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Friday Morning Cardinal News And Notes

Sadie had been behind enemy lines for 18 long days at UK NICU before finally getting to head home, which explains for extra-enthusiastic Friday dance. Gerod Holliman is her favorite player, and she's hoping to see him add to his INT total tomorrow.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Spread Check: Louisville by 21.5.

I_medium Jeff Greer lists five things to watch for tomorrow.

I_medium Blogger So Dear is worried that Will Gardner being sidelined on Saturday might actually be a bad thing for the Demon Deacons.

Will Gardner, by most objective measures has been about an average quarterback this season. He has completed 63 of his 112 passing attempts, which is good for just 56.3%. Against Virginia, he was an embarrassing 14 for 34 (41.2%) for just 164 yards. Virginia has a good defense, but they are better at rush defense than pass defense. Gardner is also no threat to run; on the season he has 16 attempts for -72 rushing yards. In college sacks count as rushing attempts and yards, but he's clearly not a dual-threat.

Bonnafon appears to be the man Louisville fans are asking to see more of, and on Saturday they will get their wish. The remainder of the paragraph will involve some #smallsamplesizes that shouldn't necessarily be extrapolated, but let's go for it anyway. Bonnafon has played against both Murray State and Virginia, and in those games has completed 14 of 20 passing attempts (70%) for 151 yards, which is good for 7.6 yards per attempt. Admittedly, those statistics are skewed by his 10.2 yards/attempt against Murray State. He is also somewhat of a dual-threat on the season, as he has 6 carries for 21 yards, including two scores. Given that Louisville's offensive line has been having issues, it's probably a good thing for the Cardinals that they will have a more mobile quarterback in the pocket, who could potentially break open a run, or at least evade the initial pass rush.

In the end this may not matter given the large spread (21 points), but this is probably more harmful than helpful to the Wake Forest defense.

I_medium Jon Bois turns Teddy Bridgewater into a running quarterback in this week's edition of Breaking Madden, because he's a monster.

I_medium Like Louisville, Wake Forest has had some pretty extreme issues on its offensive line so far this season. That front five figures to be tested greatly by the Cardinal defense on Saturday.

I_medium Clay Matvick LOVES the U of L game notes.

They are pretty stellar.

I_medium This is the most informative but least exciting headline of the week.

I_medium Mike Zimmer says Teddy Bridgewater has been ready to be the starting quarterback in Minnesota "since the day he walked in."

I_medium Your Friday Internet report: The Louisville basketball team WILL be wearing camo jerseys for their Armed Forces Classic game against Minnesota, and I'm told they are likely to be far better received by the fan base than the unis we saw yesterday were.

I_medium CardsTV features Louisville's German duo of Joachim Ball and Tim Kubel, who netted winning goal for U of L against UK Tuesday night.

I_medium You're slacking, San Fran.

I_medium The U of L women's soccer team continued its rough season with a 6-0 loss at No. 5 Florida State Thursday night.

I_medium SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell explains why so many of the top recruits in college basketball are waiting until the spring to sign.

I_medium Ken Lolla and the Louisville men's soccer team will be looking to stay unbeaten in ACC play when Pitt visits Lynn Stadium on Friday night. First kick is at 7:30.

I_medium So happy this classic can finally drink.

That was a lame joke, but whatever, Friday and stuff.

I_medium Robert Reinhard of BSD lists his five biggest concerns about the Louisville game. It's a list that includes the absence of Wake Forest's usual long snapper.

I_medium TeamUSA.org talks Turkey with Angel McCoughtry.

I_medium Fox Sports describes every ACC game of the weekend with a horror movie, and Louisville/Wake Forest gets The Birds.

In two road games so far, Wake Forest freshman quarterback John Wolford has been sacked 12 times. Wake's offense in those games? Twenty-one first downs, negative-28 rushing yards, 326 total yards, 6 of 29 on third down and 123 total plays. Those road games were at Louisiana-Monroe and Utah State, both losses.

Now, they'll be visiting the Louisville Cardinals, a team that features the No. 7 defense in the country and has yet to allow an opponent to pass the 300-yard mark. This just doesn't seem like it will end pleasantly for anyone on the Wake Forest sideline at all.

Get your popcorn: The Birds, of course. Wake Forest is about to get ... well, whatever it is that happens to everyone in that Alford Hitchcock classic.

For the record, The Birds is terrifying.

I_medium Cavalier Insider has Louisville at No. 8 in their latest ACC power rankings.

I_medium A nice profile of Preston Brown in today's Democrat & Chronicle.

I_medium Class of 2016 star Rawle Alkins bro'd out with Rick Pitino at school on Thursday.

I_medium When Teddy Bridgewater entered the Vikings huddle for the first time last Sunday, he was "chewing gum and smiling."

I_medium Our man Keith Wynne made his radio debut with Jason Anderson yesterday and killed it. You can listen to his segment here.

I_medium The Louisville volleyball team begins life in the ACC tonight against Boston College, and then squares off against Georgia Tech on Sunday. Both games will be played at the KFC Yum Center.

I_medium Last day of the work week and one more day until football is back at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium? Totally.

I_mediumIllinois fans voted the 2005 Fighting Illini squad past 1991 UNLV in Sports Illustrated's "Best Team to Not Win the Championship" tournament, which is now ruined.

I_medium And finally, beat Wake Forest.

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