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Tuesday Evening Cardinal News And Notes

Young Nathaniel's look is the one of a human being who has never experienced ACC life in anything other than first place.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium ESPN bumps Louisville up into a tie for second in its new ACC power rankings.

I_medium On the heels of its huge season-opening win over Maryland, the Louisville men's soccer team climbs from No. 9 to No. 5 in this week's Soccer America Top 25. The Cards received even more love from the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America), which has U of L at No. 2.

This is going to be a fun fall for a number of reasons, and the chance to watch this team inside Lynn Stadium is one of the biggest.

I_medium SB Nation's Jason Kirk says Louisville might already be the second-best team in the ACC.

3. The Cardinals might already be the ACC's second best team. After a full weekend, who do you rank behind Florida State, if not Louisville?

Clemson, which lost by 24 points to Georgia? Virginia Tech, whose offense sputtered for a while against FCS William & Mary? North Carolina or Georgia Tech, who played FCS opponents distressingly close for about 30 minutes each? Syracuse, which needed double overtime to beat FCS Villanova?

Hey, at least Pitt and Duke beat their FCS opponents real well!

Louisville now has to be considered near the top of that group and, for the time being, within a slot or two of the Noles. The Cards (and Canes) will get a shot at taking down FSU, and if they or Clemson can't do it, it's hard to imagine the Seminoles not sweeping the conference two years running.

And sure, power rankings talk after Week 1 feels like sorting fog with a rake. But remember, there's a New Year's bowl spot at stake for the conference's top non-Playoff team, so WE GOTTA FIGURE THIS OUT at some point.

This is already a lot of fun.

I_medium SB Nation's Shakin' the Southland (Clemson) has Louisville at No. 4 (No. 3 if you don't count Notre Dame, which you shouldn't) in its first ACC power poll of the 2014 season.

I_medium U of L's Andrew Brody has been named the ACC Men's Soccer Player of the Week. Brody netted the lone goal in Louisville's 1-0 upset of No. 2 Maryland last Friday.

I_medium Speaking of soccer...

I_medium ESPN's Andrea Adelson was in town for the Miami game, and has a pretty cool recap of Louisville's first 24 (football) hours as a member of the ACC. This picture of Tom Jurich is particularly bad ass.

I_medium Mark Coomes says that after an offseason which included some anger over the departure of Charlie Strong and the hiring of Bobby Petrino, Louisville fans are now all smiles.

I_medium These children are all supporters of the ACC's first-place team:

I_medium Jeff Greer takes a closer look at how the Louisville defense shut down Duke Johnson last night.

I_medium The kids enjoyed themselves during the tailgating portion of the day on Monday.

I_medium Saturday Blitz's Caleb Calhoun picked Miami to beat Louisville, but now he's thinking that the Cards have a chance to be the best in the ACC.

They could finish second in the ACC Atlantic. Dare I say they could finish first?

Who's to say that this team can't upset Florida State on October 30 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium? Petrino has only 1 loss at home as a Louisville head coach, and Florida State has already shown they're capable of a slip-up.

This is going to be a home game with a rocking crowd, and Thursday night games can always throw you off. It may sound crazy, but that game sets up perfectly for a Florida State slip-up.

Maybe, just maybe, Louisville could win the Atlantic. Petrino has always shown how brilliant of a coach he is, and regardless of how you feel about him personally, he is showing  no signs of a fall-off with the Cardinals.

I_medium If you were at last night's game, here's your chance to find and tag yourself in the Geico FanCam image. I went with the Luke Hancock three to the dome. Felt right.

I_medium The ACC Digital Network debates whether Louisville or Clemson should be No. 2 in its first conference power poll, and ultimately goes with the Cards:


I_medium U of L has announced that the two men's basketball preseason scrimmages at the KFC Yum Center will take place Oct. 19 and 26 at 2 p.m. Tickets for both will go on sale Friday at the U of L ticket office and TicketMaster, and will range in price from $5-10.

I_medium Bobby Ball is definitely back.

"The one thing we definitely know," athletic director Tom Jurich said, "he didn't lose it as a coach."

After the infamous Harley crash and the two years in exile - one out of the sport and a second at low-major Western Kentucky - Petrino still has it. Still has the ability to gameplan, to teach the game and to call plays like few others in the profession. That is why Jurich, with a program-altering conference change at hand, absorbed the national PR hit and hired back the unreliable man who went 41-9 in his first stint at Louisville.

Petrino is the guy who could put a record crowd of 55,428 in the seats - and have a notoriously late-arriving crowd there for the opening kickoff. And after a surprising three-and-out on the first possession, he gave them what they came to see.

The second possession was vintage Petrino: 93 yards in 12 plays, seven runs and five passes, hitting the Hurricanes from a variety of formations and with a variety of personnel groups. Sophomore Will Gardner, in his first college start, looked like every other Petrino quarterback - confident and crisp and taking what the defense couldn't cover.

"We looked like Bobby Ball," Jurich said.

"That was fun," Gardner said. "Just throwing the ball around, completion after completion, guys wide open, good protection."

I_medium State of the U has some questions for the Miami coaching staff after last night's performance.

I_medium Miami players weren't much happier after the game.

I_medium If you're going to make Andrew Johnson block for you, the least you can do is get into the endzone.

Screen_shot_2014-09-02_at_6.25.55_pm_medium

I_medium Adelson says that the Cardinal defense should be receiving the lion's share of praise on the day after the Miami win.

I_medium Pretty impressive considering there was also a record number of people attending the game...

I_medium The Washington Post says that everyone at Louisville was a winner on Monday.

I_medium The Sun Sentinel serves up five thoughts on U of L's win over Miami.

I_medium This looks promising on the Antonio Blakeney front:

I_medium Rose Murphy: still the best.

I_medium Forbes examines why Louisville should top the list of NBA expansion cities.

I_medium The Syracuse Post-Standard offers up its review of Monday night's festivities.

I_medium And finally...DePaul.

Hope you enjoyed our completely unrelated to you win over Miami last night, Demons.

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