—Spread check: Louisville by 13.5.
—The latest bowl projections from Sports Illustrated have Louisville taking on Ole Miss in the Mayo Bowl.
—The Athletic ranks all 136 FBS teams after week one, and has Louisville at No. 27, down five spots from their preseason rank.
—Vince Lococo over at State of Louisville takes a look at James Madison.
JMU on Offense
Offensively, the Dukes actually played 3 quarterbacks in week one. Alonza Barnett III took the majority of the snaps against an outmanned squad. Barnett is entering
his second year as a starter. Last season, he threw for 26 touchdowns, ran for 7 more, while racking up over 3,000 yards of total offense. Backup Matthew Sluka played a smaller role, and JMU’s 3rd QB had no notable stats.
Watching their offense it’s clear that Barnett loves having the ball in his hands. On the first drive alone, they ran two read option plays where he could have handed it off, but decided to keep it.
JMU is not afraid to run the ol Scott Satterfield QB blast up the middle while in the red zone. Barnett had 135 rushing attempts a season ago, which is comparable to the number of attempts from Malik Cunningham in 3 of his four years as a starter.
Unlike Cunningham, however, Barnett is more of a north/ south runner a la Puma Pass.
Against a solid defensive front four for Louisville, Barnett will use his legs early and often to evade pressure. The onus is placed upon the Louisville football front 7 to have disciplined eyes and keep Barnett in check.
I think Barnett throws very interceptable balls. He is well-built and can sling it, but doesn’t show consistent accuracy– He completed 60 percent of his passes a season ago.
—RIP to George Raveling, the Hall of Fame coach and Nike executive who helped sign Michael Jordan. He died Tuesday at the age of 88.
—Top 20 class of 2026 hoops recruit Jaxon Richardson will take a visit to U of L on Nov. 8.
—The latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast is here.
—In his new book, UConn head coach Dan Hurley says he contemplated stepping down after last season due to the stress and drain of trying to win three consecutive national championships.
—Adidas hoodie and looks 10 times happier with Kelsey than Pope. I’m just making observations here.
Kelsey was also in attendance for Kinney’s morning practice.
—Caullin Lacy was named the return man on the Week 1 College Football All-Senior Team.
—Eric Crawford takes a first look at Louisville vs. James Madison for WDRB.
—Lou City midfielder Kevon Lambert has been called up by Jamaica’s national team for a pair of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
—He’s the best running back in the country, folks.
— The Louisville women’s basketball program will be well represented at the upcoming FIBA 3×3 Europe Cup, which is set to begin on Sept. 5 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Senior forward Laura Ziegler is set to compete in the event for the hosts Denmark while two Louisville alums will also be taking part in the event. Arica Carter is representing Azerbaijan and Nina Rickards will be playing for Great Britain.
—Depth and versatility are what give Louisville arguably the top running back room in America.
“Isaac and Duke are special in their own right”, Barclay would say this about the tandem. “I mean, they’re just fireworks. Thunder Over Louisville, so to speak.”
Keyjuan Brown, dubbed “Mr. Versatility” by Barclay, impacted the game in multiple phases.
He tallied 25 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while tacking on 12 receiving yards and capped off his day with a 65-yard kickoff return.
“He has excellent vision, he can catch the football, he can pass protect and he’s a well-rounded kid, Barclay commented. We’re just fortunate to have him, to be able to blend with those other kids.”
The trio of Brown, Watson and Brown will be relied upon to be difference makers for the Cards on offense this year.
“It’s going to be my intention to get all three of those guys involved every week”, Barclay added.
—Penn State is reportedly making the move from Nike to Adidas.
—VSin’s Adam Burke likes James Madison to cover the 14 against Louisville.
—Isaac Brown has played in 14 college football games and has been named the ACC Running Back of the Week after five of them.
That’s … atypical.
—My guy Will Wiggington has five takeaways from Louisville’s season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky.
—The full ACC schedule for the upcoming U of L women’s basketball season is now available.
—It’s been a while since Louisville hosted a primetime game under the lights of L&N Stadium. That changes on Friday night.
—Isaac Trotter of CBS says Louisville has two of the five best shooting guards in college basketball for 2025-26.
Shooting guard
1. Ryan Conwell, Louisville: It’s a smidge unfair to label Conwell as just a shooting guard, but his silky-smooth jumper sets up his entire game. Conwell has shot north of 40% from downtown in back-to-back seasons for two different coaching staffs. Now, he heads to Louisville, where he could lead the nation in treys under Pat Kelsey’s 3-point-happy blueprint. Conwell makes off-movement 3-pointers in his sleep, but he’s also become excellent at attacking long closeouts, playing off two feet and either finishing at the rim or drawing a foul. His tight crossover dribble gets defenders shaking in the wind, too. He’s a complete monster heading to an offensive bonanza. He’s going to be awesome at Louisville.
…
5. Isaac McKneely, Louisville: We have a three-year sample size of McKneely establishing himself as one of the premier shooters in the country. He’s a career 42% sniper. That’s, uh, different. Louisville’s breakneck tempo might provide a little whiplash from plodding UVa, but once he recovers from that, McKneely is going to get back to doing what he does best: bang treys. Transition 3-pointers is one of the highest-value shots in college basketball right now. McKneely only shot six (!) of them last year for Virginia. Kelsey is going to have McKneely hucking in transition all year. A second-straight year of 100+ 3-pointers at a 40% clip is firmly in play, even for loaded Louisville.
—The Louisville women’s soccer team currently has the No. 1 offense in the country.
—Miller Moss was “satisfied” with his week one performance, but is eager to show Louisville fans that he’s capable of much more.
—Mikel Brown will host a free basketball clinic this Sunday at U of L’s Student Activities Center.
—The Louisville Cardinal goes behind enemy lines ahead of the JMU game.
—JMU’s game against Louisville isn’t a “must-win” to make the College Football Playoff, but it’s by far the Dukes’ best chance for a signature win.
—James Madison has beaten an ACC foe in each of the past two years. Here’s how they’ve fared all-time against power conference opponents.
—JMU players say they expect to be up to the challenge on Friday night.
Redshirt junior running back George Pettaway ignores the outside noise and said he loves playing on the road in hostile environments.
“I’m super locked in,” Pettaway said. “I’m laser-focused on what the mission is. Our mission is to win.”
Chesney echoed that same level of confidence, saying “you don’t want to view yourself as an underdog,” but also knows he can’t underestimate the Cardinals.
“We can’t show up there and just hope to play a nice football game,” Chesney said. “We’ve got to go out there; it’s going to be extremely physical. They’re very good.”
Louisville is led by redshirt senior quarterback Miller Moss, who’s in his first year with the program. Moss spent the prior four seasons with USC. Last season, he played in nine games, throwing for 2,555 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine picks.
During the Cardinals’ Week 1 win over Eastern Kentucky, Moss completed 17-of-25 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown, but also threw two picks.
“We’re talking about a four- or five-star quarterback here,” Chesney said, “he was one of the best — if not the best — in the entire country at one point, so that’s a big deal.”
—Scores and Stats is rolling with the Cards by 17.
—Alexis Cubit of the CJ is taking the Cards over the Dukes … by a lot.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is back this afternoon from 2:30-5:30 on 1450AM/96.1FM, and from 3:30-5:30 on WBNA-Channel 21. You can stream it wherever you stream radio shows.
