CARDINALS

Cardinals mum on starting QB at Clemson

Jeff Greer
@jeffgreer_cj
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The University of Louisville football team's coaching staff knows which quarterback will start in Saturday's game at Clemson.

As for the rest of us?

"That's something I'm going to keep between me and (offensive coordinator Garrick McGee) and everyone else," U of L coach Bobby Petrino said Thursday afternoon.

Freshman Reggie Bonnafon has started the past two games, performing well at times after slow beginnings against Wake Forest and Syracuse.

Louisville's starting quarterback for the first four games, Will Gardner, is "100-percent healthy and ready to go," Petrino said, after a low hit in the Sept. 20 win at FIU kept Gardner out of the past two games.

The two quarterbacks' numbers are similar in many regards, at least as passers.

Bonnafon has completed 42 of 74 passes (56.8 percent) for 531 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He averages 132.8 passing yards a game and 7.2 yards per pass attempt. He has been sacked seven times in two starts, but he's also run for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

With a bit larger of a sample size, Gardner is 63 of 112 (56.3 percent) for 798 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions. He averages 199.5 passing yards per game and 7.1 yards per attempt. He has been sacked 10 times in four games.

The decision may simply come down to skill sets. Gardner is a pocket passer. Bonnafon is more of dual-threat signal caller.

Clemson was prone to screen passes against North Carolina, which would seem to match Louisville's game plan with Gardner against Miami. But the Tigers also have one of the top pass rushes in the country, which may seem to push Louisville to start its more agile quarterback.

Either way, Petrino had no interest in naming his choice.

"Both guys have had good weeks of practice," Petrino said. "I'm excited about both of them."

Maybe the quarterbacks themselves know?

"I'm not telling you, no," Petrino said.

Perhaps a bigger question is how healthy star receiver DeVante Parker is.

The senior wideout was cleared to practice this week and participated in each of the team's three workouts, but he's sore after the three sessions.

"He practiced, but we have to see how he reacts to it. That's the big thing," Petrino said.

"When you're off for that long, besides the foot, it's all the other things that go on when you haven't practiced – changing direction, elevating, all those things. We just have to wait and see."

Parker's presence could help Louisville (5-1) work through the early crowd noise for which Clemson's Memorial Stadium crowd is known.

Petrino, perhaps unknowingly, set off a firestorm among Clemson fans earlier this week when he wondered if crowds can get any louder than Syracuse's Carrier Dome.

Clemson fans responded in turn by planning a "Silent Out" during team warmups and a loud welcoming for Louisville.

"There was a lot lost in translation," Petrino said. "It's a loud place. We've played in loud places. Every place we go is going to be loud. Obviously they think this is the loudest. That's a credit to their fan base.

"When you go on the road and play, you have to deal with the noise. That's just a fact. That's all I really meant to say."

Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).

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U OF L AT CLEMSON

3:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPNU