Louisville has a chance to keep rolling Saturday, and the matchup with Wake Forest comes at a good time for a Cardinals team that has already shown it can win in a hurry. Jeff Brohm’s group is coming off a huge victory over SMU, then ranked No. 16, and now sits on the doorstep of a 3-1 start with a third straight win in reach.
The Cardinals have done their damage on offense all season. They’ve put up 38 points or more in each of their three games, and last week’s 41-point outing against the Mustangs was another reminder of how dangerous this group can be when it gets moving. Louisville will try to keep that pace against a Wake Forest defense that just spent last week chasing Miami.
There is, however, one major hit to the Louisville defense. Former All-ACC linebacker and veteran starter Antonio Watts will miss the rest of the season, a significant loss for Brohm and Mark Ivey. Outside of Watts, though, the Cardinals do not have any other major injury updates working against them.
Wake Forest enters after a 33-20 loss to No. 6 Miami, a game in which Gio Lopez played inspiring football while trying to spark a second-half push. Lopez was banged up in that matchup and was initially listed as questionable on the ACC injury report, but he is now probable heading into game day.
The betting line reflects Louisville’s edge. Odds courtesy of FanDuel and listed as of 6 a.m. ET on Saturday, September 26, have the over/under at 57.5, with Louisville a heavy favorite on the moneyline at -520 and SMU at +385.
Big Red Louie sees this one tilting toward the Cardinals, with Louisville’s offense again expected to drive the result. The projection is that the Cardinals cover the spread, with Lincoln Kienholz and the running back duo continuing to power the attack. The expectation is also for Keyjuan Brown to build on his strong SMU performance after the Cardinals got a look at the kind of first-half pressure that can crack a team open when Miami jumped out and Darian Mensah completed his first 24 pass attempts.
The forecast is straightforward: Louisville has too much firepower for Wake Forest to match.
In Other News...
Louisville Fans Have Every Right To Question This Jeff Brohm Loss
Louisvilles 30-27 loss to Wake Forest left plenty for fans to sort through, especially after the Cardinals had held a lead and still found a way to let the game slip away. The performance was marked by the kind of discipline issues that have a way of turning a close game into a frustrating one, with penalties and missed chances stacking up at the wrong times.
Jeff Brohms late-game management only added to the unease. After a game defined by Louisvilles inability to cash in on key opportunities, the decision-making around the final stretch became part of the larger conversation, and it is the sort of detail that can linger with a fan base already wondering how a winnable game got away. [Read more 🡒]
Louisvilles Early-Season Ceiling Suddenly Looks Like A Real Debate
Wake Forests visit to Louisville turned into the kind of afternoon that can reshape the conversation around an early-season team. The No. 16 Cardinals came in with momentum, but Wake Forest walked out with a 30-27 win that pushed it to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, with Gio Lopez throwing for 225 yards and a touchdown and Carlos Hernandez doing the damage as a receiver.
For Louisville, the result was more than just a loss in the standings. A game that stayed tight until the closing sequence ended with the Cardinals staring at a chance to salvage it from long range, and the final moments only sharpened the debate over how high this team can climb if the margin gets thinner against ACC opponents. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces One Big Second-Half Test After Wild Start
The first half at L&N Stadium has been a little bit of everything for No. 16 Louisville, which heads to the break trailing Wake Forest 24-21 after a fast, back-and-forth opening. Lincoln Kienholz has done plenty to keep the Cardinals afloat, completing 14 of 17 passes for 185 yards while accounting for three touchdowns overall, including two on the ground, but the pace has also left Louisville with little margin for error against a Wake Forest offense that has found plenty of room.
Carlos Hernandez has been the biggest problem for the Cardinals so far, piling up six catches for 170 yards and a touchdown for the Demon Deacons. Louisville still has time to settle in and control the game, but the second half now feels like a test of whether the Cardinals can clean up the mistakes, slow down Wake Forests passing attack and turn a shootout into something more manageable. [Read more 🡒]