Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes
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—Spread check: Louisville by 1.5.
—Louisville will have cooling stations set up around the stadium for Saturday’s game against SMU. Fans will also be permitted to bring in one unopened bottle of water to the stadium. Free cups that can be used to get water from the water fountains will be available at the concession stands.
More game day information for Saturday, including traffic changes due to Louder Than Life, can be found here.
—Cardinal Authority’s Jacob Polacheck is taking SMU to win its fifth straight over Louisville, while the other two CA writers think Jeff Brohm finds a way to get the job done.
—The U of L women’s soccer team stunned No. 6 Stanford, 1-0, on the road Thursday night. The Cards have now won eight consecutive matches, tied for a program record.
—Ja’Hyde Brown is ridiculous.
The state record for receiving touchdowns in a season is 30, by the way.
—The Christian Academy star and future Cardinal is getting a little national love for his hot start to the season as well. Will it be enough for a Louisville signee to win Mr. Football from a bunch of BBN-leaning voters? We’ll see.
—Louisville-SMU is one of the three biggest games in the country this weekend.
—St. John’s has officially announced Peyton Siva as Rick Pitino’s new assistant coach. Definitely didn’t tear up reading the press release.
—The From the Pink Seats podcast reviews the Villanova win and previews Saturday’s showdown with SMU here.
—Nothing matters anymore. Just put the banner back up.
—The biggest volleyball game of the weekend will be played in Lexington, where No. 3 Louisville will face No. 4 Kentucky on Sunday at 3. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.
—Matt McGavic visits with the enemy.
—Louisville-SMU is the clear second-best game in the country this weekend.
Since joining the ACC in 2024, SMU is 15-2 in conference play, two games better than Miami and at least 3½ better than everyone else. Louisville, meanwhile, has won at least nine games for three straight seasons under Jeff Brohm. I was about to say that these two programs are the most likely next first-time ACC champs until I remembered that somehow, in 22 seasons, Miami hasn’t won one yet. Whoops. Regardless, Saturday’s winner moves into the “most likely to face Miami in the title game” slot.
This game features two of the nation’s top five passers per Total QBR. SMU veteran Kevin Jennings (second) is averaging a ridiculous 13.7 yards per dropback, while Louisville newcomer Lincoln Kienholz (fifth) has thrown for 639 yards and rushed for 130, not including sacks. He nearly led an upset win against Ole Miss in Week 1; he looked like a new starter for two quarters and a Heisman contender for two.
Kienholz is a certified big-play hunter. He’s third nationally in yards per completion (18.3), fifth in yards per dropback (11.4) and 26th in yards per non-sack carry (7.6). He leaves the pocket constantly, and though he has thrown 18% of his passes 20-plus yards downfield (24th), he has yet to throw an interception. Sacks are almost the only thing keeping his Hudl IQ radar performance chart from being a perfect circle.
Jennings, meanwhile, remains Jennings: He’s talented, smart and effective, but you have to put up with basically two huge mistakes each game. He threw two second-half interceptions in SMU’s narrow Week 1 win over Florida State, and the Mustangs won by only three points despite outgaining the Seminoles by 261 yards.
Both of these teams had top-30 defenses last season, and if these quarterbacks cancel each other out from a quality perspective, the more effective defense might make the difference.
Current line: Louisville -1.5 | SP+ projection: Louisville 1.3 | FPI projection: Louisville by 1.0
—Former U of L pitcher Nick Bennett has been added to Dan McDonnell’s staff as assistant pitching coach.
—Alex Bregman’s horse won at Churchill Downs last night, and he and many of his Cubs teammates were there to celebrate.
—College Football News is predicting a 31-28 Louisville win over SMU in a game that it believes is close to a CFP elimination game.
—Trez says Enes Kanter and Royce White are corny.
—SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee is on the latest episode of Inside ACCess.
—Louisville is No. 18 in the Blue Ribbon College Yearbook preseason top 25.
—Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey and two assistants were in to see five-star forward DeMarcus Henry on Wednesday. Henry recently took an official visit to U of L.
—Thursday marked the 10-year anniversary of Louisville’s trouncing of Florida State with College GameDay in town. The CJ reflects on the moment.
—Lock in.
—Nick Saban says Louisville-SMU will come down to which quarterback plays better.
—The CFB Tracker is split on its six Louisville-SMU picks.
—The Louisville men’s soccer team will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts Boston College Friday night.
—The same CBS crew that unanimously picked Ole Miss to beat Louisville is unanimously picking the Cards to topple SMU.
Here’s hoping they’re right again.
—The 16th-ranked Louisville field hockey team opens ACC play Friday night at Boston College. Here’s a preview of the weekend ahead for the Cards.
—The latest CC Podcast episode is here.
—Wright Thompson’s write-up on Ole Miss-LSU is very good.
—USA Today has both Lincoln Kienholz and Kevin Jennings listed as “tier 2” quarterbacks.
—Rhett Lashlee fully understands the significance of Saturday afternoon’s game.
—Lashlee believes his team is “ready for the challenge” that Louisville presents.
—SMU’s running game has sputtered so far this season, but the Mustangs are hoping a veteran offensive line will spur them to a breakout against U of L.
—Yahoo’s four college football writers are split on their Louisville-SMU picks.
—Josh Pate thinks Louisville is still being overlooked nationally, a fact the Cardinals can change with a big win on Saturday.
—And finally, beat SMU.
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