Louisville heads into Saturday’s trip to Chapel Hill carrying plenty of momentum and an offense that has been downright ruthless.
The Cardinals have won four straight and bring a 6-3 record into their matchup with North Carolina, but the bigger story is how they’ve been doing it. Louisville is averaging 7.8 yards per play, the best mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and its 40.8 points per game rank sixth nationally. Jeff Brohm’s group has also piled up 13 touchdowns of at least 50 yards this season, and there has been at least one in every game.
That big-play streak stayed alive last Saturday at Georgia Tech, when Tre Richardson broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown run in Louisville’s 44-17 win.
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick knows his team is unlikely to simply smother that kind of firepower. The Tar Heels, who are 5-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, will have to find other ways to slow the Cardinals down.
"A lot of that's a function of how many possessions they get, and you know how well you play when you have a chance to stop them on third down," Belichick said. "I think that's the best way to win is to play good on third down."
That’s easier said than done for North Carolina. The Tar Heels have been one of the ACC’s poorest third-down defenses, allowing opponents to convert 44.1% of the time, second-worst in the league.
North Carolina did stop a two-game skid with a 38-21 road win over UConn last Saturday. Billy Edwards Jr. was sharp in that one, completing 29 of 38 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
Louisville’s defense has its own concern, and it’s been in the secondary. The Cardinals have allowed the ninth-most passing yards in the FBS, giving up 265.9 per game.
There’s also a familiar face on the other sideline. Bobby Petrino, who coached Louisville twice, is North Carolina’s offensive coordinator. Brohm crossed paths with him during Petrino’s first Louisville stint and again at Western Kentucky in 2013, before Brohm took over as the Hilltoppers’ head coach the next season.
"I learned a lot under him," Brohm said. "A great football coach (who) wants to win ...
He's continued to evolve over the years and done a great job. He builds the offense around the quarterback.
He's had some athletic quarterbacks that run, but he's had some really good drop-back quarterbacks before that, and now he's got another one."
In Other News...
Louisville May Have A Freshman Big Man NBA Teams Covet Already
A freshman center with a 7-foot-2 frame is already turning heads around Louisville, and it is not hard to see why. Obinna Ekezie Jr. has brought a rare mix of size, perimeter touch and defensive presence to the Cardinals, giving the program a big man who looks built for the modern game and giving scouts something to track early in his college career.
What makes Ekezie especially intriguing is how complete the profile already looks for a player this young. His ability to stretch the floor beyond the arc, protect the rim and rebound at a high level has put him on the radar as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft, and that kind of buzz tends to follow a player long before the draft board is anywhere near settled. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Kelsey Just Added To Louisville's Huge Weekend Buzz
Pat Kelsey stepped to the microphone Friday with the basketball program already riding a wave of attention, and he made sure to widen the lens beyond Sundays matchup with Memphis. The Louisville coach used his pregame press conference to talk up the football program as well, pointing to Jeff Brohms team and the offense that has kept the Cardinals in the conversation during a busy stretch on campus.
With Louisville basketball set to face Memphis on Sunday and the football team heading into Saturdays game against North Carolina, it is one of those weekends when the whole athletic department feels connected. Kelseys comments added to the buzz by underscoring how much momentum Louisville has built across both sidelines, with one marquee game waiting in each sport and plenty of eyes on how the Cardinals handle the spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Showed Exactly What Fans Needed To See Before UConn
Imari Berry gave Louisville the kind of steady scoring punch it needed, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds in a win over Ball State that offered a timely boost before a much bigger test. The Cardinals also got a welcome return from Mackenly Randolph, who was back from injury and filled up the box score with 11 points, five rebounds, five steals and five assists, a reminder of how much more versatile this group can look when it is closer to full strength.
Coach Walz had reason to like what he saw, especially with the way Louisville handled the game and the contributions from Amiya and Zamareya Jones. The timing matters, too, because the Cardinals are headed next for UConn at the Yum Center, where they will need that same balance, energy and confidence to carry over against a far tougher opponent. [Read more 🡒]