Teams: Syracuse Orange (4-6, 2-4) vs. Louisville Cardinals (6-4. 3-4)
Day & Time: Saturday, November 18, 2017, 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Papa John’s Stadium, Louisville, Ky.
Line: Syracuse opened up as 13.5-point underdogs, and that line’s moved slightly, to 13 flat.
TV/Streaming: ESPNU (or WatchESPN)
Radio: Syracuse IMG Network, WAER 88.3, Sirius 93/XM 193
Louisville blog: Card Chronicle
Rivalry: 9-6, Louisville leads
Current Streak: 3, Cardinals
First Meeting: Back in 1985, a bad Louisville team came to town and got killed, 48-0 by the Orangemen. In his first start ever, Don McPherson did whatever he wanted, accounting for three touchdowns and leading SU to a 38-0 advantage at halftime. It was an early setback for then-Cards coach Howard Schnellenberger, who’d eventually turn Louisville into something — just not this year.
Last Meeting: NSFW. Lamar Jackson announced his Heisman campaign to the world by amassing over 600 yards and five touchdowns. Syracuse lost the game 62-28 in a contest that taught us just how bad things could get on the defensive end for last year’s Orange team. We also lost Antwan Cordy and Juwan Dowels for the year, which was probably a bigger issue than the L we took in the game.
Head Coaches: SU: Dino Babers (2nd year, 8-14); Louisville: Bobby Petrino (8th year, 74-26)
Coach Bio: Noted dick Bobby Petrino took the long road from the state of Montana, up to Idaho, Arizona State, Nevada, Utah State and then finally west of the Mississippi as an offensive coordinator at Louisville in 1998. A three-year respite with the Jaguars brought him back to college at Auburn, before taking over Louisville in 2003. He bailed for the Falcons, then a year later, to Arkansas before unceremoniously departing in 2011. A mercenary gig with Western Kentucky got him back on (former) AD Tom Jurich’s radar and Petrino was eventually hired back in 2014.
Last Year: Louisville spent much of last year hanging around the top five or so, starting at 9-1. But then Ed Oliver hit them like a truck and suddenly, the Cardinals lost three straight to end the season. Jackson won the Heisman, which was awesome. It’s just that folks started doubting the team around him.
Last Game: The Cardinals were locked in a pretty close fight with Virginia at halftime last week, then broke out in the third quarter to put the Hoos away. Jackson had over 340 total yards and four touchdowns. The defense actually showed up in the second half, which is a big positive for them.
"Fear Me, I've Killed Hundreds of Timelords": Let’s not even pretend there’s another answer here. It’s Jackson. You may not be hearing the same Heisman hype as last year, but that has nothing to do with his play, as Bill Connelly quickly proves. It’s a mix of voter boredom with his excellence and the losses Louisville’s taken on this year. If what happened vs. John Wolford last week is any indication, he’s going to tear this defense apart.
If Syracuse Wins: That’s a very strong step toward bowl eligibility, but we’d still need to beat Boston College to get to six wins. Louisville’s a better team than Syracuse this year, with or without Dungey -- so any win is going to have to be an upset.
If Syracuse Loses: It’s amazing that just a month or so ago, we were talking about the upper echelons of ACC’s bowl structure. Such fools we were...
Fun Fact No. 1: Recent Syracuse football de-commit Hassan Hall flipped over the Louisville this fall. While we still have two running backs of our own for the 2018 class, it’s never a positive to lose a player to an in-conference foe. Curse you, Petrino!!!
Fun Fact No. 2: We made our own addition from Louisville this offseason, however. Dave Boller came over from the Cards to be Syracuse’s director of player personnel. He’d spent the previous two seasons at Louisville, following a bunch of time in the NFL working with various scouting departments.