WVU gets ready for Louisville

As hard as it may be, West Virginia head coach Bill Stewart is trying to forget about his team’s 31-19 loss to South Florida last Friday.

It was the Mountaineers’ (6-2, 2-1 Big East) first Big East Conference loss of the season, but the second-year head coach is hoping his team looks at what still remains on its schedule.

"Hopefully we learned something from it," Stewart said. "We’re in the final stretch of our season. This is when you find out how tough of a football team you have."

West Virginia will start a four-game stretch of conference games as it hosts Louisville (3-5, 0-3, Big East) Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Game time is noon.

The Mountaineers have a different challenge this week, however, as they are forced to prepare for Saturday’s game without knowing what quarterback will play for Louisville.

The Cardinals have used three signal-callers this season including juniors Adam Froman and Justin Burke along with Will Stein.

Burke started the season as the team’s quarterback before both he and Froman were injured in the Cardinals’ 41-10 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 24.

Stein is a walk-on redshirt freshman whose 20-for-39, 232-yard performance in a 21-13 win over Arkansas State last week helped the Cardinals snap a two-game losing streak.

Preparing for three different quarterbacks isn’t an easy task for Stewart, but the second-year head coach said he doesn’t care who ends up behind center for the Cardinals.

"I’m focused on how the Mountaineers play," Stewart said. "(Louisville) has everything to gain and nothing to lose.

"They are good, fast, and they are still Louisville. If our players do not understand that, then shame on them, shame on our staff, and shame on me for not conveying that enough."

Despite the multiple quarterbacks, Louisville is still fourth in the Big East Conference in passing offense, averaging 225 yards per game.

"I don’t know who’s going to be the quarterback," said Louisville head coach Steve Kragthorpe. "Whoever it is, it’s going to be a great challenge with West Virginia."

Last week, it was Mountaineer pass defense that struggled in WVU’s 31-19 loss to South Florida. The team gave up 232-pass yards including three passes of more than 45 yards.

While the Cardinals are unsure of who their quarterback will be, their receiving core has been reliable.

Senior Scott Long leads the unit. The 6-foot-2 Long is in the top 10 in the league in both receptions (4.4 rpg) and receiving yards (66 ypg).

Fellow receivers Doug Beaumont, Trent Guy and Cameron Graham all have over 10 receptions and 150-receiving yards this season as well.

The Cardinals rushing offense, however, is the second-worst in the Big East, barely averaging over 100 yards per game. That could be due in part to the nagging injuries of running back Victor Anderson, last year’s Big East Rookie of the Year.

Anderson did not play last week but still has 498 yards and five touchdowns this season.

The Louisville rush defense, on the other hand, is the worst in the Big East, allowing nearly 150 yards per game, causing Kragthorpe concern against WVU running back Noel Devine.

Devine is coming off the worst performance of his season as the USF defense held the junior to just 42 yards on the ground.

In West Virginia’s 35-21 win at Louisville last season, the Mountaineers rushed for 376 yards with both Pat White and Devine each going over 150 yards.

The Cardinals hired a new defensive coordinator in Brent Guy during the offseason, however.

"They have a little more blitz, a little more movement and a little more odd-fronts," Mullen said. "That new coordinator has brought a new flavor in there, and certainly we’re going to have to be ready for all of that."

West Virginia is 8-2 all-time against the Cardinals, including winning the last two games. UL is just 1-9 all-time in the Big East under Kragthorpe.

"We all know that this is a must-win game," said WVU tight end Tyler Urban. "It’s another round where we have to focus on this game only, and we can’t look ahead to the rest of the Big East.

"We have to win it if we want to get back on course."