Friday afternoon Cardinal news and notes

—Spread check: Louisville by 7.5.

—Dan Siegel over at Streaking the Lawn is predicting a 34-24 Louisville victory over Virginia.

—The Daily Progress outlines some keys to a UVA upset victory.

—If I get fired today I’m blaming Rob.

The crew’s full discussion of Louisville is worthy of a listen:

—If you’re looking for much less optimism, Matt Norlander and Kyle Boone of CBS have Louisville 12th and 13th, respectively, in their ACC power rankings.

—The From the Pink Seats Podcast crew previews tomorrow’s game against Virginia.

—The CJ recaps what other ACC basketball coaches said about Pat Kelsey and the rebuilding effort in front of him during Thursday’s ACC media day festivities.

—Shelton Henderson, the No. 16 overall hoops recruit in the 2025 class, is down to three schools — Duke, Louisville and Texas. I think it’s safe to say numbers one and two are ahead of number three on that list.

Louisville: “Me and Coach Kelsey have been building a great relationship since he got the job. And coach Hamilton leaving LSU and going to Louisville and having him hit me up right away that shows that they really believe in me and coming in there and making an immediate impact. Them being my first visit I’m really looking forward to that. I really enjoyed talking to Coach Kelsey. He’s really really cool dude, really easy to connect with so I think just think building that relationship is definitely going to be easy.”

—The latest NFL mock draft from CBS has Colorado star Travis Hunter going No. 1 overall.

—Streaking the Lawn has five key players to watch for during Saturday’s Louisville-Virginia game.

—Tyler Shough: prettay, prettay good.

Let’s not waste him.

—The Cavalier Daily previews U of L vs. UVA.

—Virginia hasn’t started a season 3-0 in the ACC since 2007.

—Here are some points of emphasis for Saturday’s game in Charlottesville.

Louisville’s Offensive Line Struggling in Pass Protection

While Louisville’s defense has certainly played a big role in why they are on a two-game skid, an underrated factor here is that their offensive line has not lived up to expectations - especially in pass protection.

Against SMU, quarterback Tyler Shough rarely had a clean pocket, and had to scramble often to make plays. The advanced stats back this up too, as he was pressured 13 times in the game against the Mustangs. According to Pro Football Focus, Louisville finished with a 44.0 pass blocking grade, which is well below the average mark of 60.0

It’s not just been a one-game performance, either. Louisville finished with pass-blocking grades below 60.0 against Austin Peay and Notre Dame as well. For the season, their 64.6 pass block grade comes in at just 88th in the FBS and 53rd at the power conference level.

“It all goes back to communication,” offensive guard Michael Gonzalez said. “There’s five guys, so four people can do right, and one person can do wrong, and it’s messed up for everyone. Everybody taking turns having their one bad play, it affects drives.

“We had a few first down sacks, first down holdings, and those kill drives. You eliminate those, and we just keep pushing forward down the field. It’s all about honing in on what you got to and then at the end of the day, winning your one on one battle and keeping Tyler up in a critical situation.”

—Cavs Corner likes Louisville by a field goal in a high scoring affair.

—An SMU podcast recaps the Mustangs’ win over Louisville.

—Isaac Guerendo got on the field and got loose for the 49ers last night.

—The U of L women’s soccer teams kicks off a homestand with a test against No. 13 Notre Dame. Here’s a preview.

—Louisville Report’s preview of the Cards vs. the Cavs is here.

—The fourth-ranked Louisville volleyball team is on the road this weekend facing Miami and No. 21 Florida State.

—I love this.

—Here’s the Cardinal Authority preview of Louisville-Virginia.

—Louisville Report has three takeaways from Louisville’s time in front of the mic at ACC media days.

—It’s visit day for top five prospect Nate Ament, who says he’s been enjoying being recruited by Pat Kelsey.

—The folks in Lexington are already loving J’Vonne.

—Virginia’s 247 site highlights three matchups to watch in their team’s game against Louisville.

—Terrence Oglesby has Pat Kelsey as his preseason ACC Coach of the Year and Kasean Pryor as a preseason First Team all-league selection.

—And finally, beat Virginia.