LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
vs.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium (55,000/FieldTurf)
Louisville, Ky.
Saturday, September 15 • 3:30 p.m. • ABC
Television
ABC — Bob Wischeusen, Danny Kanell and Maria Taylor
Louisville Radio
WHAS-AM 840 (flagship)
Sirius 85; XM 85
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the seventh meeting between Louisville and North Carolina in a series that dates to 1988 … Louisville had won two in a row, by a combined score of 103-14, but North Carolina took last year’s matchup in Chapel Hill, N.C., 14-7 … Last year’s game was scoreless until the third quarter as the teams combined for just 537 yards of offense.
19/20 LOUISVILLE (2-0)
Head Coach
Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas ’82)
9-6, second season at Louisville
9-7, second full season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Louisville did not have much trouble improving to 2-0 as the Cardinals handled Missouri State 35-7 last week … Louisville opened the year with a 32-14 win against Kentucky … The Cardinals are playing their third straight home game to start the season … Louisville is 2-0 for the first time since the 2007 season … The Cardinals are looking for their first 3-0 start since 2006, when they opened with eight straight wins … The Cardinals are ranked No. 19 in this week’s Associated Press poll, their highest ranking since they were No. 18 in the fourth week of the 2007 season … QB Teddy Bridgewater has keyed an offense that has averaged 33.3 points and 470.5 yards per game thus far … Bridgewater has completed 81.7 percent of his passes (49 of 60) for 576 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions … RB Senorise Perry (90.0 ypg) and RB Jeremy Wright (74.0 ypg) have been a potent tandem in the backfield … Eleven players have at least one reception … S Calvin Pryor leads a solid defense with 17 tackles to go with two forced fumbles … S Hakeem Smith has made 16 stops.
-/rv NORTH CAROLINA (1-1, 0-1 ACC)
Head Coach
Larry Fedora (Austin ’85)
1-1, first season at North Carolina
35-20, fifth season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
North Carolina enters Saturday’s game at 1-1 after the Tar Heels dropped a 28-27 decision at Wake Forest … The Tar Heels opened the season with a 62-0 win against Elon Sept. 1 … Larry Fedora is in his first year as the Tar Heels’ head coach, after four seasons at Southern Mississippi … Fedora and Louisville coach Charlie Strong were both on the staff at Florida during the 2003 and 2004 seasons … North Carolina is not eligible for postseason play in 2012 due to NCAA sanctions … RB Giovani Bernard — the 2011 ACC Rookie of the Year — came out of the season-opener against Elon with an undisclosed in jury and didn’t play against Wake Forest … RB A.J. Blue has rushed for a team-high 145 yards on 28 carries this year … QB Bryn Renner has completed 37 of 60 passes for 507 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions … S Tre Boston has a team-high 16 tackles … DT Sylvester Williams leads the team with 2.5 sacks, while DE Kareem Martin has a team-leading 3.5 tackles for loss … CB Tim Scott has two interceptions … K Casey Barth has a school-record 55 career field goals and has made all four of his attempts this season.
