LOUISVILLE (2-2) AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE (1-3)
Game Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location: Carter-Finley Stadium: Raleigh, NC
Favorite: Louisville by 8.5
All-Time Series: Louisville leads 2-0
Last Meeting: Louisville won 35-14 in 1994
Anxiety Level: 2.5. And it's not because I'm that worried we're going to lose. Just being honest.
Game Attire: Throwback gray 1986 national championship t-shirt.
I really have no idea where to turn at this point so I'm honing in on an 0-2 fastball and taking a big ass hack. If we lose then obviously the '86 shirt is shelved and I'm a little red in the face come Sunday morning. If we win a tight one then I'm still looking at options until Friday. But if we win big...maybe, just maybe, we will have found the spark that can single-handedly turn this season around.
Pre-Game Meal: Buffalo Wild Wings. Boneless spicy garlic and a ranch sauce, everytime.
Bilal Powell Playing Alert Level: Jungle Green (that's strong to very strong)
Predicted Star of the Game: Art Carmody
This has been sort of the kiss of death in recent weeks (see Mario Urrutia last Saturday), so I'm going with the safe play to make sure there are no supernatural forces at play here. If Art misses a game-winner or more than one extra point, then this tradition will immediately be discontinued, and any future mention of it on this or any other blog will result in instantaneous banning and an email titled "What the Hell?" from yours truly. You will also receive a full disagilation (you don't wanna know).
Poll Results:
"Predict Louisville's postseason..."
- No Bowl: 126 votes (50%)
- Papajohns.com Bowl: 47 votes (18%)
- Meineke Car Care Bowl: 23 votes (9%)
- International Bowl: 20 votes (7%)
- Gator/Sun Bowl: 15 votes (5%)
- Other: 15 votes (5%)
- BCS Game: 6 votes (2%)
Points needed to break NCAA career scoring mark: 45
Extra points needed to break all-time point after mark: 1
Notable and Quotable:
--Louisville comes into Saturday leading the nation in total offense, averaging 619.8 yards per game.
--"I hope it doesn't get into a scoring race, but if it does, as long as we've got one more than they do, that's all that matters. Whatever it takes, we have to do to win on a Saturday. If we've got to score 35 then we have to score 35." --NC State head coach Tom O'Brien
--"This is a treat for us. We get to play the two best quarterbacks in the country in the same month." --Tom O'Brien
--"Things were going real smooth the last few years. It's easy to be positive and everybody love each other when you're winning and winning big. This will test our true character. If we can come together and bounce back, it will show we have a lot of character." --Brian Brohm
--"It's very critical we go out and perform this week. We know we have to get this thing corrected and get it corrected quickly. It's tough because we're used to playing good football around here." --Brandon Cox
--"With a team that scores a lot but on the other end they give up a lot of yards and points, that's kind of eye-opening. You wouldn't expect a team that moves the ball as well as they do and puts points on the board to give up that many points as well on the other end. I think we're capable of moving the ball and putting up points." --NC State wide receiver Darrell Blackman
CC Prediction: Louisville 38, NC State 21
Get on up people.