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Shocked Louisville looks to respond vs. South Florida

Nov 14, 2006 - 10:21 PM South Florida (7-3) at No. 10 Louisville (8-1), 7:30 pm EST

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Ticker) - Last year, South Florida stunned Louisville in their first meeting as Big East Conference opponents. This year, the Bulls will be facing a top that already has been shocked.

After a difficult loss, the 10th-ranked Cardinals look to take out their frustrations on the Bulls on Saturday.

Last Thursday, then-No. 3 Louisville (8-1, 3-1 Big East) blew an 18-point lead and lost at Rutgers, 28-25.

The Cardinals momentarily appeared to be headed for overtime when Rutgers' Jeremy Ito hooked a 33-yard field-goal attempt, but cornerback William Gay jumped offside, and Ito was true on a 28-yarder with 13 seconds to play.

Louisville was blanked in the second half and limited to a season-low 266 yards in the defeat.

Last year, Louisville got a rude introduction to the Big East with a 45-14 loss in Tampa. The Cardinals, then ranked ninth, surrendered the first 21 points and never came close to catching up.

Louisville is 1-2 in the series, winning the only meeting here, 41-9, in 2004.

South Florida (7-2, 3-2) has won back-to-back games, including a 27-10 triumph over Syracuse last weekend in which Matt Grothe passed for a school-record 364 yards and two TDs.