Week 11 Look Ahead: Prepping for Louisville-BC

Louisville football gave FSU close to its best punch on Thursday night, but fell just short of upsetting the Seminoles, who every week seem ripe for a loss and every week find a way to win.

Like it was after the Virginia and Clemson losses, this one will be tough for Louisville players to forget or get over. But they did have the long weekend to get past it, and now a new game week is here to occupy their minds.

The Cards play at Boston College on Saturday night, and it'll be on ESPN2. Louisville opened as a 2.5-point favorite.

Here are three story lines to follow this week as the teams prep for their matchup:

Is Dyer the guy? We keep coming back to this topic because it's so interesting. Michael Dyer has run for 100-plus yards two games in a row, including 134 yards and a touchdown against FSU. That followed a 173-yard, one-touchdown performance against NC State. LJ Scott got three carries and Brandon Radcliff got one. Dominique Brown, who was the penciled-in starter at the beginning of the season, hasn't had a carry since the Clemson game on Oct. 11. So it seems that Dyer, who was always a threat to do it, has, in fact, taken over the starting job. He's practicing well and he's playing well.

Health: As usual, every week it's an important part of each team's preparation. This week the status of defensive lineman Pio Vatuvei (elbow) is something to watch. He's started a few games and has been a huge addition to the defense this fall. The line can be very good without him, but having him is obviously a big plus. DeVante Parker said his foot isn't 100 percent after the FSU game. If it was, he said, he would have scored on the opening play of the game. Also, linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin (hamstring) had to leave the second quarter to get more treatment on his leg. He returned in the second half, but the hamstring sounds like an ongoing issue for him.

Switching attention to Murphy. Louisville goes from the nation's best passer to the nation's top running quarterback. BC's Tyler Murphy, who considered attending Louisville after transferring from Florida, is 20th in the country in rushing yards per game and 18th in total rushing. Yes, that includes running backs. In nine games, he's run for 965 yards and nine touchdowns. He gets 7.4 yards per carry. Louisville is no longer the nation's top rushing defense, but the Cards still No. 3. So they'll working a lot this week to stick to their assignments and follow the quarterback on defense.