ESPN Big East Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

Lachlan McLean hosts a nightly sports talk show on WHAS-AM in Louisville, a 50,000-watt station that pierces the far borders of the Bluegrass State. Since there are no pro sports in the state and not much goes on between the Kentucky Derby and Labor Day, summertime is usually dominated by talk of one thing: the Louisville-Kentucky football game.

But something unusual happened this year. McLean, who's now in his fifth year at the station, said he received fewer calls about the game than ever before. Same thing on the fan message boards, where smack talk between the rivals went curiously MIA.

Have Kentucky and Louisville fans reached a new level of peace and understanding? Not exactly.

"I think it's because expectations are so low," McLean said. "Louisville, for the first time in years, isn't expected to be one of the best teams in its conference. And Kentucky fans are afraid to call and talk too much for fear that it will bite them in the butt.

"The enthusiasm is still there. But I think there's less hype because there are so many question marks."

The Riddler's suit has fewer question marks than Sunday's season opener between the arch rivals (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Not since the series renewed in 1994 has there been more uncertainty on both sides.

Look at Louisville first. The Cardinals will in all likelihood begin the game with three linebackers who have never played a single major-college down, no starting receiver who's ever caught a collegiate pass, no inexperienced tight ends and a true freshman place-kicker.

How in the world can anyone predict how all those newbies will perform?

"A lot of guys can hit it on the driving range, but then you've got to go on the first tee and hit it down the middle," Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "We've been on the driving range. Now we have to get on the first tee and see how guys respond when we turn on the lights."

Kentucky has a lot more answers on defense, where it returns most of the core from last year's 8-5 Music City Bowl champions. But the biggest question mark in the game plays for the Wildcats.

Head coach Rich Brooks dismissed presumed starting quarterback Curtis Pulley in late July, thrusting sophomore Mike Hartline into the role. Hartline has thrown six passes in his career, all of them in mop-up duty last season. He also has just one receiver, Dicky Lyons, with any experience and a first-time starter at center.

"It's an interesting deal," Brooks said of his youngsters. "For a lot of guys, this is going to be their first real experience of playing a lot or starting in a game. And it's on the road, and it'll be noisy. It will be a different atmosphere than any situation they've ever been in in their life.

"That's true for some of the guys on Louisville, too. How these guys respond will be key to the outcome of the game."

Brooks might also throw true freshman Randall Cobb under center and let him use his running ability. The Cardinals had to go back and watch Cobb's high school tapes to prepare for such a possibility.

"You kind of make some hypotheses based on what you think they'll do with Mike and what you think they'll do with Cobb," Kragthorpe said.

Louisville has potential elements of surprise too, with two new coordinators -- Jeff Brohm on offense and Ron English on defense.

It's telling that Cardinals quarterback Hunter Cantwell is considered one of the surest things in the game, yet the senior has been a career backup with only four starts under his belt. He attempted just 14 passes last season as Brian Brohm's understudy.

Still, Cantwell should do fine -- if he can find someone to catch the ball. The Cardinals' already inexperienced receiving corps suffered two big losses when Trent Guy was shot in early July and Scott Long broke his foot in training camp. Guy may suit up for Sunday's game but is not expected to play a major role.

Kragthorpe compared the situation to when he arrived at Texas A&M in 1997 as the receivers coach and had no seasoned wideouts. The Aggies overcame that to go 9-4 with a Cotton Bowl trip that year.

"I know we don't have a lot of experience in games but I like this group," Kragthorpe said of the receivers, a position he is personally coaching this year. "They're talented, they work hard, they're coachable. And I think they're ready to just go out there and play and prove to people they're capable of playing at this level."

The running game has told the story of this rivalry of late -- since 2002, the winning team's leading rusher has outgained the losing team's entire backfield. And both teams have a trio of backs that comprise the strength of their respective attacks: Tony Dixon, Derrick Locke and Alfonso Smith for Kentucky and Brock Bolen, Bilal Powell and Victor Anderson for Louisville.

This much seems certain about Sunday's outcome: the Cardinals need it more. Kragthorpe was booed at every home game in his first season, including his debut when Louisville was leading Murray State 73-10 (the fans wanted him to go for blood instead of running out the clock).

After Bobby Petrino went 4-for-4 in this rivalry, Kragthorpe lost his first appearance against Kentucky when André Woodson hooked up with Steve Johnson for a long touchdown strike in the final minute. The scoring play was the exact same one the Wildcats had run on the previous down and at the end of the first half.

The Cardinals basically lost the Kentucky game twice last year. The following Saturday, they came out uninspired against Syracuse, gave up a touchdown pass on the game's first play and trailed 21-7 at halftime. They lost 38-35 at home despite being a 37-point favorite, one of the biggest point-spread upsets in college football history.

The Louisville fan base seems willing to move on from last year's 6-6 debacle, but a second straight loss to Kentucky could shift the winds again. Except for last year, this game has been played as the opener every season since 1994 and can often determine both teams' direction.

"I like the fact that we're playing this game right out of the box," Kragthorpe said. "Our players understand the importance of it. They've talked about it all year long and talked about it all during training camp. I'm sure it's the same situation in Lexington."

That's one certain quantity about the game. Here's another: the phone lines will light up McLean's radio booth Monday no matter who wins. The Kentucky-Louisville game may lack national interest with stars like Woodson and Brohm now gone, but it's still the only thing worth talking about in these parts.

"This is the state championship," Cantwell said. "As far as who's down or who's favored or whatever, you have to throw all that out the window. This is a huge rivalry game and anything can happen."

And that's never been more true than this year.