injuries happen like this all the time and typically they involve ligament tears or more serious bone breaks. Etheridge left the game and did not return, which made things even worse.

Today during his weekly press conference with local media, Head Coach Bobby Petrino was asked to update the status of Etheridge.

Petrino started his answer by saying “we have good news.” He went on to say that the doctors took him back to the locker room for an X-ray, which came back negative. Petrino went on to say:

“We’re not sure where he will be for this weekend’s game, but we’re going to try and get him ready and prepare like he will play and then we’ll just have to see.”

After losing defensive end, and team captain, Jon Greenard, last week during the Alabama game to a wrist/hand injury, that will most likely keep him out for several weeks, the Cardinals simply could not afford to lose Etheridge. The sophomore LB led the team in tackles last year as a true freshman and was going to be counted on this year to lead the linebackers to a much improved year.

If Etheridge is not able to go this weekend, it’s likely that we will get to see true freshman Robert Hicks for an extended period of time. Hicks came into Louisville as a four star linebacker and the headliner of the 2018 class.

At 6’1, 248 pounds, Hicks absolutely has the size and more importantly the skill to step into this defense without missing a beat. Though he hasn’t played much thus far, that’s more likely because of the need for Etheridge to be on the field more so than Hicks not being ready.

The Cardinals defense was atrocious on Saturday, much of which can likely be placed on the rain and long delays. The defense allowed Indiana State, a school that went 0-11 last season at the FCS level, to rush for 174 yards and a touchdown. With Western Kentucky coming to town this weekend, it’ll be a big priority to get Hicks ready to go in case Etheridge can’t take the field.

The Hilltoppers have struggled to run the ball thus far on the season, only rushing for 166 total yards and zero touchdowns. Though that seems like good news, if the conditions shape up to be bad again (thanks Hurricane Florence) stopping the running game will be priority number one for Louisville.