NCAA Football Friday Game: Utah vs. Louisville

It's been a rocky season for the Louisville Cardinals.

They were expected to compete for the Big East title, a national championship, and quarterback Brian Brohm was a preseason Heisman trophy favorite.

Well, two of those three opportunities are gone entering Friday night's football game against Utah (2-3), where the 3-2 Cardinals are 14.5-point home betting favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Brohm returned for his senior season, despite the fact he would have been a first-round pick in the NFL draft, despite Bobby Petrino leaving for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons. Steve Kragthorpe was hired from Tulsa and promised to keep that same high-powered offensive system running.

"Obviously, I wanted Brian to stay for selfish reasons, but I didn't think it would be fair to break out my 34-inch Louisville Slugger and beat him over the head," Kragthorpe said. "I did not try to convince Brian to stay at Louisville. I tried to talk him through the process."

Brohm has racked up big numbers in every football game this year, starting with 375 yards and four touchdowns against Murray State, followed by 401 yards and five TDs against Middle Tennessee. Against Kentucky, he passed for 366 yards and a pair of touchdowns, followed by a career-high 555 yards against Syracuse. But those two losses have eliminated him from the Heisman race.

The Utes are very wary of Brohm's passing prowess.

"He's really good," said Utes coach Kyle Whittingham. "We need to put some pressure on him. If he sits back there and has all day and you don't make him speed up, then he can really hurt you. He's 6-4, 225 pounds and has a rifle for an arm and is a sure-fire first- round draft choice."Well, offense hasn't really been the Cards' problem, even though they have fallen from preseason No. 10 to unranked after losses to Kentucky (understandable) and Syracuse (inexcusable). Louisville is coming off a 29-10 win at North Carolina State last week.

Sure, Louisville only allowed 10 points in wins over Murray State and North Carolina State. However in the other three games, the Cardinals allowed 38 points to Syracuse, 40 to Kentucky and 42 to Middle Tennessee State. Louisville's defense is giving up 141.4 rushing yards a game, but it has improved in the last two games, holding opponents to 63.5 yards with no rushing touchdowns.

So you can bet that Utah will try and run the ball all night with Darrell Mack, who rushed for 132 yards on 26 carries against Utah State last week and will have to have another big night for the Utes if they want to keep pace with the Cardinals.

Utah has been a bit of an enigma, losing its first two games, then blowing out No. 11 UCLA, only to follow it up with a shutout loss at UNLV. Quarterback Brian Johnson returned from a shoulder injury to lead the Utes past Utah State last week, but Utah remains very much a work in progress. (Check for NCAA football injuries)

Whittingham called Johnson "rusty" in his return last week.

"We haven't made enough first downs in a game this year, and we're going to need to do that if we want to control the game," Whittingham said. "They're a high-octane offense, and it's not ideal to get into a shootout with them."

Utah is 5-0 all-time against the Big East, but Louisville is 24-2 at home since 2003, and the Cardinals are averaging 55.3 points per game at Cardinal Stadium this season.

"They put up a lot of numbers," Whittingham said. "It's going to be a challenge."

The lowdown: Hard to gauge this game with Utah being so up-and-down, but Louisville will want some momentum heading into Big East play in its final non-conference game. Look for the Cards to cover.