Think we have a shot, Will?

Will thinks we've got a shot.

GO CARDS

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (3-5, 0-3) AT WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS (6-2, 2-1)

Game Time: Noon

Location: Mountaineer Field at Milan-Puskar Stadium: Morgantown, W. Va.

Television: Big East Network/WHAS-11

Announcers: Mike Gleason/John Congemi

Favorite: West Virginia by 17.5

All-Time Series: West Virginia leads 8-2

Last Meeting: West Virginia won 35-21 last year

Excitement Level: 3.2

.07 of that is because I really don't like West Virginia, 2.5 of it is Stein Fever.

Pregame Meal: Waffles and coffee

Kragtastic Prediction: We commit a penalty none of us have ever heard of before for the third time this season.

Predicted Star of the Game: Darius Ashley

Shines in an otherwise dismal offensive performance

NOTABLE

--Louisville has not beaten West Virginia in Morgantown since 1990.

--Louisville is ranked last in the Big East in scoring offense (20.3), pass efficiency offense (117.69), sacks allowed (3.0), scoring defense (27.6), total defense (371.8), rushing defense (147.4), sacks (1.75) and tackles for losses (5.0).

-- West Virginia has failed to score just four times in 32 red-zone opportunities this year. Twenty two of the 28 scores have been touchdowns.

Quotable

--"It's about finishing up strong. We know what's in front of us with these four Big East games, and we're trying to win this conference. We know if we take care of business, we'll be in good shape." --Chris Neild

--"When you're in the Big East, they are all trap games. You let your guard down, then you are going to get beat."--Bill Stewart

--"They get after it, man – they love football! They love playing football there. They love coaching football there. They love watching football there. It’s a great football place. I’ve had friends that have gone to school there. And it’s a great football town." --Steve "Football" Kragthorpe

--"They have a rabid fan base. They all have good arms — whether they are right-handed or left-handed, they all throw those batteries extremely well. They are very accurate." --Steve Kragthorpe

CC Prediction: West Virginia 38, Louisville 13

Yeah, BUT, last year it was so cold.

--Spread check: 'Eers by 17.5

--The Parkersburg News and Sentinel takes a look at the past "unforgettable" matchups between Louisville and West Virginia.

For a while there, it looked as if West Virginia and Louisville were starting one of the better rivalries in the Big East.

Both teams were loaded with NFL talent - Pat White and Steve Slaton with the Mountaineers, Elvis Dumervil and Brian Brohm for the Cardinals, to name a few.

And the matchups were fascinating.

Who could forget that colossal fourth-quarter comeback White engineered as a redshirt freshman for WVU at Mountaineer Field. Or the next season at Louisville, when the Cardinals beat the Mountaineers in a battle of Top-5 teams back at Papa John's Stadium?

Then Bobby Petrino left Louisville for 13 games with the Atlanta Falcons before signing a lucrative deal to coach at Arkansas.

In came Steve Kragthorpe, out went Louisville's national ranking, and the Cards haven't beaten the Mountaineers since. In fact, West Virginia is 8-2 all-time against Louisville.

--The folks at The Smoking Musket somehow got a hold of Steve Kragthorpe's personal diary.

--Louisville isn't the only squad limping into action Saturday afternoon. The Mountaineers are battered and bruised following last week's 30-19 loss to South Florida.

--Despite that, WVU head coach Bill Stewart hasn't made any major changes in preparation for Louisville.

--Pat White's gone, Noel Devine isn't, and Louisville hasn't been very good on the road.

--Annndddd game notes.

Adam Froman will serve as his backup.

Catch the fever.

Because of the massive amount of preseason and in-season hype, Nov. 2 will always be one of those dates that just sticks with me.

There isn't a Cardinal fan who doesn't remember how anxious and excited they were during the day and then how fantastic they felt that night. A truly amazing 24 hours.

First things first, congratulations to the guys on the field for picking up a victory. With everything that's happened and with all that's been said it can't be easy to keep showing up day after day, but they have and they certainly deserved to enjoy Saturday night.

Still, you may not think it's pretty, you may not think it's right, but this is the story of the game:

And I agree with Rick Bozich, the fact that U of L actually announced the crowd as 21,497 is probably the surest sign yet that Kragthorpe is definitely out of here

Hopefully so are numb Saturdays.

Even though apathy has been in complete control since somewhere the third quarter of the Utah game, I don't think any of us can deny that the Will Stein story is a pretty neat one.

I don't think he has the tools to guide any team to a BCS conference title, and I sincerely doubt that he'll ever start another game for U of L after this season, but he's really fun to watch and really easy to root for, and at this point that's about as much of a compliment as you can pay to any Cardinal.

I'm all for letting the kid take the reigns for the rest of the year.

Chris Campa is an absolute monster and he's one of those guys who I can see wowing coaches at a training camp and hanging around on practice squads in the league for multiple years. I really wish we had he, Dempsey and Campa for another year.

Maybe the highlight of the game for me was Victor Anderson going crazy on the sidelines during a long Bilal Powell run. There seems to be nothing fake about Vic. He genuinely loves his team, his teammates and this program.

Here's hoping we can get him at least one postseason trip before he leaves town.

Might be time to at least experiment with wearing a shoe, Ryan.

When the ball was in the air on the last play of the game, I only remember saying, "oh my god he's open." The sad thing is there was no fear or panic in my voice, it was pretty much just an observation.

I hate this.

Goal No. 2 for the rest of the season (behind keeping key players healthy) is getting Doug Beaumont into the endzone.

I do not believe Steve Kragthorpe is a good football coach.

Again, congrats to the team and thanks so much for working so hard so that we here have stuff - good or bad - to think and talk about.

Go Halloween.

GO CARDS

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (2-5, 0-3) vs. ARKANSAS STATE RED WOLVES (2-4, 1-2)

Game Time: 3:30

Location: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium: Louisville, KY

Television: WHAS

Announcers: Drew Deener/Doug James

Favorite: Louisville by 2.5

All-Time Series: First Meeting

Last Meeting: First Meeting

Excitement Level: 0.3

As bad as it gets

Pregame Meal: Who cares?

Kragtastic Prediction: We fumble more than two snaps.

Predicted Star of the Game: Will Stein

Why the hell not?

NOTABLE

--Nothing

Quotable

--"He’ll employ a lot of the game things we saw against Cincinnati in terms of quarterback running game, which is tough to defend when you’ve got a guy that can run it and pass it. And they’ve got big play receivers and they’re very solid in the running game.” --Steve Kragthorpe

"I hoped we would stay healthy. We haven't stayed quite as healthy as I would have liked, but that's the nature of football." ---Steve Kragthorpe

CC Prediction: Louisville 21, Arkansas State 7