Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

You would think that if any coach in America felt confident going into the opening weekend, it would be Louisville's Steve Kragthorpe.

Oh, sure, Kragthorpe is under big pressure to win this season. But the Cardinals' first game is against Indiana State, an FCS club that has lost 28 straight games and 52 of its last 53 contests, including last week against NAIA foe Quincy. Still, Kragthorpe said today that he'll be full of nerves this week.

"I'll kind of lay there in bed thinking, 'Did we cover this enough? Did we cover that enough?'" he said.

As bad as Indiana State has been, Kragthorpe related it to when he took over Tulsa and the Golden Hurricane had only won once in 22 tries. He led that team to an eight-win season in one of college football's best turnarounds. Indiana State doesn't figure to do anything quite like that, but the Sycamores likely will empty the playbook since they have nothing to lose.

Mostly, though, this game will be about Louisville and how well the Cardinals execute with some new pieces, especially quarterback Justin Burke.

"I've got great confidence in Justin," Kragthorpe said. "I think the biggest thing for me is to keep him calmed down. We've got some guys who can make plays with the ball in their hands, and he's just got to be the guy who distributes the ball. He has to make sure he does a good job of managing the game, getting us in and out of the huddle and getting the ball into the hands of guys who can make plays."

Burke beat out Adam Froman for the quarterback job as Froman has been sidelined the past two weeks with an upper back injury. Froman won't be available for the opener, and either Zack Stoudt or walk-on Will Stein will serve as Burke's backup.

Kragthorpe applauded the way Froman has continued to encourage his teammates despite the setback.

"I have more respect for that guy that I did before, and that's a bold statement, because of the way he's handled this situation," he said. "He's shown a lot of character."

Louisville is relatively healthy, and one of their most important players, receiver Scott Long, should be full go after recovering from knee surgery.

"Physically, he's 100 percent, and after he makes that first catch, I think mentally he'll be 100 percent, too," Kragthorpe said.

Not much is expected of the Cardinals this year, but Kragthorpe said the team is cohesive and should be competitive each week. For the first week, at least, they should have nothing to worry about.