Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 4.

—The CJ identifies three keys to success for Louisville against Georgia Tech.

—Friday’s game will be between a pair of teams suddenly looking to snap skids.

—The Cardinal offensive line is looking for a bounce back performance against Georgia Tech.

—Justin Dottavio over at From the Rumble Seat sees a close game in Atlanta Friday night.

Above- Pitt, also a 4-2-5 defense, was able to get to Louisville’s QB Cunningham, without having to bring extra pressure. If the Cards O-Line is struggling, that could help Tech in the back seven by getting pressure with just the front four linemen.

Data: The Panthers held Louisville to 1-of-10 on 3rd downs, picked off three passes, and came away with seven sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and five QB hurries. The Yellow Jackets defense, which has played well in waves, really needs to come alive after the idle week. Then again, the offense needs to support the defense, too.

Prediction: Louisville by 3.

—For new Cardinal grad transfer Charles Minlend, basketball is a family tradition.

—Louisville has offered four-star class of 2022 power forward Isaac Traudt. Traudt described the offer as “very intriguing.”

—Yellow Jacked Up asks if Friday night’s game is a must win for Georgia Tech.

—Emina Ekic is Top Drawer Soccer’s national Player of the Week.

—Louisville is a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology for ESPN.

—Only in New York.

—Cardinals swept the ACC’s weekly field hockey awards.

—Former Louisville OL coach has landed a new gig coaching the o-line/running game at Florida A&M.

—U of L golf has unveiled its new training facility.

—The bracket for the 2020 Maui/Asheville Invitational is out.

—Unforced errors have been an issue for Georgia Tech so far this season.

“There’s some things that were happening internally with some young guys that, we’ve got those things cleaned up,” Collins said. “Just continue to improve on that at a high level and not have those unforced errors.”

Against Syracuse, Tech was docked for 15 penalties for 104 yards and three more flags that were not enforced. Many were unforced errors, namely seven false starts. Players lined up in the neutral zone on defense on two offsides penalties, one of which was declined. After the field-goal play in which the Jackets mistakenly believed they had 12 on the field, Tech actually did have 12 on the field for a point-after try following a Syracuse touchdown, which the Orange declined when Szmyt was successful.

Perhaps the most critical penalty was an illegal shift late in the first half, when Tech was down 23-13. On a third-and-5 play from the Tech 37-yard line, wide receiver Adonicas Sanders made a slight step forward closer to the line while wide receiver Ahmarean Brown was in motion across the line. As negligible as Sanders’ movement was, having two players in motion required both players to come to a complete stop before the snap. Brown did not, negating the first-down catch he made from quarterback Jeff Sims. Instead, Tech faced third-and-10, could not convert and punted away, losing a chance to potentially cut the lead to a field goal going into halftime.

“We’ve just got to learn to not hurt ourselves, not put ourselves in a bad situation, whether that be from penalties or whether that be from turnovers,” Collins said.

—Tailgating will remain prohibited in Atlanta on Friday.

—Dwayne Ledford says he’s impressed by the effort level with which Georgia Tech plays.

—Alex Trebek revealing the Ottawa Senators’ draft pick was pretty great.

—Miami believes they’ve got something for Clemson this weekend.

—Mars is as close to earth right now as it will be until 2035. Assuming the skies are clear enough, the red planet should be extremely visible tonight.

—Congrats to Spitfire on flying.

—The Carolina Panthers have now placed Reggie Bonnafon on the injured list, where he must stay for at least three weeks. Since he has already been activated from the practice squad twice this season, the Panthers must sign him to their active roster if they want to activate him again this season.

—Cardinal Authority plays know the foe with Georgia Tech.

—U of L swimming has landed a class of 2026(!) commitment.

—And finally, the Louisville offensive line is hoping that a “tough” week of practice after a tough game at Pitt will lead to some improvement on Friday night.