West Virginia and Louisville meet for the third time as Big East conference foes on Thursday night in Morgantown.  The meeting showcases some of the nation’s best talent and if the last two games between the two were any indication, fans across the nation should be in for a fantastic contest.

The West Virginia Mountaineers enter the game ranked #7 in the BCS rankings, a spot they have secured for the past several weeks.  Louisville comes in to the game, well, fighting for bowl eligibility.  This is not the match-up college football fans envisioned it would be in September.  The Louisville Cardinals have lost as many games this season as they had in their previous two as part of the Big East.  One of college football’s most potent offenses has not been able to keep Louisville from suffering four losses on the season as their defense has proved ineffective against the likes of Syracuse, Kentucky, Utah, and UConn.  All is not lost though and the Cardinals will look to star quarterback Brian Brohm to salvage the season.

Brohm leads the Louisville offensive attack that ranks 18^th in the country in scoring with 37 points per contest, while ranking 4^th in the nation in passing yards with 360 yards per game.  Brohm has led a powerful passing attack that boasts some of the most talented wide receivers in the country in Mario Urrutia and Harry Douglas.  Both receivers are deep ball threats and provide large targets for Brohm.  Urrutia sat out three games earlier in the season, but returned against Pitt to catch 4 passes for 37 yards.  Look for Brohm to try and find Urrutia more often against the Mountaineers.  Cardinals tight end Gary Barnidge had to step up when Urrutia sat down with injury, and he did in a big way.  Barnidge is the team’s second leading receiver and adds another threat through the air.

As good as the Cardinal passing game has looked this season, it has come at the expense of a non-existent rushing attack.  Louisville ranks 69^th in the nation in rushing, leaving most of the offensive duties to Brohm and his corp. of receivers.  Anothony Allen leads all rushers with 664 yards on the season.  Brock Bolen and George Stripling provide solid rushing options, but none of the running backs for Louisville have been able to establish a solid running game this season.

Perhaps the “downfall” of the Louisville program this season has been it’s defense, which, to be fair has performed significantly better the last several weeks; albeit they played two of the worst offenses in the country in Connecticut and Pittsburgh.  Louisville is allowing nearly four touchdowns a game, a feat which the Mountaineers have accomplished in all but one of their eight games so far.  The Cardinals have also surrendered an average of over 150 rushing yards per game this season; West Virginia averages nearly double that amount.

This season’s West Virginia-Louisville game may lack the national hype that it got last season, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.  West Virginia looks to keep it’s Big East and National Title hopes alive and the Cardinals will be looking to become bowl eligible and keep any shot of a Big East title in their sights.  Another important aspect will be recruiting.  As in any nationally televised game, recruits from around the nation will be tuning in to take a look at prospective schools.  A poor performance by team in a nationally showcased game could put up a roadblock on the recruiting trail.

The Mountaineers and Cardinals have given spectators something special to watch the last two seasons as the Mountaineers prevailed in a thrilling comeback victory in triple-overtime in 2005, and the two teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense in a Louisville victory a year ago.  If this game shows any shades of either of those two, I don’t believe anyone will leave disappointed.

The game is scheduled for a 7:45 P.M. kickoff and will be televised nationally by ESPN. 

Prediction: WVU- 41 UL- 20

West Virginia does not lose night games at Mountaineer Field, in fact they have not lost a home night game in the Rich Rodriguez era.