5 things to watch: Louisville-NC State

It's the one before the big one for Louisville. Saturday's homecoming game against NC State precedes the Cardinals' much-anticipated Oct. 30 matchup against FSU.

NC State and Louisville kick off at 3:30 p.m. at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, and it's critically important for Louisville that its players show some progress this weekend. FSU is the second of three true measuring-stick games for Louisville this year (Clemson and Notre Dame), and coach Bobby Petrino will need them rounding into form for that Thursday night showdown.

Here are five things to watch in this weekend's game between Louisville and NC State:

1. How much impact do the suspended players have? NC State will play this weekend without its leading tackler and another key starter on defense. The offense has struggled a bit in recent weeks, too, so that only adds to the mounting problems for the Wolfpack. Louisville is a heavy favorite in this game, and for good reason, so NC State's going to have to figure out a way to minimize the impact of those suspensions. I'm not sure they can.

2. Does DeVante Parker play? Hey, you've heard this one before. But I don't think this situation drags on like Michael Dyer's. Dyer was questionable to play for, I think, four consecutive games. He played in that fourth one. Parker's situation is a little clearer: He broke a bone. They fixed it. He rehabbed. He was cleared last week. He practiced two weeks in a row. Dyer had a muscle issue that was much harder to clear up. I think Parker plays Saturday.

3. Gardner's timing and quick release. Will Gardner's the starting quarterback again for Louisville, and his timing and decision-making looked much sharper at Clemson on Saturday. If he plays like that this Saturday, the Cardinals can win going away. He can be a solid downfield passer when given the time, at least that's what his current and former teammates and coaches say. Bobby Petrino thought Gardner had started to get in a "groove" before hurting his knee at FIU. Can he dial that rhythm back up?

4. Can the defense keep its streak going? Louisville, as you've heard 1,000,000,000,000 times by now, has not given up a touchdown since the 10:35 mark of the third quarter against Virginia ... on Sept. 13. By my calculations, that's ridiculous. NC State's offense, as I said above, has sputtered in recent weeks, but I do think Jacoby Brissett will be one of the better QBs the Cards see this year. I didn't pick NC State to score a touchdown, so I guess that means I think the streak continues.

5. O-line progress. There was a lot of chatter -- not from me -- that Louisville's offensive line showed a lot of progress at Clemson. Did it? The false starts and other miscues were right in line with the problems in previous games. I will say, in fairness, it seemed like the quarterbacks had more time to throw at times, which is a step in the right direction. Louisville has to figure out a way to limit the penalties on the offensive line, and a home environment against a struggling team is a good place to start.