LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- When the University of Louisville opened the 2023 season, the No. 1 question the football world asked was:
Would the Cardinals win the game?
When U of L begins its second season of the Jeff Brohm era on Saturday afternoon, the No. 1 question the football world will ask is:
How easily will the Cards win the game?
That's the difference between playing an Atlantic Coast Conference rival (Georgia Tech) on the road or a visitor from the FCS United Athletic Conference (Austin Peay) at home.
A year ago, Louisville was a seven-point favorite and then had to rally from a 15-point halftime deficit to beat the Yellow Jackets, 39-34, in Atlanta. If the Cards are down by 15 at any point Saturday, we'll have plenty to discuss.
A look at the opener between U of L and Austin Peay:
The Time: Saturday at noon, L&N Cardinal Stadium.
How to Watch/Listen: TV — ACC Network (Jorge Sedano, play by play; Orlando Franklin, analyst; Morgan Uber, sidelines); Radio — Louisville Sports Properties 93.9 FM/970 AM (Paul Rogers, play by play; Craig Swabek, analyst; Jody Demling, sidelines).
The Line: Point Spread — Louisville favored by 36.5 points; Over/under total points 54.5.
The Last Time: The programs have never played.
The Records: It's the season opener for both teams. The Governors finished 9-3 last season, with a 30-13 loss to Tennessee. The Cards went 10-4, defeating Notre Dame and Miami, before losing their final three games.
Player to Watch for Austin Peay: Running back La'Vell Wright is a product of North Hardin High School who ran for 238 yards in three seasons as a backup at Kentucky. Wright did not play for the Wildcats last season before transferring to Austin Peay, where he is one of 10 new starters on offense for the Governors. Wright did run for a 43-yard touchdown against Louisville in 2021 when he was a freshman.
Player to Watch for Louisville: Quarterback Tyler Shough arrives after three seasons at Oregon and three more at Texas Tech. A string of injuries. He's thrown for three of more touchdowns in a game five times over his career, including twice last season when he threw for 338 yards against Wyoming and 282 against Oregon Brohm is depending on Shough to stretch the field for the Cards this season.
Sideline Storylines:
- The Governors are led by a first-year coach, Jeff Faris. Although he coached tight ends for Chip Kelly at UCLA last season, Faris served on the staff with David Cutcliffe at Duke for 10 seasons
- In addition to Wright, Austin Peay will bring one other player with local ties: defensive end Hosea Knifeley Jr. of Butler High School. He is the Governors' sole returning starter on defense and made 52 tackles last season
- Austin Peay is 1-30 lifetime against FBS opponents. The only victory came against Kansas State in 1987
- In their two games against ACC competition, the Governors lost to Virginia Tech, 42-7, in 2012 and to Pittsburgh, 55-0, four years ago
- Louisville is 36-7 against FCS competition, winning 24 straight. The Cards' last loss came under Howard Schnellenberger when they lost to Marshall in 1987
- This is the first of three consecutive home games for Louisville, which has only six home dates in 2024. The Cards will play at home only once after Oct. 19
- ACC teams are 4-0 in non-conference games this season with North Carolina (Minnesota), SMU (Nevada), North Carolina State (Western Carolina) and Wake Forest (North Carolina A&T) opening with victories
- Of Louisville's 85 scholarship players, 41 are first-year members of the team, including 27 players from the transfer portal
- Running back is the primary spot on offense the Cards must reload. They lost Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo, who ran for 1,928 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.
The Quote: Brohm, on the difficulty of preparing for a team with a new head coach who was not with the program last season and has never served as a head coach:
"Coach Faris is a new coach. Came from UCLA before that, had been at Duke for a while. So yes, you don't know for sure exactly what you're going to see with the new offensive coordinator, new head coach, new defensive coordinator.
"Now we've studied the history in the past of the people that are supposedly calling the offense and defense and and what they've done in the past.
"Do we know for sure if that's what we're going to do? No, we do not. So the good thing is, we have prepared for a lot when we go against ourselves, we go against a lot of different looks and things as well.
"So, you know, you're hopeful that you can just adjust to what you see along the way and have at least maybe an idea. But no, we do not know for sure exactly what we'll see.”
The Pick: Louisville 45, Austin Peay 7.
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