Monday Afternoon Cardinal News and Notes

—SSSPPPRREEEEAAADDDDD CCCCHHHEEEECCCCCKKKKKKKK: Louisville at 35.5

— Mason Mims, who has committed to the Louisville quarterback team, started his senior year by throwing for 442 yards on 28 of 35 passing and three touchdowns in a 56-46 win.

—On Tuesday, volleyball returns in monstrous fashion in Louisville when the sixth-seeded Cards host No. 3 Wisconsin in the AVCA Showcase. Here’s a preview of the 9:30 p.m. game.

— You can watch Dani Busboom Kelly’s press conference from Monday here.

—The coming week in Cardinal sports:

Tuesday, August 27

(AVCA Showcase) #6 Volleyball vs. #3 Wisconsin (KFC Yum! Center) – 9:30 p.m. ET

Wednesday, August 28

#24 Men’s Soccer in Tulsa – 8:00 p.m. ET

Thursday, August 29

Women’s Soccer in Cincinnati – 7:00 p.m. ET

Friday, August 30

Cross Country at EKU Triangular
Maryland Field Hockey – 6:00 p.m. ET

Saturday, August 31

Football vs. Austin Peay (L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium) – 12 p.m. ET

Sunday, September 1st

Field Hockey at American University – 1:00 p.m. ET
#6 Volleyball vs. #15 Tennessee (KFC Yum! Center) – 4:00 p.m. ET
Women’s soccer vs. Evansville (Dr. Mark & ​​Cindy Lynn Stadium) – 7:00 p.m. ET

— It seems my “irrational fear of Georgia Tech” over the summer wasn’t so irrational after all. The Yellow Jackets’ victory over Florida State in Dublin caused chaos in college football before the first week of the season even began.

—On3 gives its official preseason predictions for the College Football Playoffs.

—RJ Young of Fox Sports ranks Ashton Gillotte as the 93rd biggest star in college football this season.

93. Ashton Gillotte, DE, Louisville

Gillotte is a candidate who could climb up these rankings with another great season. Last year, he helped lead the Cardinals past Notre Dame and into the ACC title game. He recorded 14.5 tackles for loss and landed in the sport’s top 10 with 11 sacks in 2023. Few programs and cities have learned to nurture their talent as well as Louisville, which gave the world Muhammad Ali and Lamar Jackson nearly 60 years apart.

Reported NIL deals: N/A

Social Media Followers: 4.7K (Instagram), 3.4K (X)

Heisman Trophy odds: N/A

—Antonio Harris, who has committed to the Cardinals, has been Male High’s star on both sides of the ball this season.

— The CJ takes a look at the five toughest defenses the Cards will face in 2024.

— Eric Crawford has 12 thoughts on the start of the college football season.

— Georgia Tech’s social media team was prepared for this moment.

— The CJ has a gallery of the best pictures from the first Friday night of the high school football season.

— The Louisville women’s soccer team defeated Northern Kentucky 2-1 on Sunday. With a 3-0-1 start by the women and a 1-0-0 start by the men, U of L is undefeated heading into the 2024-25 track and field season.

—Two-time MVP Lamar Jackson still isn’t a top-notch quarterback in the NFL.

Jackson made it to the edge of Stage 1 because he received more votes from the top group (23) this year than he received in the three previous years combined (20).

“He’s a fantastic dual-threat guy, he’s explosive, he’s dangerous,” said one offensive coach. “I thought he took a big step last year with (new Ravens offensive coordinator Todd) Monken and developed into a passer. To me, that was so different than previous years.”

The line between being a good passer and being an expert at handling pure passing situations, like the one Baltimore faced in the playoffs against Kansas City, is why Jackson was a few votes away from joining Mahomes, Burrow and Allen in the top group.

For some, Jackson exceeds these criteria.

“I just think it’s a stretch to put the MVP of this league in Tier 2 and trump our idea of ​​what it should look like,” said one voter who placed Jackson in Tier 1.

If Jackson performs better in the playoffs, where he has a career passer rating of 75.7 and a 2-4 record despite strong defensive support, that could be a breakthrough.

“I think of him as a limited No. 1,” said one defensive coordinator. “He can win a lot of games. If you saw the Kansas City game, he couldn’t pass when he had to. That’s still the case. But he’s still a wonderful football player.”

—You can vote for Louisville-committed Jordan Allen as Gwinnett Player of the Week here.

– This model gives Louisville a 12 percent chance of making the College Football Playoffs.

—Jamari Thrash: Still very good at catching touchdown passes. Not so good at getting high fives from teammates.

—Gradey Anthony, who has committed to Louisville, helped his North Oldham team to a win in the season opener.

—Trinity, St. X and Male were all successful in the first week of the high school football season.

— Some groups have canceled, so if you want to play in the Big X Golf Scramble this Friday, there are still some spots available.

—Former Louisville pitcher Kade McClure joins Kent State’s staff as the new Director of Pitching Development.

—Jack Plummer absolutely shone for the Panthers this weekend,

—Racing Louisville is coming off a convincing 3-1 win over Chicago over the weekend. Discounted tickets for Saturday night’s game against Seattle are available here.

— Duke freshman Cooper Flagg has signed a contract with New Balance. He will have to continue wearing Nikes this season with the Blue Devils.

— The David Glenn Show/Pro Football Focus ranks Tyler Shough as the 15th best quarterback in the ACC.

15. Tyler ShoughLouisville, 6-5/225, 7th year Sr., 20 career FBS starts (13-7 record)

PFF National Ranking: #56

Secondary school: 4-star talent from Chandler (Arizona) Hamilton

Advertising: enrolled in 2024 as a transfer student (Texas Tech/Oregon)

Offensive Coordinator: Brian Brohm, second season (first with Shough)

2020: 106-167 passes (63.5%), 1,559 yards, 13/6 TD/INT; 66-271 runs (2 TDs)

2022: 106-177 passes (59.9%), 1,304 yards, 7/4 TD/INT; 72-269 runs (4 TDs)

2023: 67-111 passes (60.4%), 746 yards, 7/4 TD/INT; 48-149 runs (2 TDs)

Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm on Shough: “We really like Tyler. He came in and did a great job. What we’re getting with Tyler is a young guy with a lot of experience. He’s been through ups and downs. He’s had setbacks, failures and successes. He knows how to handle it, and that’s very, very valuable for a quarterback, especially at this position. Has he had a couple of injuries? Yes, he has. Did it cost him a little bit? Yes, it did. At the same time, they were injuries you can recover from, and right now he’s doing well. He’s been a great leader and he can throw the football really well.”

PFF College: “Former Oregon and Texas Tech quarterback Tyler Shough is currently the biggest question mark on Louisville’s very good roster. His career has been marred by injuries, as he has never attempted 200 passes in a single season. He has long flashed potential on the field, but his health and ball security could hinder the Cardinals’ chances of making an ACC appearance.”

— Top-30 basketball recruit Shelton Henderson summed up his weekend visit to Louisville here ($$).

— Two new matchday experiences will be offered at L&N Stadium this season.

— The latest episode of the podcast “From the Pink Seats” is here.

-According to me.

—Jeff Walz has offered Class of 2027 guard Bella Owumi.

—Matt McGavic examines how Week Zero’s results impacted Louisville.

—And finally, The Mike Rutherford Show (presented by United Mechanical) kicks off game week this afternoon from 3:00-6:00 p.m. on 1450 The Big X. You can stream it here.