INSIDE SLANT

   Despite last week’s victory over Syracuse, the big story in Louisville again centered on coach Steve Kragthorpe’s job status. There’s a lot of speculation that a third disappointing year in a row will be enough to force athletic director Tom Jurich to get rid of a coach he genuinely seems to believe in but who hasn’t met expectations on the field and hasn’t gotten much love from the fan base.

   Kragthorpe has strongly indicated that he expects to return next year, but the votes of confidence have gotten more tepid as the season has gone on. Still, there’s still something he and his players can do to improve his position—win this week.

   Beat a struggling South Florida team on the road, and the Cards will be 5-6 and one win away from being bowl-eligible. A .500 record wouldn’t guarantee anything, but the Big East could make some calls and try and find them a home somewhere, as the ACC did a year ago for North Carolina State.

   That won’t be easy. Louisville ranks 108th out of the 120 Division I teams in scoring at 18 points per game and are 93rd in total offense. With musical quarterbacks due to injuries and a banged-up Victor Anderson in the backfield, the team hasn’t created enough opportunities or done much with the ones they’ve had.

   South Florida is tough at home, and the Cardinals have never won there. But for the focus to be on something other than job security this week, that’s what Louisville has to do.

NOTES, QUOTES

   —Chris Campa was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week for his effort against Syracuse. He led the team with a career-high 15 tackles, which included two sacks and a forced fumble.

   —Louisville announced a crowd of 33,223 for the Syracuse game. That’s an improvement over the 21,497 who attended the previous home game against Arkansas State, which was the lowest in the history of Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

   SERIES HISTORY: Tied 3-3 (last meeting, 2008, 24-20 Louisville).

   SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: This is going to be a challenging game for an offense that has struggled to score even against weak defenses. South Florida allows fewer than 20 points a game and less than four yards a carry, all while punishing passing mistakes with its 11 interceptions.  Adam Froman is going to have to make smart decisions with the football, but he’ll have help from WR Scott Long, who torched the Bulls for 134 yards when the teams met a year ago.

   SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: B.J. Daniels is no Matt Grothe, but though he began the season as a backup, he’s done a solid job as the USF quarterback. He’s dangerous both running and throwing the football, which puts a lot of pressure on the linebackers and secondary to guess right on their initial reads. The coaching staff will be studying the film from the last South Florida game, a 31-0 loss to Rutgers last Thursday, to see if they can capitalize on some of what worked for the Scarlet Knights. A good sign for the Cardinals is that Chris Campa is playing the best football of his college career and earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors for his effort against Syracuse.

   QUOTE TO NOTE: “I have no idea what my future holds, I have no idea what tomorrow holds. I’m planning on being here. I’m not going any place voluntarily, so if it’s involuntarily—I can’t answer that question.”—Coach Steve Kragthorpe in the Louisville Courier-Journal, addressing his job status in his weekly news conference.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

   THIS WEEK’S GAME: Louisville at South Florida, Nov. 21—The programs have met six times prior to this weekend’s matchup, with each team winning three. The trend line favors South Florida, since the home team has won every game in the series thus far.

   KEYS TO THE GAME: Defensively, making B.J. Daniels uncomfortable can slow down the Bulls’ attack. But the real key to the game is for the offense to get to the red zone more often and take full advantage when it does.

   PLAYERS TO WATCH:

   WR Scott Long—When these teams met last year, Long had five catches for 134 yards. He leads the team in both receptions and yards this season, and looks to be as big a factor this time around.

   QB Adam Froman—Froman returned against Syracuse but didn’t look sharp against the Orange. The better he looks this weekend, the better the chance the Cardinals have at the upset.

   MLB Jon Dempsey—Chris Campa may have been the one named Player of the Week for his defensive effort a week ago, but Dempsey has been the rock in the middle of the linebacking corps. The senior would love to go out with a bowl game and will need to be at his best against B.J. Daniels and the South Florida offense to make that happen.

   ROSTER REPORT:

   —OL Joe Evinger has missed the past two games with a high-ankle sprain. It’s unclear whether he’ll be ready to play this weekend.

   —CB Andrew Robinson missed three games with a groin injury and was limited against Syracuse, but he came through in the final minute with the game-saving interception. He should be in line to get more work this week.

   —RB Victor Anderson has been limited this season by a series of injuries, most recently a shoulder. He should play this week, but Darius Ashley and Bilal Powell will also see time.