Game Day: Cards v. Owls

Louisville (1-0) visits Temple (0-1) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia at noon on Saturday. Complete game day notebook, including statistics, notes and more. The game will be televised in Louisville on WHAS 11.

CARDS v. OWLS
Date: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006
Time: Noon (ET)
Site: Lincoln Financial Field (68,532), Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: WHAS-TV will televise the game live
Radio: Paul Rogers and Craig Swabeck will call all the action and Doug Ormay will report from the sidelines on WHAS (840 AM)
Satelite: SIRIUS Radio, Ch. 155

SERIES INFORMATION
Louisville all-time vs. Temple: 1-3
In games at Louisville: 1-1
In games at Temple: 0-2
First meeting in series: 1980 at Veterans Stadium; L, 17-12
Last meeting in series: 2003 at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium; W, 21-12
Al Golden vs. Louisville: 0-0
Bobby Petrino vs. Temple: 1-0

NOTEBOOK

The Cardinals’ offense has one major goal and that’s too lead the country in total offense. After the first week, that’s right where the Cardinals stand. Louisville leads the country in offense at 631.0 yards per game. It marked the fifth time that the Cardinals surpassed the 600-yard mark in head coach Bobby Petrino’s tenure. The 631 yards was the third-highest total in the Petrino era.

Senior offensive lineman Kurt Quarterman made his 26th consecutive start. He holds the longest streak of consecutive starts on the team.

Freshman Latarrius Thomas is the first true freshman to start in a season opener under head coach Bobby Petrino. True freshmen Anthony Allen, L.T. Walker and Peanut Whitehead also saw action for the Cardinals.

U of L improved to 23-1 when scoring over 40 points under coach Bobby Petrino. The Cardinals have produced over 40 points in 19 of the last 25 games.

Sophomore running back George Stripling makes the most of all his opportunities. The 6-0 running back has carried 88 times for 711 yards and nine touchdowns in just 13 career games. Stripling carried nine times for 90 yards, an average of 10.0 yards per carry. Last season, he averaged a team best 7.9 yards a carry, and for his career Stripling is averaging a stellar 8.1 yards a carry. Stripling has had three touchdown runs of 30 or more yards, including a 38-yarder against Kentucky on Sunday.

Head coach Bobby Petrino has been lights out in the month of September in his first three seasons. Petrino is 9-1 in the ninth month with his only blemish coming last season against South Florida. Petrino is now 3-0 against UK in September and 1-0 in August. His first collegiate win was against Kentucky on August 31, 2003.

Head coach Bobby Petrino is 12-3 against non-conference foes in four seasons at Louisville, but is 11-2 during the regular season. Despite falling to Virginia Tech in the 2006 Gator Bowl, Petrino and his Cardinals have won five straight non-conference regular season games. The lone regular season loss was a 41-38 decision against thirdranked Miami in the OrangeBowl in 2004.

Junior placekicker Art Carmody is likely to shatter every school kicking record at the University of Louisville. Carmody, who set a school record for field goal percentage in a season by hitting 14-of-16 attempts, needs just 10 field goals to break Ron Bell’s (1987-90) mark of 36 career field goals. Carmody currently holds the school record for career accuracy, hitting 27-of-33 attempts, which is 81.8 percent.

The Cardinals have quietly been one of the top rushing defenses in the country. Louisville finished 21st in the country in rushing defense last season, yielding just 114.0 yards per game and just 16 touchdowns. Over the last two seasons, U of L has held seven of its opponents to less than 100 yards rushing and are 7-0 in those contests. Over the last three seasons with Mike Cassity as the defensive coordinator, the Cardinals have held 13 of its 25 opponents to less than 100 yards rushing and are 13-0 in those contests.

Junior kicker Todd Flannery was one of the unsung heroes for the Cardinals last Sunday. Flannery put four kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks and also put two of his punts inside the 20-yard line.

Statistical Comparison
TEMPLE (0-1)	Category	LOUISVILLE (1-0)
80.00	Rushing Yardage	363.00
103.00	Passing Offense	268.00
183.00	Total Offense	631.00
3.00	Scoring Offense	59.00
168.00	Rushing Defense	22.00
120.00	Pass Efficiency Defense	153.43
356.00	Total Defense	260.00
9.00	Scoring Defense	28.00
34.00	Net Punting	34.70
(-2.00)	Punt Returns	8.80
15.50	Kickoff Returns	16.20
0.00	Turnover Margin	0.00
188.00	Pass Defense	238.00
106.61	Passing Efficiency	143.16
4.00	Sacks	3.00
10.00	Tackles For Loss	6.00
1.00	Sacks Allowed	1.00