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Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

Nathan Richardson's canine best friend is terrified about the Marshall game. He thinks that's hilarious.

By Mike Rutherford

I_medium Spread check: Louisville by 27.

I_medium It's not officially road game eve until this happens.

Keep doing the Lord's work, kids.

I_medium Lamar Jackson won the Maxwell Award Player of the Week for like I don't know the 87th time. It's too much work to keep track at this point.

I_medium If you want to listen to 93.9 The Ville on your phone without using up a whole bunch of data, we have a brand new phone number that you can call and listen to the station just like it's a normal phone call. Save this in your contacts:

No more dropped calls or getting pushed over to 680 against your will.

I_medium A solid road performance earned the Louisville women's soccer team a 0-0 draw with No. 7 Duke Thursday night.

I_medium The early spreads for next week's biggest games at Las Vegas Super Book currently has Clemson as a 3-point favorite over Louisville. One thing at a time.

I_medium Great story from Chronicloid Kevin Brangers here:

Just wanted to relay an encounter my brother-in-law and I had with one of my favorite Cards, Kyle Bolin, after the FSU game.

First of all, we waited around after the final horn and, mostly at the insistence of my niece and nephew made our way down to the field.  We "rushed" the field in about the most leisurely way I have ever been a part of, even stopping to shake hands with the security guard as we jumped from the dreaded wall to the turf.

Soon after getting onto the field, we ran across Kyle Bolin who stopped for pictures with the aforementioned niece and nephew.  While taking the pictures, my bro-in-law said, "Hey, you want me to hold your helmet for you while we get these pictures?" to which Mr. Bolin complied.  "Hey, you mind if I try this thing on?" to which Mr. Bolin also complied.  The following "trying on of the helmet" was about the funniest thing I have ever witnessed as my bro-in-law, and wife for that matter (genetics, who guessed?), is blessed with an unusually large dome.  I believe he literally got the helmet stuck on his head, if only for a brief time.

Here's the visual evidence:

Kyle Bolin rules.

I_medium Paul Rogers talks Louisville football (video) with the fine people of CBS Sports Network, who have the call Saturday night.

I_medium A lot of people noticed that Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson appeared to flash an L at the ESPN camera multiple times during the Tigers' 26-7 win over Georgia Tech Thursday night. While some Louisville fans took this as a shot or a sign of warning for the upcoming showdown against the Cards, the actual reason was to honor an Atlanta rapper who passed away earlier this week.

Watson had previously done the "Shawty Lo Swag Dance" after touchdowns last season, so this makes way more sense than him being like "hey Louisville, f--k you" in the middle of a game against Georgia Tech.

I_medium We mentioned earlier that there's a Louisville-Marshall game watch party that's happening at Lynn Stadium on Saturday, but the actual match between the 13th-ranked Cards and No. 16 Virginia that precedes it ought to be pretty good as well.

I_medium Forever and always, Harry Douglas remains the man.

I_medium Mike DeCourcy argues that Louisville's current success should show the Big 12 that there's value in expansion, but that assumes that there's another Louisville out there.

I_medium Marshall fan Trace Johnson previews Saturday's game and foresees a 56-24 Louisville victory.

I_medium Annnnd it begins.

I_medium Eric Crawford tracks the rise of the Louisville football program through its past meetings with Marshall.

I_medium Brent Venables' Clemson defense gave a terrific performance Thursday night against Georgia Tech, but it didn't take long for the intense DC to shift his focus to what's ahead.

Next up? Dynamic Louisville quarterback Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson.

"If a guy is just a runner, he's easy to defend. If a guy is just a passer, little bit easier to defend," Venables said. "They've got the weapons and a great defense. He can throw it and he can run it. He's very dynamic. They've got what looks like a complete team. He can get himself out of tough situations.

"I'm proud of our guys. This is a completely different planet in terms of a challenge. Teams that win at the line of scrimmage, don't give up explosive plays, win third down, win the turnover battle, you're going to win regardless of the style. Those things will be at a premium. We have to limit their ability to run the ball, but they're swinging it around. It looks like they have incredible balance. We're going to have to play with our 11 guys and play at a high level. Really haven't looked at them. They're doing things different this year and their system is a lot different than what they did a year ago."

I_medium Former Western Kentucky coach Willie Taggert and South Florida are ready for their close-up this weekend against wounded Florida State.

I_medium FSU's potential hangover is also one of the biggest stories of the weekend according to CBS.

I_medium Quiz Bowl team out here punking MIT once again.

Suck it, MIT, and suck it, Harvard.

I_medium The psycho clown movement has made its way from the Carolinas to Kentucky, and I am not a fan.

I_medium Fred Cowgill previews Louisville-Marshall for WLKY.

I_medium The Miami Dolphins Twitter account (or some dude who works for the Dolphins) goes one-on-one with DeVante Parker.

I_medium We'll have a full post on this up later, but here's your basic how to watch info for tomorrow:

I_medium Athlon gives us three things to watch Saturday night and then picks Louisville to win big.

The Marshall secondary was exposed last weekend against Akron, to the tune of 379 yards passing. That's not a good sign with the nation's most productive offense coming to town.   Expect Lamar Jackson to get the ball to James Quick and the Louisville receivers down the field. Then Jackson will likely gain a ton of yardage on the ground, which will tire out the Thundering Herd defense.

Louisville is averaging an FBS-best 65 points per game, so it is hard to imagine Marshall slowing down the Cardinals enough to pull out the victory.

Prediction: Louisville 55, Marshall 24

I_medium Thundering Herd athletic director Mike Hamrick says he's not sure Marshall has ever hosted a bigger game.

"The buzz is as good as any time I've seen it at Marshall," said Mike Hamrick, Marshall's athletic director who played football for the Thundering Herd in the 1970s. "People are excited and looking forward to this game. And to be honest, I think they're excited to see Louisville and (Jackson). They don't think they're playing the (AP's) No. 3 team in the country; they think it's the No. 1 team. ... I'm not sure we've had a bigger game."

The closest competition is a 2007 meeting with West Virginia, Marshall's bitter archrival that was No. 3 in the nation coming into that game. The Herd led 13-6 at halftime, but WVU stormed back to win 48-23 in front of 40,383 at Edwards Stadium.

Four years later, Marshall hosted No. 13 Virginia Tech with 34,424 on hand. The Hokies won that game 30-10.

For this matchup, Marshall is doing a "Stripe the Stadium" promotion, with alternating sections of fans wearing green and white, the school's colors. But the fact that it's Louisville, fresh off walloping Florida State and one of the hottest teams in college football early this season, will probably sell more tickets than anything else.

Marshall coach Doc Holliday announced Thursday afternoon on Twitter that there were still 1,000 general admission tickets left, but Marshall expects a sellout Saturday.

"I told the kids at practice on Sunday: 'This is the chance you dream about from the time you were 2 or 3 years old playing ball in the backyard. It's the opportunity to play in a situation like this, the national stage against the No. 3 team in America,'" Holliday said.

I_medium John is headed to Marshall, which means I'm flying solo again on R&R today from 3-6. Call in and keep me company, or just listen here.

I_medium And finally, beat Marshall.

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