The good news is there’s a football game coming up at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The bad news is that it will likely be the last game for the University of Louisville. The Cards’ most likely bowl invitation, if they were to defeat Rutgers, appeared to be the Papa John’s Bowl in Birmingham.

Scratch that. Cincinnati (9-3) has accepted an invitation to play Southern Mississippi (7-5) in the Dec. 22 bowl game. Attendance must not have been much a factor for the bowl sponsors. Neither team travels very well.

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The chatter surrounding the Rutgers program seems to be focused on their appearance in the International Bowl, rather than on the Louisville game — quite a switch from last year when the lights in the Empire State Building signaled support for Rutgers in one of the biggest games of the college football season.

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In case you missed it, the Rutgers game is a “Black Out” game, with fans being asked to wear all black. Someone must have known something when it was scheduled before the season started. For many fans, black seems an appropriate color to bury this season’s anxieties. Whatever happened to red, anyway?

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The spotlight will not shine as bright as it once did on U of L’s Brian Brohm and Rutgers’ Ray Rice, but expect both to put up big numbers. Brohm has thrown for 29 touchdown and 3,787 yards, Rice has run for 17 touchdowns and 1,612 yards. Neither will receive many Heisman Trophy votes. However, they will be among the top five draft choices.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

3 thoughts on “Black Out Night vs. Rutgers”
  1. Sorry if i wasn’t clear with my comment. I definitely will be rooting for the team as always, especially the seniors. I just meant that the general consensus seems to be that nobody gives a RonCooper about what color clothes they will be wearing tonight.

  2. Good thing is we’re not playing on the street. We’re honoring 17 seniors who took us to the Liberty, Gator and Orange bowls.

  3. Word on the street is that no one gives a flying whoop about the blackout this year, more than likely due to the debacle that was almost a football season this year.

    If you close your eyes and try real hard you can almost pretend that this season was played in an old minor league baseball stadium.

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