Thursday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Notre Dame by 17.

—The CJ’s Cameron Teague looks at how Louisville football can start getting some more reps for some of its younger talent.

—We back.

—The biggest difference between this year’s Louisville offense and last year’s Louisville offense is that the Cards haven’t been hitting the big play in 2020.

—Big Red Louie identifies three newcomers who could see extended playing time on Saturday against Notre Dame.

—Louisville has offered class of 2022 safety Trevon Howard.

—My new favorite non-Louisville walk-on.

—The expansion draft to set the first roster for Racing Louisville FC will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12.

—Bob Kravitz from The Athletic has a good read on Indiana-Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament and the night the 2019-20 college basketball season died.

—The CJ’s Shannon Russell has three big questions ahead of the first official Louisville basketball practice of the season.

How will Louisville look stylistically?

The departure of five fifth-year seniors and two juniors is no small thing, so comparisons to this year’s team will be difficult to reconcile. For example, one of Louisville’s strengths last season was its 37.6% perimeter shooting. The team benefited from running an abundance of set plays and designed actions for players like Jordan Nwora and Ryan McMahon.

This year’s team won’t be as perimeter dependent simply because of its personnel. The Cards will probably run fewer set plays. On the flip side, they’re poised to be a faster-playing unit capable of thriving more in pick-and-roll situations and in transition.

Within that theme is a pivotal subplot, and it’s the way grad transfer Carlik Jones and sophomore David Johnson play off each other in the backcourt. They possess complementary skills and a shared versatility to play the one or the two. Jones, last season’s player of the year in the Big South Conference, is a valuable addition from an experience standpoint and also is a confident and versatile marksman who can replenish some of the perimeter shooting. He shot nearly 41% from long range last season at Radford.

Jones looks forward to teaming up with Johnson. The latter guard played well down the stretch last season, averaging 8.9 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals in Louisville’s last 15 games.

“David’s a big-sized guard, young but very skilled. I see a lot of myself in David — just like the passing ability, the way he handles the ball, the way he sees the floor. So I think that’s always good to have two guards who can play both positions,” Jones said.

The Cards’ affront continues inside with 6-11 Malik Williams, who needs to be elite where he already excels — in defense and leadership — while becoming more potent on the offensive end. Mack said the senior must be a player the team can count on to score.

—Cole Bentley has made the watch list for the Rimington Trophy, which is given annually to the best center in college football.

—Fifteen years ago today we got screwed.

—The U of L men’s soccer team is headed to Syracuse for a Friday night match. Here’s a preview.

—The ACC has announced that Oct. 24-31 will be “Unity Week.”

—Did this kid just commit to Hogwarts?

—The Louisville women’s soccer team squares off against No. 11 Virginia Thursday night in Charlottesville. Here’s a preview.

—Brian Kelly had some midweek updates about his team’s preparation for Louisville and its ongoing fight against COVID-19.

—We’re about to name all six after college basketball players.

—SI looks at how the Notre Dame offense stacks up against the Louisville defense.

—The official Notre Dame site has a primer for Saturday’s game.

—Athlon likes the Irish, big.

Final Analysis

Notre Dame didn’t have its cleanest game against Florida State last week, but its offense still showed that it is capable of scoring points in a hurry. Louisville’s defense struggled to contain Georgia Tech and allowed more than 40 points for the second time in three games, a troubling sign going into a game against a top-5 team.

Prediction: Notre Dame 45, Louisville 23

—Most of the college football crew over at CBS Sports likes Louisville to cover the spread on Saturday, but none of them are picking the Cards to win the game.

—Carlik Jones is eager to show Cardinal fans and the rest of the country what he’s all about.

Jones, a Cincinnati, Ohio native, smiled when informed of Williams’ comparison to the NBA great. While he’s admitted to watching highlights of Iverson, he doesn’t fully agree that his game resembles the Hall of Famer.

“I don’t really consider my game like his, but for someone to say I play like him and that I kind of like him is a big praise for me,” Jones said. “Of course, a lot of people watch NBA guys and they do certain moves that those guys do. I might consider that, at most, but that’s big-time for him to say that.”

Last season, as a redshirt junior at Radford, Jones averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals. An example of his ability to impact the game, he was the lone player in the country to finish with such averages in points, assists and rebounds.

His goal at Louisville won’t focus on reaching specific statistics. With a more talented roster than at his previous stop, Jones is aiming to do whatever the team needs.

“I’m going to try to be myself,” Jones said. “I know my role. I know my situation. Last year I was at Radford University and I was in a different role and situation there. Here I am kind of in a same role, but I’m just going to take the game how it comes and do whatever it takes to win. If those numbers come from like they did last year, then they come, but I’m here to win.”

—UHND.com has five key matchups for Notre Dame against Louisville.

—Here’s a transcript of what Bryan Brown and Dorian Etheridge had to say to members of the media after practice.

—Nick Saban has Covid and so he won’t be coaching Saturday’s game against Georgia (at least from the sidelines). So will the game count on his official record? It’s complicated.

—The definitive late ‘90s Louisville basketball GIF:

If you say All Sport was anything but carbonated dog shit, I simply can’t trust you with another opinion.

—Yellow Jacked Up has a report card for Georgia Tech’s win over Louisville.

—Irish Illustrated looks at Notre Dame vs. Louisville on paper.

—And finally, Notre Dame is seeking a tighter defensive performance against a Louisville team that would love to get things going more on offense.