From the moment James Quick stepped out of bounds a half-yard shy of a first down in the waning moments of a loss to Clemson, Louisville knew its playoff hopes would depend on getting some help from elsewhere. On Black Saturday, when half the playoff committee’s top 10 lost, that help seemed to finally arrive.
The aftermath of Week 11’s bloodbath has the Cardinals now third in the AP poll. Their hopes for an ACC Atlantic title remained alive for another week. The path to a playoff berth became a little more clear.
That’s all the good news.