By John Kekis
The Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Louisville coach Bobby Petrino has never been inside the Carrier Dome, but he already knows what to expect when the Cardinals come calling on Saturday.

"It will be a very hostile environment," Petrino said. "They say it's loud. I've heard people tell me it's the loudest place they've ever been in."

And it should live up to its nickname of the "Loud House." Although the game is not a sellout, more than 40,000 tickets have been sold and the Orangemen (1-0) will be playing their home opener. They beat North Carolina 49-47 in triple overtime last week.

"We love to play at home," senior defensive tackle Louis Gachelin said. "Everybody is confident in front of the home crowd. Everybody is going to be ready to play, I can almost guarantee that."

They'd better be. Louisville (1-0) is coming off a bye week after opening the season with a 40-24 victory at Kentucky.

"They're better than North Carolina," Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson said. "Kentucky did what they could do, but Louisville just played a great game, offensively and defensively. We've got a tough test this weekend."

On offense, Louisville rolled up 420 yards against Kentucky. In his first collegiate start, junior quarterback Stefan LeFors, a left-hander, was 14-for-23 for 180 yards and a touchdown, and running back Eric Shelton rushed for 151 yards and two scores. The Wildcats held the ball for just 3:13 in the decisive fourth quarter.

And the Louisville defense and special teams were opportunistic, scoring 19 points off four Kentucky miscues. J.R. Russell blocked a punt that was recovered for a touchdown, and freshman Gavin Smart returned an interception 41 yards that set up another score.

Last year, that might have worried Anderson. But he no longer seems like the same indecisive guy who threw for only four touchdowns and had eight interceptions in a forgettable 2002 that saw the Orangemen drop to 4-8. Against the Tar Heels, Anderson was nearly flawless, throwing for 288 yards and three TDs with no turnovers.

"The statistics show you," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "What they don't show you is the leadership and the control that he actually had in the game. He's played in a lot of big games, and it showed. It was real impressive."

"I'm happy how it worked out, we got the win," Anderson said. "But it's just a start. I'm excited, but it's time to move on."

The game could turn into a backfield duel - the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Shelton against tailback Walter Reyes of Syracuse, who rushed for a career-high 191 yards and scored three TDs against North Carolina.

"We feel we should be able to run the ball on anybody," Petrino said. "If it is stopped, it's ourselves that are making the mistakes or not taking advantage of something. This will be a good challenge for us.

"Offensively, we're going to have to try to control the ball, score early and try to keep it away from them," Petrino said. "It could be a high-scoring game."

After one game, the Syracuse defense seems as porous as last year, when it ranked near the bottom of Division I-A. The Orangemen yielded 505 yards last week, but they did hold the Tar Heels scoreless in the pivotal fourth quarter and also forced two critical turnovers.

"Syracuse has toned their defense down from last year, as far as all the looks they're doing," Petrino said. "They're trying to be a lot more sound. North Carolina had a lot of success early in the game, but what Syracuse did was they caused a few turnovers. The turnovers really hurt North Carolina."

Syracuse will be without two key senior starters on defense - end Josh Thomas and linebacker Jameel Dumas are out with injuries.