Louisville Preview

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On Saturday, the Mountaineer will take on the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John’s Stadium in Louisville, KY. The game will be televised on the Big East network at noon, check local listings for channel.

Who would have honestly thought that WVU vs. Louisville would be a big matchup in 2010? Sure, there were marquee matchups in 2005, 2006 and 2007… but, ever since Bobby Petrino went to the Atlanta Falcons, the program has been on the decline… Steve Kragthorpe couldn’t do any better than 6-6. Charlie Strong, former Florida defensive coordinator, has that program on the right track.

At the moment, Louisville stands 5-5 overall, 2-3 in the Big East (6th in the conference), and needs to win just one more game for bowl eligibility. WVU, on the other hand, is 6-3, 2-2 in the Big East (5th in the conference) and is already bowl-eligible.

Last week, the Mountaineers just steamrolled the Cincinnati Bearcats by a score of 37-10, whereas Louisville lost to South Florida (for the first time ever) 24-12.

WVU still has a shot at winning a share of the Big East title if they can win out against Louisville, Pitt and Rutgers.

Here’s a “Top 10” list from MSN:

10 – West Virginia will have 22 players on the field on Saturday that has started at least TEN career games. Scooter Berry leads all WVU players with 37 career starts.

9 – Louisville’s pass defense ranks NINTH in the country allowing just 163.6 yards per game.

8 – The Cardinals had EIGHT penalties in last year’s game against West Virginia for 74 yards. Louisville has been penalized 79 times for 630 yards in 10 games this season.

7 – Louisville running back Bilal Powell had the SEVENTH best rushing performance in school history when he ran for 209 yards against Cincinnati on Oct. 15.

6 – West Virginia has produced at least 400 yards of offense in SIX of nine games so far this season. Last week the Mountaineers had 414 yards against Cincinnati.

5 – At one time Louisville was one of the best teams in the country in turnovers lost, but the Cardinals have given up the football FIVE times in their last six games. Louisville quarterbacks threw two interceptions in last Saturday’s loss to South Florida.

4 – The Mountaineers rank FOURTH nationally in sacks with 28. Junior Bruce Irvin has the team lead with eight sacks entering Saturday’s game against Louisville.

3 – West Virginia running back Noel Devine moved into THIRD place on the school’s all-time rushing list against Cincinnati last weekend and now shows 4,151 career yards.

2 – Louisville has managed just TWO win in 11 tries against West Virginia in all-time series play. The victories came in 1990 in Morgantown and 2006 in Louisville.

1 – Jock Sanders had made at least ONE reception in 37 straight games, ranking No. 2 in WVU history and third among all-time Big East receivers.

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