Less than a year ago, Bobby Petrino was in a New York City ballroom waiting to see if his quarterback, Lamar Jackson, would win the Heisman Trophy. Jackson came in third, but that was O.K.: He had won it the year before, the first Louisville player to do so.
And besides, in the previous four seasons with Petrino as their coach for the second time, the Cardinals had four winning campaigns, even as they joined the more competitive Atlantic Coast Conference.
The highs Petrino achieved — he is undoubtedly an offensive mastermind — made the fall that much more stark.