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Monday Evening Cardinal News And Notes

Kai has been asleep since the final whistle against Florida State and is now fully prepared to face a new game week.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Spread Check: Louisville opened as a 2.5-point favorite at Boston College, a line which has since moved to the Cards -3.

I_medium The folks over at BC Interruption take a first look at Louisville, and are expecting a pretty electric atmosphere in Chestnut Hill Saturday night.

Sweet Emotion. BC isn't just returning home. BC isn't just returning home to play a good opponent who's had a lot of recent success. BC is returning home to play a team that just went toe-to-toe with the defending national champions, a team considered #1 by many people not voting in polls, in a night game at Alumni Stadium.

We saw what happened the last time BC played at home for an 8 PM game. The fire shot into the sky, the fireworks rumbled, and the crowd went absolutely bananas. Boston College fed off that energy, and the crowd fed off the team as the Eagles knocked off #9 USC.

The Eagles will need that emotion in order to beat Louisville. A raucous home crowd can tilt the field in favor of Boston College. The fans have all day and most of the evening to get sufficiently rowdy and turn small Alumni Stadium into a loud cacophony of Thunderdome.

I_medium Mike Balado, David Padgett and Todd Sharp will be speaking and answering questions at tomorrow night's Coaches' Spotlight event at the U of L Golf Club. Admission to the event is free.

I_medium Chris Jones lands on the first team of CBS' All-Defensive honorees.

Chris Jones

Louisville | Guard

Jones is pure speed and quickness in the backcourt for coach Rick Pitino. Pairing with Russ Smith last season, Louisville's backcourt wreaked havoc on the opposition both in the full-court press and in the halfcourt. Their pure aggressiveness all over the floor was a joy to watch, and he came away with a 5 percent steal rate, which was good for eighth in the country last season. Now without Smith around, Jones will have to take on an increased role, as guard Terry Rozier is not quite the defender that Smith was. However, if anyone can do it Jones can with his excellent lateral quickness and hand-eye coordination.

I_medium Montrezl Harrell is a second team preseason All-American in the eyes of NBC Sports.

I_medium Awesome.

I_medium Louisville takes a slight slide down to No. 17 in this week's S&P Rankings from Football Outsiders.

I_medium As is his custom, Teddy Bridgewater was again at his best on Sunday when the game was on the line.

I_medium Steve Jones talks with P.J. Dozier's dad, who says his son received way more attention at U of L than on any of his other visits.

"He'd like an opportunity to coach a big point guard," Dozier Sr. "... The position is well needed to be filled (because of the departures). Then the opportunity to come in and play with (U of L combo guard commitment) Donovan Mitchell is also a great opportunity to have if they have P.J. in the backcourt."

Perry Dozier Sr. said U of L's system is "definitely (P.J.'s) style of basketball," and the elder Dozier enjoyed watching the Cards up close in the exhibition against Barry.

"I love their style of play," he said. "They emphasize defense more than anything. But it's pretty much a free-flowing, NBA-style offense. It's great watching good basketball."

U of L's recruiting class of Mitchell, Trinity power forward Raymond Spalding and Florida wing Deng Adel - all of whom are rated five stars by at least one major website - already has Pitino "pretty fired up," Perry Dozier Sr. said.

"Especially if he can close this deal with P.J., I'm sure he'd be really excited," he said.

Perry Dozier Sr. said the fan support at Louisville is "incredible." He said fans recognized P.J. everywhere he went, more so than on any of his other visits.

"They were totally amazing," Dozier Sr. said. "They would just notice him just walking through a crowd and call his name and run up to him. It was a pretty impressive thing."

I_medium Gerod Holliman is one of 20 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award, which is given out annually to the best defensive player in college football. Here's the full list of candidates:

2014 Chuck Bednarik Award Semifinalists:

First Last Positon School
Vic Beasley DE Clemson Senior
Joey Bosa DE Ohio State Soph.
Shilique Calhoun DE Michigan State Junior
Landon Collins S Alabama Junior
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu CB Oregon Senior
Senquez Golson CB Ole Miss Senior
Randy Gregory DE Nebraska Junior
Vernon Hargreaves III CB Florida Soph.
Jordan Hicks LB Texas Senior
Gerod Holliman S Louisville Soph.
Hau'oli Kikaha LB Washington Senior
Benardrick McKinney LB Mississippi State Junior
Shawn Oakman DE Baylor Junior
Nate Orchard DE Utah Senior
Denzel Perryman LB Miami Senior
Shane Ray DE Missouri Junior
Danny Shelton DT Washington Senior
Jaylon Smith LB Notre Dame Soph.
Leonard Williams DE USC Junior
Scooby Wright III LB Arizona Soph.

I_medium Chane Behanan was selected by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers with the 14th overall pick in this weekend's NBDL Draft. The Vipers are also the current home of former Card Earl Clark, who was recently cut by the Houston Rockets.

I_medium Five-star class of 2016 guard Tyus Battle lists Louisville as one of his 11 finalists.

I_medium Pio Vatuvei will be out again this week when Louisville faces Boston College.

I_medium U of L was again shut out of the ACC Player of the Week honors, which featured four Florida State Seminoles.

I_medium Shoutout to Cafe LouLou in the Highlands for doing its part last week.

I_medium Louisville stays at third in this week's power poll from the ACC Digital Network, which also has Gerod Holliman in the top five of its ACC POY rankings.

I_medium Eric Crawford says that a make-or-break week is on the horizon for U of L football following the heartbreak against Florida State.

I_medium I think the final submission might be the winner this year.

I_medium 247 Sports says Louisville was the biggest recruiting winner of the past weekend.

I_medium Yeah, that's not Montrezl Harrell, ESPN (Update: they have since corrected the post).

I_medium BC fans seem pretty optimistic about Saturday night.

I_medium And finally, Mark Ennis and I are on your radio tonight from 6-7:30 on ESPN 680. Listen live or anytime on ESPNLouisville.com.

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