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Week 9 Look Ahead: Louisville's first bye

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj
Louisville's Lorenzo Mauldin is helped off the field after being injured in the game against NC State Saturday. Oct. 18, 2014

Louisville football limped into a much-needed idle week after a 30-18 hard-scrabble win over NC State on Saturday.

The Cardinals now have 12 days to fully prepare and get healthy before they host FSU on Oct. 30. That game is this year's biggest for Louisville, against the undefeated reigning national champs on a Thursday night on national TV.

Here are four things to watch as Louisville takes the week (kind of) off:

Getting healthy. The picture says it all: Louisville needs LB Lorenzo Mauldin (hamstring) and WR James Quick (ankle) to get back to 100 percent. Mauldin had to be helped back to the locker room in the fourth quarter. Quick came back out for halftime warmups but couldn't make cuts or pivots and sat out the second half. Both of those players are critical to Louisville.

Parker's recovery. So DeVante Parker played for the first time this season and exceeded all expectations, grabbing nine catches for 132 yards. He still didn't look 100 percent, whether that's a confidence thing or a body thing, I don't know. How he handles the next few days is critically important. His body is now recovering from its first top-level physical experience since the injury.

Gardner's progress. I gave Louisville QB Will Gardner a B-plus for his performance on Saturday. Some argued that was too high. My point was: He threw two touchdown passes. He reestablished that preseason connection with Parker. He got Eli Rogers and Gerald Christian involved. And even though he missed a few throws, he didn't turn the ball over and he only took a couple sacks. If he is comfortable against FSU (and Quick is fully healthy), Louisville can cause some problems on offense.

Prepping for Jameis. Louisville now faces by far its most difficult challenge this year in FSU and reigning Heisman winner Jameis Winston. The Cards' defense was good, not great, against NC State, which was more than enough to win Saturday's game. They need to play their best game of the year against Winston and the 'Noles. FSU isn't having a huge year statistically -- the 'Noles are the fifth-worst rushing team in the state of Florida and 45th in total offense -- but the passing game is still one of the best in the country and Jameis is Jameis.