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Cincinnati hopes to avoid letdown vs. rival Louisville

Nov 11, 2008 - 5:26 PM (22) Cincinnati (7-2) at Louisville (5-4), 8:00 pm EST

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Ticker) -- Cincinnati barely escaped Morgantown with a share of first place in the Big East Conference. The Bearcats will have to survive another hostile environment if they hope to remain on pace for a BCS bowl berth.

Less than a week after a thrilling win over West Virginia, the 22nd-ranked Bearcats travel to Louisville on Friday night to face the upset-minded Cardinals.

Since dropping a 40-16 decision at Connecticut three weeks ago, Cincinnati (7-2, 3-1 Big East) has beaten consecutive ranked opponents in South Florida and West Virginia to climb into a tie with Pittsburgh atop the league standings.

Despite surrendering 13 points in the final 1:13 of regulation last Saturday, the Bearcats posted a 26-23 overtime win at then-No. 23 West Virginia.

Tony Pike hit Kazeem Alli with a 2-yard touchdown pass in overtime, lifting Cincinnati to its second win in 17 all-time meetings with the Mountaineers.

"A lesser team would not have been able to come back from those odds," Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said. "I couldn't be more proud of how we bounced back. They made a couple plays at the end, but we won the football game."

The Bearcats likely will have to avoid a similar late-game collapse against Louisville (5-4, 1-3), which has won the last five meetings in this rivalry.

"This win doesn't mean anything unless you can back it up against Louisville," Kelly said. "Our guys haven't tasted a win at Louisville."

Following Friday night's visit to Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, Cincinnati closes its Big East schedule with home games against Pittsburgh and lowly Syracuse.

But the Bearcats first will have to get past the Cardinals, who will look to bounce back from last weekend's 41-7 drubbing at Pittsburgh.

Louisville starting quarterback Hunter Cantwell was benched at one point before returning in the second half. The senior passed for 164 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

It was the second consecutive loss for Louisville, which also handed the last-place Orange their first conference win of the season on November 1.

"We still have goals ahead of us; we still want to get to a bowl game," Cardinals defensive tackle Adrian Grady said. "We can't stop fighting. You have to have pride."

Louisville has won nine of its last 10 games against the Bearcats, including last year's 28-24 upset victory in Cincinnati.

The Bearcats lead the all-time series, 26-20-1.