LOUISVILLE CARDINALS
at
RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS

Rutgers Stadium (52,454/Field Turf)
Piscataway, N.J.

Television
ESPN2 — Mike Gleason and John Congemi

Louisville Radio   
WHAS-AM 840 (flagship)   
Sirius 113   

Rutgers Radio
WOR-AM 790 (flagship)
Sirius 125; XM 203   

THE GAME
Friday’s game will be the 10th meeting between Louisville and Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights enter with a 7-2 series lead … The schools met four times between 1976 and 1986 and have played every year since 2005 … Rutgers has won the last two meetings, including a 34-14 win at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium last year … The 2006 game at Rutgers Stadium is one of the best-known games in BIG EAST history as the 15th ranked Scarlet Knights defeated third-ranked Louisville 41-38 on a last-minute field goal by Jeremy Ito.

LOUISVILLE (5-6, 2-4 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Charlie Strong (Central Arkansas ’82)
5-6, first season

NOTES
Louisville, quite simply, is playing to keep playing as the Cardinals need a win against Rutgers to attain bowl eligibility for the first time since 2006 … The Cardinals are 2-2 on the road this season … Louisville ranks second in the BIG EAST in total offense (371.1 yards per game)  … RB Bilal Powell enters Friday’s game second in the BIG EAST and eighth nationally in rushing (120.7 yards per game) … Powell has rushed for 1,207 yards and nine touchdowns, but was slowed by illness and West Virginia’s defense to zero net yards last Saturday … QB Justin Burke has started the last three games in place of injured QB Adam Froman … Burke has thrown six touchdown passes with three interceptions in six games this season … WR Doug Beaumont leads a group of three players with at least 300 receiving yards … WR Josh Bellamy has five touchdown receptions to lead the Cardinals … Freshman SS Hakeem Smith has a team-high 74 tackles … LB Daniel Brown has four sacks and a team-leading 11 tackles for loss … DT Rodney Gnat is fourth in the BIG EAST with eight sacks …CB Johnny Patrick has a team-high three interceptions.

RUTGERS (4-6, 1-4 BIG EAST)
Head Coach
Greg Schiano (Bucknell ’88)
59-61, 10th season

NOTES
Rutgers needs wins in its final two games to secure bowl eligibility … The Scarlet Knights scored a season-high 38 points against Cincinnati last Saturday, but the Bearcats scored 69 points to produce the highest-scoring game in BIG EAST history … Rutgers is 3-3 at home … Freshman QB Chas Dodd turned in the best outing of his young career in the loss to Cincinnati, throwing for 335 yards and four touchdowns … WR Mark Harrison tied a BIG EAST single-game record with four touchdown receptions as part of his 10-catch, 240-yard effort … Rutgers was held to -9 rushing yards against Cincinnati and is 112th nationally in rushing at 99.9 yards per game …  Rutgers’ top two rushers are wide receivers who double as Wildcat quarterbacks … WR Mohamed Sanu has a team-high 309 rushing yards with four touchdowns to go with 398 receiving yards and two touchdown catches … LB Antonio Lowery has a team-high 86 tackles, good for third in the BIG EAST … Rutgers leads the BIG EAST in turnover margin (0.70 per game) … The Scarlet Knights have scored three special teams touchdowns and have blocked five kicks this season.