—Spread check: Louisville by 1.5.
—Louisville-Wake Forest on Sept. 26 is set for a noon kickoff on either ESPN, ESPN2 or the ACC Network. Here are the rest of the ACC kick times for the final weekend of September.
—The 5th-ranked Louisville volleyball team wrapped up a perfect 4-0 week with a Sunday sweep of Northern Iowa to wrap up the Rice Invitational. The 9-1 Cards have in-state rivalry showdowns with Western Kentucky and UK this week.
—The CJ looks at the early storylines for Saturday’s Louisville-SMU
showdown.
—This week in Louisville athletics:
Monday, September 14
- Men’s Golf at Bearcat Invitational (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Tuesday, September 15
- Men’s Golf at Bearcat Invitational (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Wednesday, September 16
- Volleyball at Western Kentucky – 7 p.m. ET (Bowling Green, Ky.)
Thursday, September 17
- Women’s Soccer at Stanford – 10:00 p.m. ET (Stanford, Calif.)
Friday, September 18
- Field Hockey vs Boston College – 6 p.m. ET (Trager Stadium)
- Men’s Soccer vs Boston College – 6 p.m. ET (Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium)
- Women’s Golf at Mason Rudolph Championship (Nashville, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at Cincinnati Invitational (Cincinnati Invitational)
Saturday, September 19
- Football vs SMU – 3:30 p.m. ET (L&N Federal Credit Union)
- Women’s Golf at Mason Rudolph Championship (Nashville, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at Cincinnati Invitational (Cincinnati Invitational)
- Cross Country at John McNichols Invitational (Terre Haute, Ind.)
- Men’s Tennis at Tennessee Invitational (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA Women’s All-American Championship (Cary, N.C.)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA All American Championships (Tulsa, Okla.)
Sunday, September 20
- Field Hockey vs St. Joseph’s – 12 p.m. ET (Trager Stadium)
- Volleyball at Kentucky – 3 p.m. ET (Lexington, Ky.)
- Women’s Soccer at California – 4 p.m. ET (Berkeley, Calif.)
- Women’s Golf at Mason Rudolph Championship (Nashville, Tenn.)
- Men’s Tennis at Tennessee Invitational (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Women’s Tennis at ITA All-American Championship (Cary, N.C.)
- Men’s Tennis at ITA All American Championship (Tulsa, Okla.)
—The CJ’s Alexis Cubit writes about what we learned from Friday night’s blowout of Villanova.
—U of L’s offense is humming even with its most talented player giving them next to nothing.
—Season tickets for the 2027 Lou City campaign are now on sale. Anyone who purchases now gets in free to every remaining home game of the 2026 season.
—Still just not quite quarterbacky enough.
—The 21st-ranked men’s soccer team opened ACC play with a 3-2 win over Cal. The Cards are now 6-0-1 on the season.
—The 7-1-0 women’s soccer team rolled past Pittto start league play.
—Florida State has firedathletic director Michael Alford, the man who just three years ago said it wasn’t a matter of if the Seminoles left the ACC, but when.
—The Card Tape is back.
—The S&P Ratings like Louisville over SMUby a pointon Saturday.
—Lincoln Kienholz has been named one of the “Manning Award Stars of the Week.” SMU QB Kevin Jennings is one of the other players who earned the honor.
—Kentucky fans are VERY excited that their game against Texas A&M is on ESPN on Saturday and Louisville-SMU is on ESPN2 at the same time. Quite the step down from the “we are legitimately going to beat Alabamain football” talk that was circulating all last week. Football season moves pretty fast in the Bluegrass State.
—Decent company.
—In a matchup of nationally-ranked foes, Trinity couldn’t slow down Chattanooga Baylor star RB David Gabriel Georges and fell, 35-27.
—The CJ’s Jason Frakes ranks the 10 best high school football teams in Kentucky.
—Roto Wire has Louisville facing Kansas State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in its latest postseason projections.
—They have to do something about that tail.
—Tickets for the 2028 Solheim Cup at Valhalla are now on sale.
—Jhaliana Guy, a four-star point guard in the class of 2028, took an unofficial visit to Louisville over the weekend.
—Sadly, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Racing Louisville FC is headed to Cincinnati after this season.
—CJ Rosser, the No. 1 overall player in the 2027 basketball class, is down to seven schools, including Louisville.
—Interesting new look inside the KFC Yum Center.
—Correcting penalties continues to be a top priorityfor Jeff Brohm as Louisville prepares for Saturday’s top 25 matchup against SMU.
—Jacob Polacheck looks at what you may have missed in U of L sports from over the weekend.
—The Louisville Cardinal’s Shea Ramsey writes about how football brings students at U of L together like few other things can.
—The Louisville offense is thriving thanks to consistent big play success.
Against Ole Miss, the Cardinals posted 12 chunk plays, highlighted by Lincoln Kienholz finding Tre Richardson for a 62-yard touchdown and Lawayne McCoy for a 54-yard score, alongside a 41-yard scramble by Kienholz and a 30-yard touchdown run from Richardson.
The explosive output surged again in week two against Villanova, with Louisville generating 15 chunk plays. That barrage included a 69-yard catch-and-run score by tight end Jaleel Skinner, a 61-yard strike to McCoy, and a 39-yard burst up the middle from running back Marquise Davis.
For Brohm, the ability to strike quickly is not just an added bonus, it is a must. The need for consistent big plays is a reality as ACC competition begins.
“Creating the big plays on offense has been good through two games and we’re going to have to have that to win against really good opponents, so we got to keep pushing the envelope there,” Brohm said. “It’s really got us some easy touchdowns instead of driving all the way down the field.”
National statistics display just how consistent that downfield ability has been. Louisville checks in at No. 2 nationally in plays from scrimmage of 20-plus yards, is tied for sixth for plays spanning 30-plus yards, and tied for seventh for plays reaching 40-plus yards. The Cardinals also rank tied for third in the country in both 50-plus and 60-plus yard explosive gains.
Overall, Louisville ranks No. 10 in total offense with an average of 552 yards per game.
—Here’s the early AP previewfor Louisville vs. SMU.
—Cardinal Authority hands out some helmet stickers for Friday night’s win over Villanova.
