08-08-2025
Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes
—Today is the final open practice day of fall camp. Here's Matt McGavic's recap of open practice #6.
—Louisville QB Miller Moss has been named to the watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award.
—Louisville volleyball is scheduled to be all over ESPN this fall.
—Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde ranks 2016 Louisville-Clemson as the 20th best college football game of the last 25 years.
20. Clemson 42, Louisville 36 (2016)
This might have been the best quarterback duel of the quarter century, matching a pair of future NFL talents. Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Louisville's Lamar Jackson combined for 854 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns in a raucous, sweaty showdown in Death Valley. After a scoreless first quarter, the two QBs lit up the night. Watson led Clemson to a 28–10 lead at halftime. Jackson then led Louisville to 26 unanswered points for a 36–28 lead midway through the fourth quarter. A long kickoff return set up a Clemson score, then the Tigers got the ball back and scored again for a six-point lead. It looked like Jackson would get the final say, driving Louisville into the red zone in the final minute, but on fourth-and-12, receiver James Quick caught a pass and misjudged the down marker, going out of bounds at the Clemson 3, a yard short of a first down. Watson and the Tigers went on to win the national championship. Jackson went on to win the Heisman.
—Louisville doesn't make Athlon's preseason top 25 for the 2025 college football season, but does appear in the 'the next tier' section.
—The Watts name is synonymous with football in Columbus, Georgia. And now, linebacker and safety Antonio Watts is making a name for himself at Louisville. Here's what to know about Antonio and his talented family.
—The CJ's Brooks Holton continues his offseason player-by-player look at the 2025-26 Louisville men's basketball team by focusing in on Khani Rooths.
—The Big Dog is out there.
—This is a great site to bookmark if you're trying to keep tabs on all the various basketball schedules in the ACC.
—They're nearing a sellout for tomorrow night's No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Lynn Family Stadium. Get your discounted tickets here.
—The latest episode of the Cover 3 podcast dives into the ACC. Three of the four hosts like Louisville to go over 8.5 wins this season.
—Good read here from The Athletic on the current struggle for power at the top of college football.
—This is great stuff from our head coach.
You can listen to the full appearance of both Kelsey and Josh Heird on the latest episode of Governor Andy Beshear's podcast here.
—Since 2022, at least 49 FBS schools have changed — or will soon change — conferences, a turnover rate of 36% nationwide. Mid-major schools are fighting for a seat at college football's shrinking table. Who's looking out for the little guy?
—Pat Kelsey's full appearance on Jon Rothstein's podcast is available here.
—Clev Lubin is ready to show the world that he can be the same beast at Louisville that he was at the group of five level.
'That's the reason I came here,' he said. 'I felt Louisville gave me a great opportunity to come compete at a high level, play against other great teams, and I know that's what we plan to do. With the guys we have, when you have success with D-line, when you have guys that are hungry and want a lot, you work better as a group. There's more success when you work better.'
So far through spring ball and the first week of fall camp, he has not looked like someone who previously came from a G5 school, and has undoubtedly been making an impact.
'He's a nonstop guy,' Hagen said. 'He's like the Energizer Bunny out there, he's just full go all the time. When guys get lazy in parts of the game when the game drags, that's when he's going to beat his opponent and come up with big place for you. That's what I love about him.'
It's not only been on the practice fields where Lubin has been making his mark. Between the influx of fresh faces on the defensive line and the returners who are stepping into a larger role from last season, therein lied the opportunity for someone to take a step forward as a leader. Lubin had taken up that responsibility, and is routinely holding guys up to a high standard of expectations.
—Both Louisville's defensive coaches and players are bullish that the unit is poised for a bounceback season in 2025.
—The latest episode of the From the Pink Seats podcast is here.
—After hardly seeing the field in 2024, it was a bit of a surprise to see Jaleel Skinner come back to Louisville for another season. Now the tight end transfer from Miami is getting first team reps and looking like he could be a major threat in the passing game.
—The laughter makes it better.
—Isaac Brown is a Sporting News First Team Preseason All-American.
—This is a dime from Miller Moss to Caullin Lacy.
—Josh Heird explains how U of L is dividing its revenue sharing money.
—One of the best regular season nights in the history of Cardinal basketball.
—Christian Academy WR (and former Card Chronicle cover boy) Ja'Hyde Brown has gameday visits with Alabama, Wisconsin, Auburn, Indiana and Louisville all scheduled for this fall.
—Five things we learned from Thursday night's NFL preseason games.
—Cardinal safety D'Angelo Hutchinson is ready to step into a new role this season.
—And finally, the Mike Rutherford Show is wrapping up the week from 2:30-5:30 on 1450/96.1 The Big X. Enjoy(?) the final days of summer radio in The Ville.
