—Spread check: Louisville by 14.
—The CJ’s Alexis Cubit looks at what we learned from Louisville’s win over Eastern Kentucky.
—The Louisville volleyball team opened its 2025 season with sweeps of Auburn, Morehead State and St. John’s to capture the Cardinal Classic title.
—The Cards are up one spot from No. 4 to No. 3 in this week’s AVCA top 25 poll. Dani Busboom-Kelly and Nebraska (who eeked out a 50set win over Kentucky) are still No. 1.
—This week in Cardinal athletics:
Thursday, September 4
- Women’s Soccer vs. Kent State – 7:00 p.m. ET (Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium)
Friday,
September 5
- Men’s Soccer vs. Stanford – 11:00 a.m. ET (Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium)
- Football vs. James Madison – 7:00 p.m. ET (L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium)
Saturday, September 6
- Field Hockey at Drexel – 11:00 a.m. ET (Bloomington, IN)
Sunday, September 7
- Field Hockey at Indiana – 12:00 p.m. ET (Bloomington, IN)
- Volleyball vs. Illinois – 3:00 p.m. ET (KFC Yum! Center)
- Women’s Soccer vs. Dayton – 7:00 p.m. ET (Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium)
- Men’s Golf at The Gopher – TBA (Independence, MN)
—C.L. Brown says the Cards will find out something about themselves this Friday night.
—Bill Connelly’s S&P ratings like Louisville over James Madison by 12.
—Connelly also posts his overreactions to the first weekend of the season.
—Congrats to Ramon on his new gig in the CFL.
—Trinity standout Sebastian Blue enjoyed his weekend visit to U of L. Blue was offered by the Cardinals last month.
—The latest episode of the Cardinal Sports Zone podcast is here.
—The Barking Crow looks at the biggest takeaways from week one of the college football season.
—Eric Crawford writes that the real work begins now for Louisville football.
Saturday gave Louisville what it wanted: a convincing win, snaps for backups, and some highlights for the playbook.
The bottom line
But Monday’s message was about what the Cardinals can’t afford to repeat. Penalties. Turnovers. Free yards and free possessions. Those won’t slide against James Madison, not in a Friday night game that promises to be faster, more physical, and much less forgiving.
The last word belonged to Brohm, and it was aimed at players who may have cruised once the EKU game got out of reach.
“For the people that got tired after one half,” he said, “you better get in better shape. We’ve got 70 to 95 plays ahead.”
A week after Louisville coasted, the real work begins.
—The latest episode of the Locked on Louisville podcast is here.
—Louisville OL commit Bryten Close loved the way the Cards fans “brought it” in week one.
—Seems good.
—Miller Moss didn’t just make his first Louisville start, he got to enjoy it.
—Louisville’s running backs are the real Thunder Over Louisville.
—Louisville might be playing the toughest non-conference slate of any men’s basketball team in the ACC this season.
—Good company.
—Lamar Jackson is No. 2 on this year’s NFL Top 100 list. Saquon Barkley is the only player ranked above the former Cardinal star.
—Jeff Brohm provided an update on a trio of injured Cards during his press availability on Monday.
—Brohm’s weekly radio show is back tonight from 7-8 at the Roosters in Fern Creek. You can listen live on 970 WGTK or 93.9 The Ville.
—At least one gambling guru is already taking Louisville to cover the two-touchdown spread on Friday night.
—Pretty nice throw here from the future Cardinal signal caller.
—Louisville stays at No. 5 in Matt McGavic’s week two ACC power rankings.
—Fixing the correctible mistakes that popped up against EKU will be of paramount importance for Louisville against James Madison.
—Jody Demling is expecting a raucous environment inside Cardinal Stadium on Friday night.
—Victory videos are back.
—St. X basketball standout Josh Lindsay is No. 16 in the first class of 2028 rankings from Rivals.
—Jeff Brohm is expecting his team to be put to the test against JMU.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is making its TV debut this afternoon. The show will run from its regular time of 2:30-5:30 on 1450AM/96.1 FM, and will also be live on WBNA-Channel 21 from 3:30-5:30. You can stream the show here.
