FACTS & STATS: Site: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium (42,000) -- Louisville, Kentucky. Television: ESPN. Home Record: WVU 5-1, Louisville 4-3. Away Record: WVU 1-2, Louisville 1-2. Neutral Record: WVU 0-0, Louisville 0-0. Conference Record: WVU 3-1, Louisville 1-4. Series Record: West Virginia leads, 7-2

GAME NOTES: The West Virginia Mountaineers shoot for just their second road win of the season this weekend as they visit Big East rival Louisville. The Mountaineers have played a total of just three games outside of Morgantown and only their stop at Connecticut resulted in a victory a few weeks back. That win was the fifth straight for WVU, but a week later the team bowed to Cincinnati in overtime at home, 26-23. As for the Cardinals, they still need another victory just to become bowl eligible after starting 2008 at 5-2. The program has fallen in three straight, including a 28-20 decision versus Pittsburgh on November 14th. Following this clash, the Cardinals have just one more game to close out the regular season, a stop in Piscataway to challenge the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. West Virginia leads the all-time series with the Cardinals by a count of 7-2, winning two of the three meetings since Louisville joined the Big East Conference. The Mountaineers posted a 38-31 win last season at home over the Cardinals.

Normally a strong running team, the Mountaineers were held to just 98 yards on 42 carries versus Cincinnati the last time out. Noel Devine was the top man with his 58 yards and Pat White was limited to a mere 41 yards bon 20 carries after suffering four sacks. White converted 20-of-38 passes for 219 yards and a pair of scores, while Pat McAfee knocked through both of his field goal attempts, including the one in overtime that gave the squad a brief lead. Still ranked first in the Big East and 13th in the nation this week, the Mountaineers are generating 214.9 ypg on the ground, but the squad's ability to create big plays and get into the end zone are nothing like they once were. Devine and White are obviously the big guns for the group, but with a mere seven rushing scores combined they don't necessarily scare many defenses. White has done some damage with his 66.1 percent completions for 15 TDs and only four INTs, but not nearly enough for West Virginia to be considered one of the better teams in the nation this season.

The West Virginia defense surrendered just a single passing touchdowns versus the Bearcats, but it came at the worst time. In all honesty, the unit permitted Cincinnati to put together just a single quality drive the entire night, resulting in a four-yard touchdown run by the visiting quarterback. Had the special teams not given up a 100-yard kickoff for a touchdown as the first play of the game, the outcome could have been vastly difference for the Mountaineers. Granted, the scoring defense for the team is first in the league and 10th in the nation this week with a mere 16 ppg allowed, but considering some of that stems from three points allowed to Marshall and only six versus Syracuse, it may not carry the weight that it would have in past years. In terms of pass efficiency defense the Mountaineers rank second in the league and 15th in the country with a rating of 103.33, mainly because the group has permitted a mere six passing scores thus far.

Ryan Payne's 23-yard field goal at the 11:35 mark of the third quarter put the Cardinals ahead of the Bearcats by a score of 20-14, but from there the offense for the home team disappeared in the eight-point setback. The squad registered a modest 120 yards and a touchdown rushing on 37 attempts and saw Hunter Cantwell complete 19-of-35 passes for 204 yards and a score, not much to cheer about considering how dominant the offense has been in recent years. Victor Anderson, who scored once versus the Bearcats, continues to be the most reliable offensive force for the program with his team highs of 973 yards and eight TDs on the ground. Unfortunately, Anderson entered this week listed as questionable because of a head injury, putting that much more pressure on the quarterback. Cantwell has been put in a position where he can't win because he's trying to live up to previous signal-callers that simply set the world afire and even though he has completed better than 57 percent of his passes, he's tossed only 14 touchdowns, against 12 interceptions thus far.

The Louisville defense made very few significant plays, other than Jon Dempsey forcing and recovering a fumble and Woodny Turenne posting an interception to try and stop the Bearcats. The Cardinals did limit the visitors to 6-of-15 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth-down attempts, but in the end Cincy still averaged six yards per play, compared to 4.5 yards per snap for the Cardinals. As if playing below their potential were not bad enough, the defense now takes another blow with the news that Turenne is out for the rest of the season with a broken clavicle. The loss of Turenne is huge because he was one of the top pass defenders in the league and had already registered five interceptions to lead the Cardinals. Put all the other players on the roster together and between them there are just three other interceptions. If nothing else, the Cardinals are pretty lucky that they have the second-best run defense in the Big East, ranked eighth in the nation, with just 95.4 ypg allowed.

With Turenne out of the picture the Mountaineers would be smart to try and take some shots down the field and then pick their spots to run the ball, even though they'll try and do the most damage on the ground anyway.