LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (4-3, 3-2) vs. STANFORD CARDINAL (4-4, 2-3)
Game Time: 3:15 p.m.
Location: L&N Stadium: Louisville, Ky.
Television: ACC Network
Announcers: Jorge Sedano (play-by-play), Rodney McLeod Jr (analyst), and Annabelle Hasselbeck (sidelines)
Favorite: Louisville by 22.5
All-Time Series: Stanford leads, 1-0
Only Meeting: Stanford won 38-35 on Nov. 16, 2024 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Series History:
Statistics:
Depth Chart:
Not available.
Injury Reports:
Louisville Uniforms:
Stanford Uniforms:
Relevant Videos:
About Stanford:
via Keith Wynne
OFFENSE
Jeff Brohm has a handful
of losses during his time at Louisville that could be deemed “bad”. His loss to Stanford in 2024 would qualify for that classification. Stanford came into that game with a 2-7 record, with one of those wins being against an FCS school. They were more prepared than the Cards, and they played as if their season was on the line. The Cardinal will come to Louisville this time around with an improved program and two upset victories in the ACC to their name.
Stanford hit the portal this offseason to shore up a quarterback position that has struggled for the last few years. Davis Warren landed back in his home state after spending some time as a starter at Michigan. Warren has shown that he has the talent to make plays in this offense, but he has been extremely inconsistent and has not shown the ability to play at a truly high level. Against Georgia Tech and NC State, Warren threw for over 300 yards and a combined 7 touchdowns. Outside of those games, he has been below average at best. Louisville has to find a way to pressure Warren, as that is when he has struggled this season.
The key to the Stanford two-game winning streak has been Micah Ford at running back. The 6/225 junior has put up over 300 yards rushing over the last two weeks, while also being a threat in the passing game with over 100 yards receiving. His 9 yards per play over the last two games is comparable to Keyjuan Brown’s output for the season. The trend towards being an explosive player for this offense will need to end this week, as this offense goes as Ford goes. He has nearly twice as much all-purpose yardage as any other player on Stanford’s offense.
Receiver is an interesting position for the Cardinal as they have one player who has shown the ability to break out in a game, but they have a few reliable guys overall. Caden High has two 100-yard games this year, and those games came against Georgia Tech and NC State. High showed up in the big games this year as a dynamic talent who can make plays at all three levels of the defense. He is the receiver they have to make a plan for this weekend. That has not been something this defense has been able to do a single time this season.
JonAnthony Hall and Nico Brown are the other top receivers on the outside in this offense. Hall has been able to make a couple of big plays this year, while Brown has been an option in the red zone. Neither player has been a truly consistent threat this year, but they are plenty capable of stepping up to have a big game. This entire receiver group has feasted on zone coverage, so it would be nice to see the UofL secondary get a chance to challenge these guys in man coverage. The Cards also need to be aware of Benji Blackburn at tight end. He has been very good with 24 catches this year.
The Stanford offensive line profiles as a solid group. They don’t give up a lot of negative plays, though they could be better at preventing sacks. Watching their games, I think some of the sacks are coverage sacks due to their receivers struggling to get open and Warren holding onto the ball. Warren is athletic enough to extend plays, but he doesn’t look to run when he doesn’t have an open option. The Cards have been very good at getting pressure and sacks in three of the last four halves of play. They will need to utilize the aggressive scheme they rolled out against FSU to force this line to show that they can protect the quarterback as well as open holes for Micah Ford.
DEFENSE
Stanford’s new staff is heavy on NFL experience, and that is very clear at the defensive coordinator position. Kris Richard was a solid NFL player who worked his way through the coaching ranks in the league as a position coach and coordinator. He heads to college this year to lead this defense, with improving results as the season goes on.
While the defense has shown signs of improvement, they are limited by the play up front along the defensive line. The group as a whole has produced one more sack than Clev Lubin, while also putting up 16 tackles for loss, which is about the combined amount of three defensive linemen for the Cards. The comparison on those stats is notable, but Louisville has done a poor job of keeping opposing defenses out of the backfield this season. They are one of the worst teams in the country at allowing negative plays, and they can’t let this defensive line take advantage of that.
Matt Rose is one of the best linebackers in the country, but he has not played in four straight games, so the Cards may not have to worry about him. Rose is third on the team in tackles while leading the team in tackles for loss. He has not played in a game in over a month. The impact that Rose has on this defense can’t be overstated, and it’s up in the air whether he will play in this game. The other linebackers on this roster have just not been able to make the types of plays that Rose does. The defense gave up 115 points in the first two games after Rose’s injury. They were much better against NC State, but it remains to be seen if that game was a fluke.
The Cardinal has one of the worst pass defenses in the country, with 17 touchdowns thrown against them and multiple other statistics ranked in the 90s or worse in the country. The Cardinal have done a solid job of avoiding explosive plays in most of their games, but Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and Miami put up video game numbers in the pass game against them. Louisville has one of the most explosive offenses in the country, so this should be an opportunity to do the same.
Motivational Tweets:
Excitement Level: 5.0
I thought the break would do me good, but I think it may have had the opposite effect. It’s Halloween, the opponent stinks, the stakes don’t feel as high as they should, and basketball enthusiasm is rising. I’m gonna need the squad to pick be up here.
Game Attire: Black Rhoback Cardinal athletic hoodie
Only right for the spookiest day of the year.
Pregame Meal: Breakfast sandwich/cinnamon rolls
No lunch for life.
Bold Prediction: Louisville blocks a punt
We should have gotten the three picks against Syracuse three weeks ago, but we are not deterred. I feel strangely confident about this one.
Jeff Brohm Trick Play Alert Level: Venetian Red (Average)
Who knows? Maybe Jeff got in the lab and cooked up something crazy over the break to reward the home fans.
Predicted Star of the Game: Tre Richardson
With Lawayne McCoy out and Stanford’s pass defense being way worse than it’s run D, this may need to be a Tre day.
Notable:
—Saturday will be the 100th Homecoming game in U of L history. Louisville is 62-37 all-time on Homecoming, which includes a 23-5 mark at L&N Stadium. The Cardinals have won six of their last seven Homecoming contests.
—Stanford enters Saturday’s game having lost 14 consecutive road contests. It’s the longest road losing streak in program history. The Cardinal haven’t won a game on the road since a 26-24 triumph at Syracuse on Sept. 20, 2024.
—Stanford has lost its three road games this season by a combined score of 150-17.
—Under Jeff Brohm, Louisville is 4-1 in games coming off a bye week.
—Louisville has 52 plays of 20-plus yards through seven games, only trailing West Virginia, which has played eight games.
—Stanford is 13-6 all-time on Halloween, with its most recent Halloween game in 2015, a 30-28 win over Washington State.
—Louisville is 5-6 all-time in games played on Halloween. The Cards’ most recent appearance on the holiday was a 42-35 home loss to Virginia Tech in 2020.
—At 4-4, Stanford is .500 or better through eight games in a season for the first time since 2019.
—In its four wins this year, Stanford is averaging 34 points per game and 485.5 yards of offense, compared to just 5.8 points per game and 233.8 yards of offense in its four losses.
—The Cardinal haven’t scored fewer than 31 points in any of their four wins, and haven’t scored more than 7 points in any of their four losses.
—In its four home games so far this season, Louisville is averaging 42.8 points per contest.
—Stanford Director of Offense Terry Heffernan began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Louisville during the 2004 season.
—Louisville safety Kaleb Beasley is tied for the nation’s lead in interceptions with five.
—Saturday will be the first game that Stanford has ever played in the state of Kentucky.
—Stanford is looking to win five games in a season for the first time since 2018.
—Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm is 0-1 in games against Stanford.
—Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard will be coaching against Louisville for the first time.
—Stanford ranks last in the ACC in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
—Seven of Louisville last eight losses have come by three points or fewer. All three of U of L’s losses this season have come by exactly three points.
—Louisville has scored at least 24 points in 32 of its last 34 games.
—Louisville great Mark Clayton will have his jersey honored during Saturday’s game. The standout wide receiver played for the Cards from 1979-82 and went on to play in the NFL for 11 years.
—A win on Saturday would give Stanford its first three-game winning streak since 2020.
—Louisville is 222-199-5 all-time in games played in the month of October.
—Under Jeff Brohm, Louisville is 8-5 in the month of October.
—Louisville is 16-2 in ACC regular season games under Jeff Brohm when allowing fewer than 30 points.
—Louisville is 56-47 all-time in ACC games, and 19-10 in ACC games under Jeff Brohm.
—Louisville is fourth in the FBS averaging 5.9 yards per carry and third with 25 rushing touchdowns. Louisville’s current 215.0 yards per game average would be its highest total on the ground since 2017, Lamar Jackson’s final season.
—Louisville has been the most explosive offense in the country through the first seven games of the season. The Cardinals have already racked up 52 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or more. Louisville leads the country in plays from scrimmage of 40+, 50+ and 60+ yards, and is second in 20+ and 30+ yards only behind West Virginia, which has played one more game.
—Stanford’s seven year bowl drought is the longest among all power conference programs.
—Louisville is one of only seven power conference programs to win at least nine games in each of the last three years.
—Louisville has won 50 consecutive games when shutting out its opponent in the second half.
—Under Jeff Brohm, Louisville is 17-2 in games in which it rushes for 200 yards or more.
—Louisville is one of eight FBS teams to score in every game it has played for the last 26 years, joining Boise State, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Southern California, Texas Christian, and Virginia Tech.
—Louisville is 16-1 under head coach Jeff Brohm when it doesn’t commit a turnover, with the lone loss coming earlier this season against Ole Miss.
—Louisville is 21-1 under Jeff Brohm when it wins the turnover battle and 11-14 when it doesn’t.
—Louisville is 25-3 over the past five seasons when shutting out its opponent in the first quarter.
—Louisville has won 40 of its last 45 games when holding teams to less than 300 yards of offense.
—Louisville has won 18 straight games when holding its opponent scoreless in the first half.
—Since 2019, Louisville is 40-5 when winning the turnover battle, and just 8-28 when losing it.
—Louisville is 28-3 under Jeff Brohm when allowing fewer than 30 points.
—Louisville is 214-17 all-time when scoring 35 or more points in a game.
—Louisville is 145-4 all-time when scoring 40 or more points in a game, including an 86-3 mark since 2000. The Cards are 6-124 all-time when allowing opponents to score 40 or more points.
—Louisville is currently riding a consecutive game scoring streak that spans 334 games dating back to a 31-0 loss to Florida State during the 2000 season. The streak ranks as the second longest in the ACC behind only Virginia Tech, and the 8th-longest nationally.
Quotable:
—”A lot of guys and a lot of coaches in this building, we really take pride in owning that (2024) loss because we understand that it’s not acceptable. So we want to do a good job by not overlooking anybody we play, let alone Stanford.” —Jontavius Morris
—“There are times where myself and/or [general manager Andrew Luck] will zoom out, but it’s certainly not anything in the realm of bowl eligibility. I’m excited to see the next step this team has an opportunity to take, and that’s an away game at Louisville.” —Stanford head coach Tavita Pritchard
—”Him and (general manager) Andrew Luck, I think they really want the program to have success. I think he’s a players’ coach. So I think the team is rallied around him. They’ve shown improvement every week. He’s done a really good job. And, I think they’ve got a bright future there.” —Jeff Brohm
—“It’ll be a cool environment to play in. We need to take their energy, their music, and make it our music and our energy and feed off that.” —Stanford QB Davis Warren
—”It’s about playing a complete game. We haven’t really done that, and it’s not super easy to do… We want to play clean, solid football. Make them earn their touchdowns. Find ways to get turnovers, and create some negative plays.”
Card Chronicle Prediction: Louisville 41, Stanford 20
