Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 2.5.

—Streaking the Lawn serves up their big preview of tomorrow’s game and predicts a high-scoring Cardinal victory.

—U of L will honor the jersey of former defensive standout Tyrus McCloud during Saturday’s game against Virginia.

—The Louisville defense will once again be facing a high-flying aerial attack when Virginia comes to Cardinal Stadium on Saturday.

When Virginia visits Cardinal Stadium this weekend, another tall task under center is coming to town with them.

Brennan Armstrong started to appear on ACC radars last season, taking over after All-ACC selection Bryce Perkins had graduated. In nine games, he had a respectable 2,117 passing yards and 18 touchdowns on a 58.6 completion rate, but also had 11 interceptions to boot

Through their first five games of this season, the southpaw has exploded. He has already thrown for 1,917 yards - which is No. 1 in FBS - and 14 touchdowns, while increasing his completion percentage to 64.7 percent and lowering his interceptions to four.

“He does a really good job of finding open receivers, puts the ball on the money,” Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. “He does everything that you want a quarterback to do. He pulls it down and runs when he needs to, but he’s like a surgeon out there at times.”

Part of what makes Virginia’s passing attack so deadly, is that Armstrong doesn’t rely on just one wide receiver to make plays. Sure, he does have a favorite target, as Dontayveon Wicks is currently third in the nation is receiving yards with 535.

But beyond Wicks, there are several other significant contributors. BIlly Kemp is WR2 with 362 yards - good for 29th in FBS - then Keytaon Thompson, tight end Jelani Woods and Ra’Shaun Henry all have at least 230 yards on the year. That makes five pass catchers who are in the top 110 nationally in receiving yards.

—State of Louisville previews the Cards vs. the Cavs.

—For the Virginia defense, Malik Cunningham is “at the top of the danger scale.”

—Bronco Mendenhall is pleased with his quarterback’s current mindset.

—Great news on the Teddy Bridgewater front.

—The CJ highlights three keys to victory for U of L against UVA.

—Three U of L football commits will be in the house when the Cards take on Virginia tomorrow.

—We’re a month away from the official start of the 2021-22 U of L men’s basketball season, but the team is going to be engaging in plenty of public activities between now and then.

Here’s a rundown:

Tuesday, Oct. 12

ACC Tipoff – Charlotte Marriott City Center, Charlotte, N.C.

UofL Head Men’s Basketball Coach Chris Mack and team captains Malik Williams and Jarrod West will attend the ACC media day event, which begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs throughout the day. The UofL trio is planned to be on the main stage at 11 a.m.

Saturday, Oct. 16

Team 108 Tip-Off Intrasquad Scrimmage – KFC Yum! Center, 1 p.m.

UofL will play an intrasquad scrimmage in the Louisville Basketball Team 108 Tip-Off in the KFC Yum! Center on Oct. 16 at 1 p.m. The event will offer the first public look at the 2021-22 men’s team in competition in a game setting. Tickets, priced at $10 each for lower-level seating, are available online at Ticketmaster.com, or specifically at this link: https://uofl.me/3EWMFRW.

Tuesday, Oct. 19

UofL Men’s Basketball Media Day – Planet Fitness Kueber Center, 2432 S. Floyd Street, 12:30 p.m.

Media will have an extended opportunity to speak in-person with UofL team members and Coach Chris Mack. The event will begin with an in-person news conference with Mack in the Media Room, followed by in-person interviews with team members on the practice court.

Wednesday, Oct. 20

Men’s Basketball Tipoff Luncheon – Galt House Hotel Grand Ballroom, noon

The 2021 University of Louisville Men’s Basketball Tipoff Luncheon, presented by Clark & Riggs Printing, will be staged on Wednesday, Oct. 20 in the Grand Ballroom of the Galt House Hotel. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and lunch will be served at noon for the event, which will feature comments from UofL Coach Chris Mack and team members. Tickets are $50 each and may be purchased online at this link: https://am.ticketmaster.com/uofl/tipoff.

Monday, Oct. 29

UofL vs. Kentucky State – KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m.

The Cardinals will play their first game against outside competition as UofL faces Kentucky State in its first of two exhibition games.

—Wahoos 247 has five predictions for the Louisville-Virginia game.

—The matchup between the Cards and Cavs features two of the ACC’s top quarterbacks.

—A Northern Colorado football coach got angry during a game, broke a clipboard, chucked it into the crowd, and apparently hit a fan because another fan was heckling him over “how small his pants were.”

“While Coach Max McCaffrey’s tossing of a souvenir into the stands showed poor judgment, it was clear there was no intent to harm nor was the action fueled by anger. Max is embarrassed by the incident and is working privately to apologize to the fan hit by the errant toss,“ UNC Athletic Director Darren Dunn said in the statement. “After visiting with Max and the entire football staff, I am confident we will have no further engagement with fans of our opponents.”

McCaffrey was officially reprimanded, but the statement doesn’t provide any additional details.

Max Demarais, a student from Butte High School in Montana, said McCaffrey broke his clipboard after UNC graduate quarterback and brother Dylan McCaffrey threw an interception in the second quarter.

Demarais taunted McCaffrey about his pants before the clipboard was thrown, hitting a fan in another row.

“I said, ‘Hey coach, maybe you should focus on how small your pants are, rather than breaking a clipboard,” the senior told the Tribune in a text message.

If he had known the comment was going to cause escalation, Demarais said he wouldn’t have said it.

“I was very surprised he tried throwing it at me,” Demarais said. “I was one of the only people standing in my section when I said it. I’m guessing he tried throwing it at me. Everyone around me freaked out, and I was just dumbfounded.”

Ian Laird of KGVM Sports in Bozeman didn’t see what caused the incident but saw “something flying into the hands and hitting the guy in the face.” He was about four seats away from the man hit and confirmed it happened in the second quarter.

Laird said people in the section began pointing at McCaffrey and McCaffrey yelling back. He also said that McCaffrey yelled that he wasn’t throwing it at the man hit. The victim is reportedly in his 60s and received brief medical attention.

—A Louisville family deeply rooted in the tennis community is leading an effort for upgrades at Tyler Park.

—Louisville Report’s Matt McGavic examines how losing Mike James affects U of L basketball’s 2021-22 season.

—Former Clemson standout Terrence Oglesby previews Cardinal basketball and picks them to finish sixth in the ACC.

—A cool 50K will buy you the old train from the Louisville Zoo.

—U of L Health basically saved heavy metal last month.

—All the Richmond Times Post-Dispatch sports writers are rocking with the Cards over the Cavs.

Virginia at Louisville, 3 p.m. Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, Ky.

David Teel, Richmond Times-Dispatch (13-7): Facing a backup quarterback last week, the Cavaliers yielded three touchdowns in Miami’s final five possessions and watched the Hurricanes’ decisive field goal attempt from 33 yards doink off the left upright as time expired. Two days later, the Cardinals gained a season-high 540 yards in a 37-34 setback at unbeaten Wake Forest. This contrast does not bode well for the visitors.

THE PICK: Louisville 35, Virginia 34

Aaron McFarling, Roanoke Times (12-8): The home team has covered the spread each of the past five times these two teams have met. That makes sense, given UVa’s stark home/road splits in recent years. Also of note: The total has gone under in each of those meetings, too. It’s 66 here.

THE PICK: Louisville 31, Virginia 24

Mike Barber, Richmond Times-Dispatch (10-10): Virginia went and got a road win at Miami last week and it certainly has the offense to win a shootout with the Cardinals. The problem for UVA is, its defense is currently hemorrhaging points faster than its offense can score them. Malik Cunningham figures to continue that trend.

THE PICK: Louisville 34, Virginia 31

Bennett Conlin, Daily Progress (10-10): UVA’s defense showed improvement against Miami, but the Hurricanes were without starting quarterback D’Eriq King. Malik Cunningham is one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the ACC, and I expect the Cardinals’ offense to give UVA’s defense fits. But can Louisville slow down UVA’s potent passing attack?

THE PICK: Louisville 42, Virginia 35

—The Daily Progress lays out some keys to victory for the Cavaliers.

—The U of L women’s soccer team suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of No. 24 Notre Dame Thursday night in South Bend.

—The U of L swim and dive squads are headed to Dallas for this weekend’s SMU Classic.

—Friday Irrelevance:

—A major early season college basketball tournament is paying players to sell tickets through NIL. That concept could end up being a game-changer for college sports.

—The ACC baseball tournament is returning to Charlotte.

—Former Doss High WR Terez Traynor has been a breakout star for Paul Petrino at Idaho this season.

—Beat ‘em down.

—The Cardinal softball team is wrapping up its fall season this weekend.

—It’ll be No. 3 vs. No. 2 when the Louisville field hockey team faces Michigan in Ann Arbor on Sunday. Here’s a preview.

—Cavaliers Now previews Saturday afternoon’s contest.

—Incredible quote.

—Athlon likes the Cards over the Cavs by a field goal.

—The CJ crew makes their picks for tonight’s big area high school football games.

—We’ll be getting ready for game day this afternoon on the radio from 3-6 on 1450 AM and 96.1 FM. You can stream the show here.

—And finally, beat Virginia.