Update: Story with quotes. Match the mountains tonight.

10:05 am: A hearty good day to you from John’s Cardinal Stadium. Apropos of nothing, or everything, this is the marquee at the establishment across the street from my hotel. You think about that.

10:10 pm: Game captains today: Will Johnson, Jock Sanders, Brandon Hogan and Chris Neild. The only names missing from the dress list that you’d recognize are FB/TE Chris Snook and LB Donovan Miles.

10:13 am: Speaking of hammers, someone asked earlier in the week when Colin Dunlap would be writing about WVU basketball. To clear up a misconception, Colin does not cover WVU basketball. He does Duquesne, though will cross over when required, like the NCAA run last year. Excuse him if he’s slow on his blog today … he’s a little preoccupied.

10:22 am: Regarding today’s Illinois-Northwestern game at Wrigley Field, on one hand, there isn’t a dramatic change in the game play. The offenses will go in one direction. In the event of a punt/kickoff/turnover return, the ball-carrier won’t be throwing the ball into the end zone and thus bringing the too-close-for-comfort wall into play. It can work.

Where you’ll find a difference is with strategy, and this got a few people talking in the press box. How would Bill Stewart, he of two timeouts in the first quarter, handle the reality there is no wind advantage to be gained or lost at the quarter change or in overtime?

11:48 am: Louisville’s 117-member marching band is on the field for the national anthem and “My Old Kentucky Home,” and, I believe, we’ve witnesses a record. There are 18 minutes before the pregame clock expires … and that’s usually a few minutes before kickoff.

11:51 am: Fireworks in the pregame!

12:19 pm: Louisville has a nice-enough drive and takes a 3-0 lead and it coul dbe 7-0, but Brad Chichester couldn’t run under a pass lofted into the end zone. There appeared to be some sort of entanglement between Chichester and Brandon Hogan and Chichester went ot cut outside, but not enough to get a flag.

12:27 pm: Impressive answer by the Mountaineers and a lot of power running, even out of the shotgun with fullback Ryan Clarke basically playing as a wing back and coming across to the line of scrimmage to block. Eu made two sharp throws on the drive, as well, on back-to-back plays and Jock’s 11 yards play on third-and-8 at the 13 was almost all on him.

12:34 pm: Louisville third-and-1 and the ball goes to … Jeremy Wright. And

12:35 pm: Terrible call on Trippe Hale. Not his fault the defender ducked.

12:40 pm: Noel stepped gingerly off the field after his first-down run. Louisville blitzes a defensive back on a five-wide set to get a sack.

12:44 pm: Terence Garvin gets his first career sack. Defenses are beginning to settle in and grow from there, it appears.

12:49 pm: Fake! The punter Ryan Philpott gets 21 yards and totally caught WVU napping. Well done.

12:50 pm: Wildcat with a give to the quarterback who was at receiver and Burke woefully underthrows an open receiver. Most egregious is Keith Tandy dropping the interception.

12:52 pm: Bill, the lower bowl is filled and almost entirely red. There’s a two-section segment and it’s all gold. The upper bowl across the press box is perhaps 3/4 filled and mostly red. I’d guess attendance is 42K today.

1:01 pm: Another good play by the punter and his kick puts WVU at the 15 with no return. That comes just before a defensive touchdown for Louisville, its first this season, as Rodney Gnat flies past Don Barclay and blindsides Eu. Forced fumble is recovered in the end zone by Daniel Brown. Last fumble return/recovery TD against was George Selvie for USF in 2006. That game didn’t end well for the Mountaineers. Cards up 10-7.

1:09 pm: The crowd boos Eu because he followed the rules and threw the ball out of bounds past the line of scrimmage.

1:10 pm: Getting a little testy inside Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Not happy with the timeout being awarded in lieu of the penalty. Veteran press box afficionado: “You shoulda heard ’em when Zenyatta lost.”

1:14 pm: Good timeout for WVU. Eu hits Noel on a 48-yard pass play on a wheel route and Clarke punches it in from the 2 to go up 14-10.

1:22 pm: Not sure how they gave Noel a yard there and it comes before Jock ties the school record for receptions with a pass that gains no yards.

1:24 pm: Interesting use of timeouts by Charlie Strong, in that he didn’t use one at all. Probably smart, too, because after Vic Anderson was penalized 15 yards from the spot for hitting punter Gregg Pugnetti.

1:27 pm: … and had Anderson not stopped briefly before hitting Pugnetti, it’s a 15-yard penalty and WVU’s ball.

1:31 pm: Halftime debate: Should Stewart have used his two timeouts on Louisville’s final possession?

1:45 pm: I wonder if Bilal Powell is healthy: four carries, three yards. Louisville has 20 yards on 16 carries … and that includes a 21-yard run on Philpott’s fake punt. Take it away and its 15 carries for minus-1 yards. I also wonder if the Cardinals, who’ve already pulled a fake punt, the Wildcat and an associated trick play, and variations of the Pistol out of the hat have anything left. Can they feel good about all they did/didn’t do in the first half?

2 pm: Louisville’s national champion dance team is performing and the bit is sponsored by Sun Tan City.

2:25 pm: That was a very bland third quarter. WVU leads 17-10 and I don’t have much more to report than that.

2:27 pm: Announced attendance: 51,772. I say announced attendance.

2:36 pm: Watching Louisville today, I feel like that offense should maybe get three points for crossing midfield. The Cardinals had 19 yards in the third quarter and are 1-for-10 on third down … meaning the last two WVU opponents are 1-for-22.

2:40 pm: Tandy gets another victim. Sitting on the route, he flattens tight end Cameron Graham. It doesn’t have the same visual effect as the D.J. Woods hit, but Graham does need to be helped to the sideline. He’s been their best player today, too.

2:42 pm: And Graham is back after the next play.

2:44 pm: Louisville tries a power formation on third down and gets obliterated. WVU’s defense has played some pretty good games this season and this, thus far, is its best, I believe.

2:58 pm: That Chichester drop on fourth down — odd call — and the long run by Alston should just about do it. I’m tapping out.