By Brandon Davis

The Keg of Nails will be up for grabs when the University of Louisville battles Cincinnati on Friday at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
Conference standings aside, this is a game that tends to bring the best out of both teams.
“It’s a big rivalry for us,” senior center Eric Wood, Cincinnati native, said before last season’s game. “I grew up watching it and a lot of times I was on the other end because my Dad went to Cincinnati, but now I hate Cincinnati.”
Cincinnati owns the lead in the series 26-20-1, but the Cards have won the last five meetings and nine of the last 10.
Passion and disdain fuel this rivalry that dates back to the days when both schools battled as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Though the Card’s have dominated the series as of late, other than the Cards 70-7 win in 2004 after the Bearcats stomped on the Cardinal logo, most of the final scores are not indicative of how competitive this series has been.
Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly has brought a new attitude towards winning to Cincinnati. Half way through his second year at the helm, Kelly has won more than 70 percent of his games.
Last season, Kelly was named Big East Coach of the Year after leading the Bearcats to a 10-3 record, just their second 10 win season in school history.
The programs recent success has restored a certain level of pride in the program and the Bearcat fan base.
“I think it’s about consistency in performance,” Kelly said. “I think we have won that in winning 17 games in the last two years.”
There are few teams in the country that could have gone through what the Bearcats have been forced to deal with this season and remain competitive.
Cincinnati has had several issues regarding the quarterback position, including the Bearcats starting three different quarterbacks this season due to injuries.
Senior Dustin Grutza started out strong as the Bearcats lead signal caller, but suffered a broken leg in early September in the Bearcats’ loss to Oklahoma.
Backup Tony Pike then performed magnificently in Grutza’s absence by throwing for over 500 yards and five touchdowns while completing over 75 percent of his passes. Two games later, Pike went down in the Bearcat’s win over Akron with a broken arm.
Next, Kelly turned to freshman Chazz Anderson, who threw for two touchdowns and three interceptions, winning two of the three games he started.
Pike missed only two games, returning against South Florida, playing with a soft cast to protect his surgically repaired forearm, throwing a pair of touchdowns and leading the Bearcats to a 24-10 win over the Bulls.
Much of the credit for the exceptional play of the quarterbacks has got to go to the stellar play of a pair of Bearcat wide-outs. Receivers Marshwan Gilyard and Dominick Goodman have combined for more than 1,200 yards receiving and 90 receptions.
Both teams enter with a lot to play for. The Cards will try to recapture some momentum as they seek to return to postseason play. That could prove to be a tough assignment against a Bearcats team that appears to be building some momentum of their own. In a league as unpredictable as the Big East, the outcome of this game could pay huge dividends for the victorious team.
“That is how the Big East is,” Kelly said. “It will be like that all year. We will have to slug it out all year.”