LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- One week after another dispiriting fourth-quarter letdown — this time compounded by four failures to score from the 2-yard line in the closing minute in a 30-24 loss to Clemson — the Louisville football team returns to face an improving Syracuse team in Cardinal Stadium on a day when the program will retire the jersey No. 8 of Lamar Jackson, with the former Heisman winner in attendance.
There's a lot going on, but the main thing the Cardinals need to have happen is a victory. With three games remaining, the Cardinals are two wins away from bowl eligibility, an accomplishment that could, at least in part, ease the sting of some missed opportunities over the past month.
Louisville beat Syracuse 30-0 last season, but the Orange are playing well. They've won back-to-back league games, are coming off a bye week, rank third in the nation in rushing offense and are tied for fifth nationally with 33 sacks.
The Jackson ceremony will take place at halftime, when his No. 8 will be permanently mounted on the east side of Cardinal Stadium alongside the No. 16 of Johnny Unitas. Louisville painted Jackson's No. 8 on the field to mark the occasion, and the first 20,000 fans in the gates will receive a black No. 8 rally towel, presented by Planet Fitness. Commemorative cups also will be available at concession stands to mark the occasion. The school dubbed Saturday a "blackout" game.
“This is going to be a special day for Louisville Football and something we have been looking forward to for month,” Louisville Athletics Director Vince Tyra said. “Once the NFL schedule was released, we were able to overlay that scheduling calculus with our own home games — resulting in a bit of serendipity — that we will honor Lamar as we take on Syracuse. Then, being able to surprise him with the news and have our fans share in that moment was so special. His genuine gratitude was so true to who he is as a person and has truly touched us all."
Additional in-game content reflective of Jackson’s career will take place throughout the game, which also serves as the program's Military Appreciation Day, and some programming will be geared toward that.
More on Saturday's matchup:
TIME: Noon, Cardinal Stadium.
WHERE TO WATCH: ACC Regional Sports Networks (Bally Sports South in Louisville, Evan Lepler play-by-play, Brian Jordan analyst, Wiley Ballard sideline). Where to listen: WKRD-790 AM (Paul Rogers, Craig Swabek, Jody Demling).
THE LINE: Louisville by 3. Over/under: 55 1/2.
THE SERIES: Louisville leads the overall series 12-7 and is 6-1 against Syracuse since joining the ACC.
THE RECORDS: Syracuse is 5-4 overall and 2-3 in ACC play. Louisville is 4-5 overall, 2-4 in league play.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
All roads lead to celebrating 8️⃣!Introducing Lamar Jackson Way, speed limit 8 mph.#GoCards x @Lj_era8 pic.twitter.com/TmtXOGQtP0
— Louisville Athletics (@GoCards) November 12, 2021
PLAYER TO WATCH (Louisville): The only player to watch in recent weeks has been Malik Cunningham, and all eyes will be on him again Saturday after a second-half ankle injury sidelined him briefly during the Cardinals' loss to Clemson last week. In his absence, the Cardinals could get nothing going. Cunningham will need to be sharper in the air than he has been in recent games. The Syracuse all-out blitzing attack will provide some opportunities in the passing game, but he'll need to be quick with his decisions and on-target with the football, neither of which has been a strong suit over the past month.
PLAYERS TO WATCH (Syracuse): Sean Tucker is No. 2 in the nation in rushing and only 105 yards behind Joe Morris' single-season school rushing record of 1,372 yards, which was set in 1979, before the Carrier Dome was even constructed. He is complemented by quarterback Garrett Shrader, who ranks fourth among the nation's quarterbacks with 670 yards. Only 21 teams in FBS football have more rushing yards as a team than the Syracuse combo of Tuckerand Shrader, and the next touchdown by either would make them the highest-scoring tandem in program history in a single season.
SIDELINE STORYLINES: The Lamar Jackson hype notwithstanding, Louisville needs a win. The Cardinals should have a decent crowd, even if the game was slotted for a noon kickoff. Being on a cable network that many in Louisville do not get should only help the turnout. But eventually, when you draw good crowds, you need to have them leave the stadium happy. That didn't happen a week ago with a strong crowd of more than 51,000 showed up. Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield said it's only a matter of time until the close losses begin turning into close victories. But many more of them — and time — may not be on his side.
QUOTEABLE: Satterfield on his team's fourth-quarter struggles: "It's obviously been a sore subject really in the fourth quarter. We've played well the first three quarters. You go back and look at it, and it's given us a chance and an opportunity. And in the fourth quarter, we've just not finished games. We've not done the things we need to do. We know that you got to come down. You got to finish. It’s focus. It's adjustments. It's getting the ball in the hands of the playmakers offensively, and then it's doing the right things. It starts with me making the right calls, and decisions that need to be made in the fourth quarter. There's different scenarios and different games and we've been behind. We’ve been up. There's all kinds of things that have happened ... We just have to find a way. Our guys are to the point where it's like, we’re not talking about it. We’ve got to go do it. We just got to go prove it and do it.”
THE PICK: Syracuse 38, Louisville 35.
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