By: Bradley Jones
The 16th-ranked Louisville Cardinals return home this Saturday in a conference game against South Florida and it will be the first time the Cardinals have played at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium since a September 15th victory over North Carolina. South Florida (2-4, 0-2) appears to be a small blip on the radar of the Cardinals as they prepare for a highly anticipated Big East game against 21st-ranked and undefeated Cincinnati next Friday at home. However, South Florida is a capable team that can create problems for the Cardinals. South Florida has shown the ability to be competitive against superior teams, pushing at the time 4th-ranked Florida State to it limits before losing 30-17 on September 29th. South Florida is also a team dominated with seniors, most notably quarterback B.J. Daniels, and have an experience advantage over a young Louisville team. B.J. Daniels is a dual threat quarterback that possesses both the ability to run and pass and can give the Louisville defense fits on Saturday.
Furthermore, South Florida is a capable offense that ranks 44th in the nation in passing yards and 82nd in rushing yards but have not been able to turn this offense into points only averaging 25.2 points in six games this season. However, Louisville’s offense could have a huge day against the Bulls who are currently giving up the most rushing yards (173.5) in the Big East. This favors a Louisville offense who has run the ball extremely well this season, led by running backs Senorise Perry and Jeremy Wright. Perry is coming off a four touchdown performance against Pittsburgh last week and leads the conference with nine TDs. Wright has run for six touchdowns this season and ranks fifth in Big East rushing yards (450) behind Perry who ranks second with 559. The Bulls are also giving up a conference-worst 27.5 points per game and match up against a team who is averaging 33.3 points per game. To add insult to injury, the Bulls rank 115th in the nation in turnover margin with 14 giveaways on the season, a stat that the must be controlled against an aggressive defensive and offense that will capitalize on those mistakes. With all this said, South Florida is overmatched on both sides of the ball and if Louisville stays focused they should be 7-o heading into next week’s showdown with Cincinnati. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 3:30 kickoff and will be televised on ABC. Read the official press release for the game here
Louisville fans, also don’t forget that women’s soccer with play in their regular season finale this Friday (Oct.19th) against Cincinnati at Cardinal Park at 7 p.m. and field hockey will host Villanova this Saturday at noon at Trager Stadium in a game that could determine whether the Cardinals will make the Big East tournament field.
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