This week’s edition of Justin Time for the Weekend may be a little shorter than usual. Of course I did not get this done ahead of time, so it is about 6:45 a.m. on Friday as I type this. But the first topic I cover will explain why this post will likely be a little less content than normal. I hope everyone has a great weekend and it is highlighted by a Louisville victory on Saturday in our second ACC football game.
Heading to Virginia
That’s right. In about an hour or so, I will be hitting the road and heading towards Charlottesville, Virginia to see the Cards in their first ACC road game. I am hoping I am able to make one road trip a year to check out all of the ACC schools. Not sure I will make it to Syracuse for a football game in the Carrier Dome, because blah. I have a lot of friends going to South Bend for the Notre Dame game, which will be amazing I’m sure. But I can’t make it up there this year, so that one would be a while before I could get back. But it will be nice to be able to check Virginia off the list. I hear it is a beautiful campus and town.
I would say I am about ready for a trip to Virginia. pic.twitter.com/YaX7HVhCV4
— Justin Renck (@JustinRenck) September 12, 2014
Virginia was picked to finish last or at least close to last in nearly every ACC projection that I saw. Now whether they will or not remains to be seen. But that was at least the perception of them heading into the season. In saying that, I am way more excited to see us play Virginia than someone like Temple, SMU, Houston, Memphis, and other teams in our former conference. The middle of the pack and lower tier teams of the ACC are just way more exciting to me than what we are used to. Not to mention, this is just a big game in general as the Cards will try to start out 2-0 in the conference, with the next conference game being against Wake Forest at home.
As for the game itself, I have seen a lot of people say the game will be close and a lot of people predicting a blowout by Louisville. The spread I see right now says that Louisville is a 6.5 point favorite and that the score will be somewhere around 27-21. I am not sure that Virginia can score 21 on us unless it comes on a big turnover, which they have forced 9 of in just 2 games. Seven of those turnovers came against Richmond. Newsflash, Louisville is better than Richmond. I could see them holding us around 27-28 points though. A really good defense, plus Will Gardner’s first start on the road, so you may see a lower score than you are used to with a Bobby Petrino team.
I am not much on score predictions, because even if you get it right, does anyone really remember? So in saying that, I will of course predict the score! I will go with a Louisville win 31-17.
Giving credit where credit is due
Last week, I made a challenge to the fans to show up to the Murray State game on time and be loud. The fans answered the challenge and I am 100% confident that it was because they read Justin Time on CSZ, no doubt whatsoever. OK, probably not, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t care what the reasoning was, I was impressed. I am so tough on our fan base sometimes that while at the game, my buddy Chris Tingley said “You better write about this!” So here I am, giving props.
When I got to my seat with 10-15 minutes before kickoff, the stadium looked how I expected, not very full at all. But by kickoff, the place had really filled up. Not only that, but it was very loud! And knowing that our fans usually only get that jacked up for the big-named opponents, it was great seeing that kind of atmosphere against Murray State. There was a point in the game where it was 3rd down and Louisville had something like a 42-7 lead, and the place was going crazy like it was a big ACC game and a close score. I loved it!
I am fine with people leaving early for that one. Like I said, just baby steps. The crowd was there early and was loud during 3 quarters of the game against Murray State. I will not complain about that at all. Honestly, I almost left with about 7 minutes left to play. I just hadn’t been home all day (got out there at noon) and I always stay till the end, so I figured I was ok to leave. Of course I had just posted about the fans and leaving early, so I would have felt bad about that. I told the wife I would probably head out soon since I hadn’t been home, and of course the response from her was “But you can’t make fun of fans leaving early if you do too.” So now I am really confused. What do I do?
The fan in section 225 next to us was the final straw. He started giving everyone high fives and congratulated them on sticking it out and being there at the end. When a group that he just high fived started to leave right after that, he went crazy, in a funny way. “I JUST GAVE YOU KUDOS! I am taking them back now,” he yelled. It was quite funny. So then my mom looks at me, knowing I am unsure anyway, and says “Well NOW what do you want to do?” and I replied with “I am just not sure anymore,” knowing that I would be going against what I had just preached, and plus this guy would call me out. So we stayed until the clock hit 0:00. There weren’t many of us, and like I said, I am not upset about that. The fans showed up and were great. So to all of you, here are your kudos!
I usually try to cover at least three topics that are on my mind when I do this post, but I am short on time and should probably get ready to head out. You all have a safe and awesome weekend. I will likely be tweeting a good amount on the road trip, so follow me @JustinRenck if you want. If you don’t, no harm done. When I start to concern myself over the number of twitter followers I have, I will know it’s time to change my life priorities. So have a great weekend and as always…
Go Cards! Go Krogering!
JR
I will throw in this bonus clip of one of my favorite shows, Impractical Jokers, just because. That is my whole reason.
