Thursday evening Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 25.

—Andrea Adelson and David Hale of ESPN make their week 1 ACC picks. They both like Florida State over Alabama and Louisville over Purdue.

—Congratulations to David Akers, who will be inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame in October.

—Jeff Brohm was told by more than a few people not to take the Purdue job, but he’s embraced his new gig in West Lafayette.

"People around town are hungry for success and for wins, so that's actually been good," he said, leaning back in his chair.

However, he continued, "We understand there is a lot of work to do."

Purdue returns 11 starters, including quarterback Blough, but faces holes at receiver and on the offensive line. Overall, it's a roster Brohm has labeled "concerning."

Brohm has never been one for fanfare. In high school, he was intense but shy ("I didn't speak until I was probably 23," Brohm said). Recently, he griped when staff sent out a tweet from the Purdue football account wishing him a happy birthday.

But he has thrived under pressure. In Brohm's head coaching debut at WKU, the team broke school records for total yards in a game and most points scored since moving to the FBS level; the win earned him the celebratory cooler shower that is now memorialized on his bookshelf.

Some wonder whether to expect the same type of breakout game against U of L.

"If we win that one," Brohm said with a smirk, "you can pour anything you want on me."

—Battle of the Bluegrass season officially kicks off tomorrow when the U of L women’s soccer team takes on Kentucky in Lexington. The Cards have lost six straight to the Cats in this series.

—The S&P predictions for week one like Louisville over Purdue, 42-16.

—It’s been a monster year for NCAA apparel deals, including Louisville’s re-up with Adidas.

—Good stuff.

Just keep it away from Ed Oliver. He will take it. He takes everything. He’s a taker.

—Ole Miss hoops coach Andy Kennedy reads mean tweets about himself, including one from Dan Wolken. Imagine if Rick Pitino agreed to do this. You wouldn’t be able to post it on social media, you’d have to air it on HBO after midnight.

—Our man Cardinal Strong answers some questions about Saturday’s game for Hammer and Rails.

—Playing in Indianapolis will be a homecoming for Cardinal Lukayus McNeil.

—Year four has historically been a very successful one for Bobby Petrino’s teams.

For Louisville's 2006 run, juniors Harry Douglas and Brian Brohm led the Cards in receiving and passing, respectively, while senior Kolby Smith was the leading rusher. Senior Nate Harris led the team in tackles; senior William Gay was tops in interceptions; and junior Malik Jackson had the most sacks.

The 2011 Arkansas team had pretty much the same level of experience.

"We had a special team that year," Wood, who started at center and is now with the Buffalo Bills, said. "That was essentially a full group of (Petrino's recruits) who he recruited to his system. ... We had a ton of talented players, and when you combine that with his scheme, it allowed us to win a lot of games."

Wood said Petrino tries to simplify the playbook for younger players who are new to the system, giving them only the specific things they need to execute a play.

For example, Wood knew his assignment on each play without knowing exactly what the slot receiver or tight end might be doing. Eventually, Wood said, he grasped the larger elements of Petrino's system well enough to make decisions for the offensive line.

"He does a great job of implementing guys so you have a clear-cut role," Wood said. "There’s no gray area on a play."

For Kolby Smith, that process started in game preparation and carried over to games.

"We earned our victory at practice, by working hard there and paying attention to detail," Smith said. "So, when it was game day, we were out there having fun. We knew the way we practiced and prepared was harder than anybody else."

—Expected heavy rains have forced the U of L men’s soccer team’s Friday night match against Georgia State to move from the GSU campus to Emerson, Ga. Here’s a match preview.

—ESPN’s CFB experts make their official preseason CFP picks. There is no Louisville, but one of the 8 million writers picks Miami.

—Federer is the coolest.

—Would have to think this means Clemson since the other five teams coming to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium this season all look like squads that could struggle to make a bowl. Except Murray State. Because they can’t play in a bowl.

Miami-Florida State is already slated as the 8 p.m. ABC game that week, but GameDay might be hesitant to feature the ‘Noles in two of the first three weeks of the season. Texas-USC seems like the only other game that could get a look.

—At the same time college football is kicking off, our SB Nation college hoops preseason countdown is also beginning. I preview No. 25 Missouri (seriously) here.

—Rivals wraps up its top 50 players in college football countdown and has Lamar Jackson at No. 4.

The skinny: Jackson committed to Louisville during the summer after his junior year but still took official visits to Nebraska, Florida and Mississippi State. The biggest push came from Florida, but Jackson decided to stick with his original commitment and signed with the Cardinals. While Jackson had a very productive true freshman season, few expected him to finish with 3,390 yards and 30 touchdowns through the air and 1,538 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground during his sophomore season. Fresh off his Heisman Trophy winning season, what can Jackson do as an encore in 2017?

Farrell’s take: Jackson was known for his arm -- he has a cannon with that whip delivery -- but in high school he did a ton with his legs as well. But there was no way to see how explosive he’d be at the next level. His speed has translated much better to college than I expected, as I've been surprised with his ability to run away from people so easily. Jackson is still a bit raw as a passer, but he is so dominant as a runner that he gets a lot of a space when inside or outside the pocket as the entire pass rush is geared toward run containment. He is simply the most dynamic player we’ve seen in college football in quite some time despite his struggles in the last few games last season. I’m happy we are only one of two sites to have him as a four-star (the others saw three-star), but it’s clear now we were watching a future five-star.

Penn State running back Saquon Barkley tops the list.

—Bellarmine basketball has added a D-I transfer from Delaware for the upcoming season.

—Students who graduated from U of L in the last four years have a special opportunity to purchase season tickets.

—If he’s still around, one of you should definitely adopt Oscar.

—LaMelo Ball is now a 16-year-old high school junior with his own shoe. That’s going to be something the NCAA is going to have to look at if the youngest Ball brother does in fact want to play for UCLA in a couple years.

—The AP weighs in with its preview of Louisville-Purdue.

Jeff Brohm never wanted the matchup against Lamar Jackson.

When he was coaching Western Kentucky, Brohm agreed to play his alma mater only if it was after Jackson’s graduation date.

Turns out, Brohm didn’t get his wish and Purdue’s new coach and his defensive staff will try to find something that will slow down No. 16 Louisville and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback on Saturday in Indianapolis.

“He is kind of like the LeBron James of college football,” Brohm said. “He is that incredible athlete that doesn’t come along very often, and he is playing the quarterback position. While he probably is the best athlete on the field, he has quarterback skills, which make him more dangerous.”

—Songbird, one of the most successful fillies in horse racing history, has been retired.

—The ninth-ranked Louisville field hockey team is headed north for its first road trip of the season. The Cards will face Ohio State on Friday and Kent State Sunday.

—Some beautiful words here that tie in the “Go Cards, beat Purdue” story.

—Because of the expected awful weather tomorrow, pretty much every area high school football game has been moved to either tonight or Saturday. Here’s a list of all the changes.

—Rivals says Louisville has an advantage over Purdue in four of the six major areas for Saturday’s game. The other two are pushes.

—I found the old Michigan-Ohio State rivalry doc from HBO on YouTube, and I’d forgotten how good it is.

It’s still not a better rivalry than Louisville-Kentucky, but a good watch as college football kicks off tonight and for the next five days.

—The U of L women’s cross country team has been picked to finish fifth in the ACC, and the men have been picked to finish seventh. The season kicks off this weekend in Tennessee.

—Kevin Keatts got some votes, but a majority of college hoops coaches believe Archie Miller was the best hire of the offseason.

—That shirt says basketball, but that face says ready to watch Lamar tossing for 450 yards.

—U of L lacrosse has announced its 2017 fall schedule.

—Bilal treating the Giants like they’s 2011 Cincinnati.

—The News Tribune says Louisville is gearing up for a big week one.

—Hammer and Rails wonders what success for Purdue football looks like.

—The guy was pressured too much last year. But we already knew that.

—If someone in Bloomington doesn't bring a Crean Face collage to the GameDay set today then this college football season's already ruined. Go Hoosiers. Tonight.

—And finally, U of L basketball has officially updated its roster for the 2017-18 season. You can check that out here.