Strong Previews Saturday's Home Game Against EKU
September 06, 2010 | Football
Sept. 6, 2010
Strong Press Conference Video | Strong Press Conference Audio
Press Conference Quotes 
| Benavides Audio from Press Conference
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville football head coach Charlie Strong and sophomore center Mario Benavides met with reporters on Monday to preview Saturday's game against Eastern Kentucky. The Cardinals and Colonels are scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and game will be televised locally by WHAS-TV.
The Cardinals will look to rebound after a tough 23-16 season-opening loss at home to rival Kentucky in front of a sold-out and school record crowd of 55,327 at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Louisville trailed 20-6 at the half before mounting a spirited comeback to get within a score. Senior running back Bilal Powell contributed most of the offense for the Cardinals in the loss to Kentucky, rushing for a career-high 153 yards on 16 carries, including a career-long 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
After allowing Kentucky to rush for 156 yards in the first half, the Louisville defense limited the Wildcats to just 74 yards on the ground in the final 30 minutes. Sophomore Shenard Holton recorded a career-best nine tackles in the loss.
EKU dropped its season-opener, 31-9, at Missouri State last Friday. The game was scheduled for Thursday night, but severe weather postponed the game until the following afternoon.
The Series: U of L and EKU
fnLouisville and Eastern Kentucky meet for the 26th time with the Cardinals owning a 16-8-1 overall advantage. The teams have not met since a 24-14 Louisville victory at old Cardinal Stadium in 1991. Louisville's last loss to a I-AA school was to EKU when the Colonels earned a 45-21 win in 1985. The Cardinals are 9-3-1 all-time at home against the Colonels and have won eight of the last nine meetings overall in the series.
GAME FACTS - Louisville (0-1) vs. Eastern Kentucky (0-1)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 11
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Site: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (55,000+), Louisville, Ky.
TV: WHAS-TV will televise the game locally with Drew Deener (play-by-play) and Doug James (analyst) calling the action
Radio: Paul Rogers (play-by-play), Stefan LeFors (analyst) and Doug Ormay (sideline) will call all the action on WHAS 840 AM
Also: SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Ch. 130
Rankings: Both teams are unranked in this week's national polls.
Coaches: Louisville's Charlie Strong is in his first season as the Cardinals' head coach. Dean Hood is in his third season at Eastern Kentucky.
