By Sam Draut
The number eight University of Louisville football team faces Central Florida on Friday night at Papa John’s
Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals are at 6-0 for the second straight year and gear up for one of their biggest
conference games this year.
The announced sell out, pits the two best teams in the American Conference and could potentially determine a
BCS bid.
UCF enters the game with a 4-1 record, 1-0 in conference, and comes off a bye week after a 24-17 victory over
Memphis.
The Knights played number 12 South Carolina in Orlando two weeks ago and took a 10-0 lead into halftime, but
were eventually defeated 28-25.
UCF is road tested too, they defeated Penn State 34-31 in Happy Valley.
The Knights’ offense is led by junior quarterback Blake Bortles. Through five games he has thrown for 1,134
yards and nine touchdowns. Against South Carolina, Bortles threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns.
Bortles two primary targets are sophomore Breshad Perriman and junior Rannell Hall. Perriman has 18 catches
for 397 yards and a touchdown, while Hall has receptions for 373 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior Storm Johnson leads UCF’s rushing attack, he has ran for 455 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 5.2
yards per carry.
The Knight offense averages 31.8 points per game which ranks 52nd in the country.
On the contrary, Louisville has the top-scoring defense in the country, giving up just 7.3 points per game. The
Cardinals have only given up 44 points through six games.
U of L Head Coach Charlie Strong has been impressed with the defense through the first half of the season.
“Well it’s a defense that, you look at the guys, guys that have started at that position down the middle. I talk
about Brandon Dunn, I talk about Preston Brown, and I talk about the free safety Pryor. When you’re good down
the middle and those guys can erase the middle for you, then you’ll have a chance,” Strong said.
This game will be the second consecutive nationally-televised game for the Cardinals.
