Pitt to break Cardinal rule?

At the start of the season, the No. 10 ranked Louisville Cardinals had BCS dreams that… At the start of the season, the No. 10 ranked Louisville Cardinals had BCS dreams that included a championship game in New Orleans.

Eight games later, they’re just trying to wake from a nightmare.

After another surprising loss last week at home to Connecticut, the Cardinals (4-4, 1-2 Big East) now find themselves in a three-way tie for last place in the Big East. They head into this weekend’s matchup against Pitt (3-4, 1-1 Big East) hoping to break their two-game losing streak at home. It will be the 11th meeting between the two teams.

The Panthers will try to spoil Louisville’s homecoming game after defeating Cincinnati 24-17 during their own homecoming last weekend at Heinz Field. It was Pitt’s first win against a ranked opponent since 2004.

Louisville’s defense has struggled throughout the season, and the Cardinals will continue to cling to the right arm of Heisman Trophy candidate Brian Brohm, who leads a powerful offensive unit that ranks fifth in the nation in total yards per game (532.1) and third in passing yards per game (376.5).

Pitt’s defense, which had given up 126 total points in its three previous games, bounced back to hold Cincinnati to a scoreless second-half last week and just 17 total points. The Panthers now rank seventh in the nation in pass defense (170) and 20th in total yards allowed (313.9).

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt wants to see his defense finally come through against the Cardinals, as his teams haven’t had much success stopping Louisville in the recent past.

“The last two years, we couldn’t slow them down,” Wannstedt said. “Games were close for a while, but in the end we couldn’t hold up physically, we couldn’t hold up on the scoreboard.”

The Panthers will have to key in on Brohm, who’s torched opponents this year with 2993 yards, 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions. Last year, Brohm threw for 337 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-24 rout of the Panthers at Heinz Field.

“You have to mix it up on him,” Wannstedt said. “If you go down there and try to blitz this guy, he’ll kill you, he’ll tear you up. But by the same token you have to be willing to pressure him enough to make him understand that he’s not going to have time to sit in there and hold the football.”

Although Louisville has been the more consistent of the two offenses, Pitt’s has shown signs of progress in the past two games.

The running back duo of LeSean McCoy and LaRod Stephens-Howling combined for 237 yards rushing and one touchdown against Cincinnati. McCoy, a freshman, has now rushed for 805 yards and nine touchdowns.

Along with the backs, Wannstedt gave credit to the offensive line.

“I think they are playing with some confidence now,” Wannstedt said of his offensive line. “It’s amazing how your confidence will grow when you start believing in the guys who are carrying the ball for you.”

In his weekly press conference, Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said he was impressed with the way Pitt played last week.

“I thought they ran the football extremely well,” he said. “They’re very elusive.”

Along with the running game, freshman quarterback Pat Bostick continued to show improvement, completing passes to six different receivers.

“It looked like [Bostick] felt a lot more comfortable with what they were doing offensively,” Kragthorpe said.

This is an important match-up for both struggling teams. And with a treacherous end to Pitt’s schedule that includes No. 11 South Florida, No. 25 Rutgers and No. 6 West Virginia, a win at Louisville is a must for the Panthers if they want any chance at a bowl game.

Louisville leads the all-time series 6-4 and has defeated the Panthers in their last six meetings. But Wannstedt still has hope, despite the team’s unpredictability.

“It’s just that every week is a new adventure with these kids and there’s no easy way to go around it,” Wannstedt said. “You have to go right through it.”

Interesting facts/trends:

-Brian Brohm is the fourth in his family to play forLouisville. His dad and two brothers also suited up for the Cardinals.

-Brohm was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 49th round of the 2004 amateur baseball draft.

-The Panthers were 10.5 point underdogs last week at home, and are 11 point underdogs on the road this week.

-When playing on artificial turf, the Panthers are 4-6 in their last 10 games. Louisville is 7-3.

-When outgaining their opponent, Pitt is just 5-5, while the Cardinals are 7-3 when posting better numbers.

-Pitt has lost consecutive games to Louisville by 22 points or more.

-Pitt has the edge in rushing yards, pass defense, rushing defense, turnover differential and total points allowed, while Louisville gets the nod in points-for, passing yards and scoring differential.