The biggest “what ifs” in Louisville basketball and football history
By Jacob Lane
What if Michael Bush hadn’t gotten injured against Kentucky?
When Louisville fans get together and start to put back a few brews this is a question that comes up 7/10 times (at least in my friend group).
Louisville went into the 2006 season on the cusp of a major breakthrough, which ultimately happened just not the way we all thought it would, hoping to make it to a BCS game for the first time since the 1991 Fiesta Bowl.
The Cards were coming off of a 9-3 season that ended in disappointing fashion with a loss to Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Louisville had been dominant throughout the majority of 2005, outside of a beat down from South Florida and a heartbreaking loss to West Virginia behind Steve Slaton and Pat White.
Walk-on Hunter Cantwell wasn’t supposed to get his first career start that soon. If it weren’t for a torn ACL against UConn in the final game of the season, Louisville may have been walking into the 2006 season with National Championship aspirations. While a BCS appearance wasn’t a consolation prize by any means, the opportunity for bigger dreams was certainly there.
Until it wasn’t (but ultimately later was again.. It’s confusing, I know – welcome to being a Louisville fan).
After putting his name squarely into the Heisman race early on in the season opener in 2006 against Kentucky, running for 12 yards and three touchdowns, Louisville’s powerhouse back Michael Bush went down to a devastating leg injury. Though I was only 13 at the time, I remember watching that happen live and knowing that any chance of winning a Natty was out the door.
It was later confirmed that our worst fears were true and Michael Bush was indeed done for the year, and his career as a Cardinal was likely over.
So, what if Michael Bush hadn’t gotten injured against Kentucky?
Well, we know Louisville still managed to nearly run the table in the Big East in ’06, going 11-1 in total. If not for a penalty in the final seconds against Rutgers (no worries, we’ll get there) the Cards likely were destined for a chance to compete in Glendale, Arizona for the BCS National Championship, a feat that no one outside of Howard Schnellenberger believed was possible.
Even without Michael Bush, Louisville managed to knock off powerhouse programs including no. 17 Miami (31-7) and No. 3 West Virginia, in what is still considered one of the biggest wins in program history.
With Bush, Louisville likely would’ve gone undefeated in 2006, doing so by way of blowing the doors of their opponents instead of playing some of the games close as they did. In that era of college football, not only was winning your conference a big deal but finishing no. 1 or no. 2 was a must, especially considering the Big East wasn’t near the level of the SEC and Big Ten.
Had Louisville been able to hold Rutgers off, in a game where they were no. 3 overall, finished undefeated and win the Big East Conference outright – they would have been in the top two and made the BCS Committee make a very hard choice of leaving one of the best teams in the country out.
Not to mention, had Bush stayed healthy there is absolutely a chance that Louisville’s first Heisman trophy winner could have easily come ten years earlier than it did, thus changing the trajectory of recruiting and the program outlook in a major way.
With Brian Brohm and Michael Bush, two of the nation’s top players, maybe an upset win over the likes of Ohio State or Florida could’ve been possible – thus launching the program way ahead of schedule and potentially locking down Bobby Petrino for the next several years and avoiding Steve Krapthorpe all together.