Louisville is coming off a crushing defeat at home to Central Florida, but the good news is that the Cardinals have a soft landing spot at South Florida on Saturday. The Cardinals should be able to get past the loss without too much trouble against the overmatched Bulls.
How to watch Louisville vs. South Florida 2013: Preview, TV schedule, odds and more
Here is all the information you need in order to watch the game between the Cardinals and Bulls on Saturday.
Then again, the Bulls have shown more fight of late -- they picked up their first win of the season with an upset over Cincinnati, and they edged a bad UConn team a couple of weeks ago. But with the possible exception of Miami, USF hasn't seen an offense loaded with weapons like Louisville's, and it definitely hasn't seen a quarterback like Teddy Bridgewater.
The numbers
Rankings and records: Louisville comes in at 6-1 (2-1), ranked 18th in the AP Poll, 16th in the Coaches’ Poll and 20th in the BCS standings. Unranked USF is 2-4 (2-0). The two teams have split their previous 10 meetings.
Vegas: Louisville opened as a 21-point favorite.
Weather: The high in Tampa is expected to hit 78, and there is a slight chance of rain.
Three names to know
Teddy Bridgewater -- Bridgewater is living up to the hype in 2013, picking apart defenses with little apparent trouble. He has 20 touchdown passes and just a pair of interceptions, and his 72.0 completion percentage ranks fourth among FBS quarterbacks. Only Baylor’s Bryce Petty and Florida State’s Jameis Winston have better passer ratings.
Marcus Shaw -- The lone bright spot in an otherwise dreadful season offensively for USF has been Shaw, who is third in the league with 552 yards rushing, and that’s despite missing his team’s last game. Considering how bad the Bulls’ passing game has been, it’s a wonder he’s averaging 6.4 yards per carry.
DeVante Parker -- Bridgewater spreads the ball around, so Parker doesn't a ton of receiving yardage, but he's been a big-play guy for Louisville this season. He is tied for the AAC lead with seven touchdown receptions.
Two things at stake
The heartbreaking loss to UCF last week cost Louisville whatever chances it had at getting to the national title game, and it also put the Cardinals’ AAC title chances in jeopardy. The Cardinals find themselves in fourth place behind the Knights, USF and Houston. A win here would obviously knock the Bulls down a peg, though they don’t have a realistic shot at winning the conference anyway.
USF is trying to reclaim its season after an 0-4 start, and a victory over Louisville would be a huge step in the right direction, but odds are this is a lost year for Willie Taggart and company. The Bulls need four more wins to complete a miraculous turnaround and get bowl eligible, and that means they’ll need to beat one of Louisville, UCF and Rutgers. Those last two games are on the road.
How to witness
TV: ESPN2, noon ET
Online streaming: WatchESPN. XFINITY customers can watch online here.
Further reading
For additional coverage, head over to Louisville blog Card Chronicle and USF blog Voodoo Five.
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