Monday night college football: Louisville kicks in the door

Miami got blown the heck out Monday night by Louisville, following up an uninspired bowl defeat to the Cardinals with an uninspired ACC defeat to the same team (who were breaking in a new coaching staff).

Former Miami players Devin Hester and Lamar Thomas have already reacted to the loss (in quite different ways -- Hester was teased by an NFL teammate, and Louisville assistant Thomas is recruiting against Miami), but former All-American Hurricane Phillip Buchanon took to Twitter for his breakdown on the losing effort.

Louisville ran a kick return in for a touchdown. Hurri-Bane didn’t like it:

Monday night against Miami marks Louisville’s first game as an ACC member. Cardinals fans are quite happy to be in a major conference and no longer rummaging through the shards of the Big East, as you can see here. Either that or someone told them these signs will combine to read, “John Calipari’s favorite poem is ‘Doing Basketball Scandals.’” (For reference.)

Card Chronicle’s signature cardinal masks made an appearance before Miami-Louisville Monday night:

Bird head + human/jorts-wearing body = Something eerily reminiscent of a Bojack Horseman character.

The Hurricanes will be seeking revenge against Louisville for their embarrassing 36-9 loss in the Russell Athletic Bowl. The defeat capped a mediocre season in which Miami finished 9-4 overall, 5-3 against ACC opponents. The Hurricanes were also a weak 5-8 ATS in 2013, twice losing outright as favorites, to Virginia Tech and Duke.

However, oddsmakers expect the Hurricanes to rebound in 2014, setting the betting line on Miami’s regular season win total at 7.5, with the OVER sporting moneyline odds of 5/8. The Canes also own solid 12/1 odds to win the ACC, tied with Virginia Tech and North Carolina.