Louisville enters Saturday’s ACC matchup with Stanford chasing a third straight win, and the Cardinals have the kind of offense that can make that goal feel very reachable.
Jeff Brohm’s team has been piling up yardage all season, averaging 484.6 yards per game to rank eighth in the Football Bowl Subdivision and second in the conference. Louisville is also scoring 38.7 points per game, a mark that sits just outside the national top 10. That firepower has kept the Cardinals moving even while the defense has had to grind through some uneven stretches.
Lincoln Kienholz has been at the center of it all. The Louisville quarterback has thrown for 1,844 yards and 10 touchdowns, and he has added 10 more scores on the ground. The backfield has done plenty of damage too, with Issac Brown rushing 83 times for 568 yards and four touchdowns and Keyjuan Brown adding 417 yards and five scores on 51 carries.
The offense will have to keep carrying some weight because Louisville’s defense has allowed 419.9 yards per game. Still, Brohm pointed to one stretch that showed what his group can look like when it settles in. In a 34-26 win at Syracuse two weeks ago, Louisville gave up 302 yards and 23 points in the first half before tightening up after the break and allowing just three points and 160 yards while forcing three turnovers.
"It's about playing a complete game," Brohm said. "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."
Stanford comes in after a 31-28 home win over North Carolina State last Friday, its second straight victory. The Cardinal remain last in the ACC in scoring offense at 19.9 points per game and scoring defense at 35.5 points allowed per game, but they showed enough against NC State to leave home with some momentum.
Davis Warren completed 22 of 37 passes for 303 yards and four touchdowns in that game. Caden High was his top target, catching nine passes for 103 yards and a score, while Micah Ford powered the ground game with 150 yards on 22 carries.
Tavita Pritchard said Stanford is making progress, but he said the evaluation goes deeper than wins and losses.
"For us, it's much more ... qualitative when looking at the film," Pritchard said. "Like, 'Hey, what are you doing well here, Davis?
Where can you continue to improve?' That is the message to the team."
Louisville also has to manage the absence of standout receiver Lawayne McCoy, who is out with an injury. McCoy ranks eighth in the ACC with 513 receiving yards and 10th nationally with 20.5 yards per catch.
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