LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe has a pretty good idea for what would help his struggling team: a bye week.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals (2-5), there's no such break in the schedule, and the banged-up Cardinals must find a way to fight on Saturday against Arkansas State (2-4).

"You'd like to have (a bye) this time of year, the fifth or sixth or seventh week when you're a little dinged up, but you've got to play the hand you've been dealt, and be careful in practice," Kragthorpe said Monday. "We thought we had a Week 2 game with a couple of different schools, we tried and tried and tried and tried, but couldn't get it done."

The Cardinals are coming off a 41-10 loss to fifth-ranked Cincinnati that bruised more than their ego. Nearly a dozen players were injured during the game, including quarterbacks Adam Froman and Justin Burke.

Froman, the Cardinals' starting quarterback the previous four games, left in the third quarter with a left elbow injury, though Kragthorpe expects Froman to be ready on Saturday.

Meanwhile his backup, Justin Burke, might not be available if needed after leaving the Cincinnati game two series with a shoulder injury.

That's not the worst of it.

Louisville's most significant absence against Arkansas State could be Anderson. The Cardinals' leading rusher and most electrifying player missed most of the second half against the Bearcats with a shoulder injury. That came one week after he was limited with a knee injury at Connecticut.

"I'm not sure he'll be back or not," Kragthorpe said of Anderson, who wasn't listed on the team's depth chart Monday.

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Powell had a career-high 29 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns in Louisville's 38-25 loss at UConn on Oct. 17, but just one carry against the Bearcats due to injury.

The physical ailments of Anderson and Powell opened the door for Ashley, who set career highs in rushes (13) and yards (67) against Cincinnati.

"Some of the guys are taking up residence, they may have to pay rent in the training room," Kragthorpe said.

Fresh legs could be key for the Cardinals, who are averaging a Big East-low 20.1 points, as they take on the Sun Belt Conference's best defense.

The Red Wolves are no pushovers. Arkansas State nearly upset still-unbeaten Iowa on Oct. 3 and is coming off a 27-10 win over Florida International.

"They're just like Cincinnati on offense, they can put up a lot of points," senior safety Richard Raglin said.

That could be bad news for Louisville, which ranks last in the Big East in scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense.

"In the secondary, injuries have plagued us a lot," Raglin said. "We just have to try to stay as healthy as we can."

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