Wednesday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 2.5.

—If you’ve ever wanted to own a Scott Satterfield game-worn visor, 2020 is your year.

—The WKU recap episode of the CC Podcast is here.

—Even though fans can’t be present at the show on Saturday, you can still get your sign on College GameDay.

With ESPN College GameDay coming to Louisville for Saturday’s football contest against Miami, UofL Athletics is hosting a fan event on Thursday evening at Cardinal Stadium.

The event will run from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Gate 2B of Cardinal Stadium.

Fans are invited to drop off signs to potentially appear on College GameDay Saturday morning. Signs must be approved by UofL and ESPN College GameDay staff before being eligible to appear during the show.

The College GameDay bus will be present at the event from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and fans will be provided the opportunity to take their photo next to the bus.

—State of The U looks at the “arms race” between Miami QB D’Eriq King and Louisville’s Micale Cunningham.

—The Big Ten has announced that it will, in the end, play football in 2020. The league will begin play on Oct. 24 with an 8-game league schedule that features no bye weeks.

Expect this to go poorly just because it’s the Big Ten.

I’ve never wanted Indiana to win a conference title more than I do right now.

—Lamar Jackson has been named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for week one.

—If you missed anything from week one of ACC football, this 2-minute drill should get you caught up.

—The University of Louisville improved its ranking by 16 spots in the annual U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” list. U of L’s jump was the third highest among 17 benchmark institutions.

—Eric Crawford serves up his five biggest takeaways from Louisville’s win over Western Kentucky.

1). THE BIG PLAY IS BACK. Louisville was very much a big-play offense a season ago, and is again this season. Micale Cunningham completed 3 passes of longer than 40 yards. There were four plays of longer than 40, and they fueled 4 of Louisville’s 5 TD drives.

WKU had preseason All-American Tutu Atwell pretty well bracketed, but Cunningham has other weapons, like Dez Fitzpatrick and Braden Smith, whose 110-yard debut was the first 100-plus yard debut for a Louisville wideout since Deion Branch 20 years ago.

As a result of big plays, Louisville had four drives of 85 yards or longer. What the Cardinals still need to develop is a bit more punch in the short play department. The big play won’t always be there, and when they couldn’t hit downfield in the second half, the offense stalled at times.

The Cardinals also need to watch out for negative yardage plays. While Scott Satterfield is right, with its big-play ability this offense never feels as if it is behind the sticks, giving up the 10 tackles for loss against WKU on Saturday is too many, and it makes the play-calling more predictable.

In straight-ahead running situations, the absence of Mekhi Becton could be felt, though the Cardinals did begin to create some seams for Hassan Hall and Javian Hawkins as the game went on.

Expect opposing defenses to do more of the same against Louisville – stack the box against the run and look to put heavy pressure on Cunningham. The Cardinal offensive line did a good job of protecting him, and if it can do that, he should be able to make other teams pay.

—The KHSAA has announced that Kentucky high school basketball will start on its originally scheduled date of Nov. 23 with no changes to postseason dates or game limits.

—Rod Dauster writes that seeing what Duncan Robinson has done in this year’s NBA Playoffs has sold him on Jordan Nwora as a pro.

—The U of L women’s soccer team will open its 2020 season at Miami on Thursday night. Here’s a preview.

—U of L OL commit Zen Michalski has been bumped up to a 4-star recruit by 247 Sports.

—Dez Fitzpatrick had the second best play of the week in the ACC.

—Former Louisville star Jazmine Jones has been named to the Associated Press WNBA All-Rookie team.

—Financial titan Baird is spending $20M on a new Downtown Louisville office space.

—The latest SportsBetting.ag hoops national title odds have Louisville at 33/1.

—Louisville football’s national title odds on BetOnline went from 50/1 to 80/1 after their win over Western Kentucky for some reason.

—”Wide Right,” a Miami podcast, talks about this weekend’s big game in Louisville with the CJ’s Cameron Teague Robinson.

—Russ Yeast made the third-best defensive play (video) of the ACC’s opening weekend.

—Winner gets its mascot’s face on Mount Rushmore.

Right next to Abe:

Imagine having tickets for an event in the Bahamas and then suddenly only being able to use those tickets for a trip to South Dakota.

—On Tuesday, Louisville baseball landed commitments from a player in the 2023 class and another from the class of 2024.

—The CSZ Podcast recaps the WKU win and looks ahead to Miami.

—Little confidence booster heading into this weekend:

—The Philadelphia Eagles have signed Jamon Brown off of the Chicago Bears’ practice squad.

—Louisville class of 2021 S commit Derrick Edwards has revealed on social media that he plans on enrolling early at U of L.

—”That’s Sir Purr, bro.”

—Two decades ago, a neurosurgeon told Carlik Jones he would never play sports at all. Shannon Russell tells the story of the new Cardinal guard.

—Brad Crawford of 247 Sports believes Louisville is underrated at No. 18 in the latest AP poll.

LOUISVILLE (UNDERRATED)

Ranking: 1-0; No. 18

There’s a reason oddsmakers liked Louisville’s chances as a high-end ACC finisher this season and pushed the Cardinals’ projected win total past seven during Scott Satterfield’s second campaign. Not only do the Cardinals welcome back the bulk of a two-deep that went 8-5 last fall, but the schedule sets up for success if they can get past the early onslaught of quality competition beginning with this weekend’s showdown at home vs. Miami — Week 3’s only matchup pitting Top 25 teams. Wideout Tutu Atwell and tailback Javian Hawkins are two of the ACC’s best players you’ve likely never heard of given the league’s elites at the top and we haven’t even mentioned the straw that stirs the drink offensively.

Cardinals quarterback Micale Cunningham gets a chance to make national noise on Saturday night as a Heisman contender if he puts together a notable performance against the Hurricanes, who have a frontrunner of their own in D’Eriq King. Cunningham managed four total touchdowns and more than 350 yards of total offense in the opener against Western Kentucky, doing so on just 19 completions. That speaks to the weaponry Louisville possesses at wide receiver.

—The Division I Council is meeting today and is expected to announce the framework of the 2020-21 college basketball season. One of the announcements is an expected start date of either Nov. 21, or the original start date of Nov. 10.

—LJ Nesbitt is back with a new installment of BucketHatism over at The Crunch Zone.

—We’ve got the Lord on our side this week, which is nice.

—The Denver Nuggets are now on top of the world, and the LA Clippers (love you, Trez) have hit rock bottom.

—Rick Bozich writes that Louisville vs. Miami on Saturday means it’s time for another Howard Schnellenberger toast.

—Have it on good authority that No. 8 will be Andy’s TV.

—U of L highlights the main takeaways from Scott Satterfield’s pre-Miami press conference.

—Miami cornerback Christian Williams, listed as a a second-stringer for week one, has entered the transfer portal.

—The rivalry never rests.

—U of L has received a grant of $11.5 million to establish the Center for Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy. The center will develop and improve strategies that use the immune response to fight cancer, translating into lives saved around the world.

—You can be a College GameDay virtual fan on Saturday by signing up here.

—Victory highlight videos are back.

—Louisville has offered a scholarship to class of 2022 tight end Micah Riley.

—U of L is honored to be hosting GameDay, but is more focused on its “ring game” against Miami.

—This was embarrassing.

Actually, you’re welcome, Notre Dame.

—The big throw has become Micale Cunningham’s ultimate weapon.

—Ean Pfeifer is the most efficient player in Louisville football history.

—Guy’s decent.

—Cole Bentley feels more involved and “more in control” of the U of L offense in year two under Scott Satterfield.

—College Football News is rolling with the Canes over the Cards.

What’s Going To Happen

Just how much better is the Louisville run defense than it was last year?

Cunningham and the offense will have a hard time getting going consistently enough to overcome the Miami running game that will keep it all going after its win last Thursday. It won’t get to 300 yards again, but it’ll push past 200 as it comes up with another win after taking down the Cardinals 52-17 last year.

King and Cunningham will emerge from the national showcase game as two of the biggest stars of the 2020 season.

Miami vs Louisville Prediction

Miami 34, Louisville 30

—Scott Satterfield is a big fan of Miami QB D’Eriq King’s game.

—Harry doesn’t forget.

—Former U of L softballer Lacy Wood is the new head coach at Ball State.

—Cooper Musselman is your new favorite professional golfer. Played for and graduated from UK, but still cheers for Louisville over BBN.

I was born in Louisville. I stayed there until I went to the University of Kentucky, in Lexington, where my dad and uncle played college golf. My grandpa actually played too, at the University of Louisville, so my college options were always between Louisville and Kentucky.

In high school, I was always wearing a lot of red and black. I was, and still am, a big Louisville fan. Basically, from sixth grade on, I went to every Louisville college basketball and football game that I could until I went to Kentucky.

The UK-University of Louisville rivalry is a great one. It was definitely a weird experience for me to go to Kentucky, but you know, the choice just made sense. I lived in Louisville my entire life, and I wanted to get out a little and see a different city. I knew a bunch of guys on the Kentucky team, so that made it easier. The coaches were great, and if I had to make the decision over again, I would definitely choose UK.

I still pull for the Cardinals, and I am a Kentucky fan. I know, it’s definitely kind of a strange situation. I only cheer against the Wildcats when they are playing Louisville. I cheer for Kentucky every other time.

Awesome.

—Louisville-Miami is the unquestionable game of the week in college football.

—Can UM’s pass rush disrupt Louisville’s air attack?

—And finally, Lindy’s serves up an early preview of Saturday’s showdown at Cardinal Stadium.