Defense Looks to Return to Form Against Duke on Friday Night

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville defense has set the bar high over the last three seasons, and that's why giving up over 40 points and 500 yards of total offense in the loss last weekend to Clemson was an anomaly.

"Bounce Back" has been the theme this week for the Cardinals, who look to halt their losing streak this week Friday night versus Duke – and head coach Bobby Petrino wants to see how rebounds after a tough conference loss.

"I think you always learn a lot," Petrino said. "You always learn about how we're going to handle it. How we're going to bounce back.

"That's one of our themes is to bounce back and come back and prepare the way we prepared for the other games and if we do that - if we go about our business in the meeting room, if we practice with the intensity and the focus that we have been - then I think we will continue to play well and execute and win games."

After a tough defeat, the Cardinals had a week off to work on things on both sides of the football, especially defensively where a lot of plays were left on the field, according to Petrino and a number of the players.

"The focus was getting better," defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "With an off week you always want to work to improve. So really in got down to hey we've got to continue to improve and continue to work."

The Cardinals had the weekend off to re-charge their batteries and prepare for Friday night's home contest – the first home game since Sept. 17 – a 63-20 win over No. 2 Florida State.

Senior linebacker Keith Kelsey enjoyed the time off, but knew it was time to get back to work.

"It was great," Kelsey said. "We really got back out here and got things going. Guys got their legs back, their bodies feeling better. We are just really enjoying the process and we are ready to get back out there on Friday."

Coming into the weeknight game, Duke is fresh off a 13-6 win over Army last weekend, and senior safety Josh Harvey-Clemons is expecting another hard-fought ACC game.

"I expect it to be a great game," Harvey-Clemons said after Tuesday's practice. "Duke is a great team and they do a lot of great stuff on offense, so I expect it to be a good battle and come out and play hard."

Despite missing a few players to injury, Harvey-Clemons is impressed with the Blue Devils' personnel, and sees the challenge of another ACC opponent.

"They have a couple of playmakers," Harvey-Clemons said. "They have a great receiver, they have running backs…actually two great receivers, and their quarterback is good. It's all on us focusing on us, and doing our part."

Despite leading the team in tackles, Harvey-Clemons, a starter in 18-straight games, wants to end his career on a high note, and is focusing on improving each day.

"I felt like I can do a lot better," Harvey-Clemons said. "It's still the middle of the season, but it's a lot of stuff I have to work on myself, and stuff we still have to improve on as a team. I've given up two touchdowns this year, and I don't want to give up any touchdowns, or any catches. I want to be hard on myself to make myself better."

Returning home for a Friday night "Blackout" is exciting, but the Cardinals are looking forward to just getting back on the field and starting a second-half run to achieve their goals.

"That was our goal (making the playoffs) at the beginning of the season, and that's still our goal, we just have to win all of our games. So we just have to play it out. You can't worry about everybody else, we just have to take care of everything."

University of Louisville Athletics

Defense Looks to Return to Form Against Duke on Friday Night

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