PITTSBURGH PANTHERS at LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium (55,000/FieldTurf)
Louisville, Ky.
Saturday, November 12 • Noon • BIG EAST Network
Television
BIG EAST Network Game of the Week
Mike Gleason, John Congemi and Eamon McAnaney
Pittsburgh Radio Louisville Radio
KDKA-FM 93.7 (flagship) WHAS-AM 840 (flagship)
Sirius 134; XM 204
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the 15th meeting between Pittsburgh and Louisville in a series that dates to 1976 … Pittsburgh won the first four meetings, Louisville took the next seven, and Pittsburgh has won the last three, leaving the series tied at 7-7 … The schools have likewise split six BIG EAST meetings … Louisville’s last win in the series was a 24-17 win at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in 2007 … Last year’s matchup in Pittsburgh saw the Panthers limit the Cardinals to 185 yards of offense in a 20-3 win.
PITTSBURGH (4-5, 2-2 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Todd Graham (East Central ’87)
4-5, first season at Pittsburgh
47-28, fifth season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Pittsburgh needs two wins in its last three games to gain bowl eligibility … The Panthers have dropped three of their last four games after a 26-23 loss to Cincinnati … The Panthers are 4-0 when scoring at least 35 points and 0-5 when they have been held to fewer than 35 points … Pitt has been plagued by injuries, including an Oct. 26 game against Connecticut that claimed three starters with season-ending injuries … Among the casualties from that game was RB Ray Graham, who was the nation’s second-leading rusher at the time … QB Tino Sunseri has thrown for 1,841 yards and eight touchdowns with eight interceptions this season … RB Zach Brown has taken over as the regular tailback following Graham’s injury … WR Devin Street leads the team with 33 receptions for 471 yards and two touchdowns … LB Max Gruder is second in the BIG EAST in tackles (82, 9.1 per game) … DT Aaron Donald is second in the BIG EAST with seven sacks, despite his not starting a game until last week … DT Chas Alecxih has 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
LOUISVILLE (5-4, 3-1 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas ’82)
12-10, second season at Louisville
12-11, second full season as collegiate head coach
NOTES
Louisville has bounced back from a 2-4 start with three straight wins, leaving the Cardinals a half-game behind first-place Cincinnati in the BIG EAST standings … Louisville has won three straight BIG EAST games for the first time since 2006 … Louisville had not scored more than 24 points in its first seven games, but has scored 27 and 38 points in its last two … The Cardinals lead the BIG EAST and rank 15th nationally in scoring defense (18.3 ppg) and are 17th nationally in total defense (322.0 ypg) … QB Teddy Bridgewater has started the six five games as a true freshman … Bridgewater has thrown for 1,275 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions … WR Devante Parker has a team-high four touchdown catches … Louisville’s defense has held opponents to just 2.9 yards per carry … The Cardinals rank ninth nationally in tackles for loss, averaging 7.8 TFL per game … LB Dexter Heyman and LB Preston Brown have team-high 61 tackles each … Heyman has a team-high 10 tackles for loss … DE Marcus Smith leads the team with five sacks.
