Malik Cunningham

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Beat Kentucky Saturday evening and the University of Louisville football team will finish with 7 regular season victories, at least one more than most preseason forecasts projected. The Cardinals will also reclaim the Governor’s Cup for the first time since 2017.

Beat Louisville Saturday and Kentucky will finish with 9 regular season wins for only the second time since 1977. The Wildcats will stretch their Governor’s Cup winning streak to three.

Sounds like plenty to play for in the rivalry, which will return after a one-season absence because of the novel coronavirus.

TIME: Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Cardinal Stadium, Louisville.

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN: TV — ESPN2 (Chris Cotter, play by play; Mark Herzlich, analyst; Jalyn Johnson, sideline); RADIO: UK feed, 840 AM WHAS (Tom Leach, play by play; Jeff Piecoro, analyst; Dick Gabriel, sideline); U of L feed, 790 AM, WKRD (Paul Rogers, play by play; Craig Swabek, analyst).

THE LINE: Point spread — Louisville by 3; Over/Under total points — 57.

THE LAST TIME: Led by Lynn Bowden, Kentucky rolled to a 45-13 victory at Kroger Field on Nov. 30, 2019.

THE SERIES: Kentucky has won two straight Governor’s Cups and leads the overall series, 17-15. But Louisvile has the advantage 15-11 since the programs resumed playing on an annual basis in 1994.

THE RECORDS: The Wildcats are 8-3, but only 2-3 with wins over lowly Vanderbilt and New Mexico State after their 6-0 start. The Cardinals are 6-5 on a two-game winning streak after defeating lowly Syracuse and Duke.

SOCIAL MEDIA: 

PLAYER TO WATCH KENTUCKY: Quarterback Will Levis ranks eighth in the Southeastern Conference in passer rating but leads the league with 12 interceptions. Levis has thrown at least one interception in UK’s last four games as well as in nine of 11.

PLAYER TO WATCH LOUISVILLE: Quarterback Malik Cunningham won the Manning Award for delivering the top quarterback performance in the nation last week. Cunningham threw for 303 yards and 5 scores while also running for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns as U of L dominated Duke, 62-22.

SIDELINE STORYLINES: Louisville’s defense has forced 15 turnovers this season, ranking sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 10 interceptions. Kentucky’s offense ranks next-to-last in the nation by committing 22 turnovers, with 10 fumbles along with the 12 interceptions. UK has won 14 consecutive non-conference games, the second-longest streak in the nation. Levis, halfback Chris Rodriguez and receiever Wan’Dale Robinson are only the second UK trio to deliver 2,000 yards passing, 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season.

The 62 points U of L scored against Duke tied for the most points one of Scott Satterfield’s teams has scored at Louisville. The Cards’ 11.08 yards per play average was a school record. Louisville has played its last three games without committing a turnover, its longest turnover-free stretch in 11 seasons. The Cards will honor 14 seniors in pre-game ceremonies.

THE QUOTE: From Phil Steele, publisher of college football’s most popular and respected yearbook:

“Malik Cunningham has been amazing the last few weeks and well worth the price of admission! Kentucky has a large edge on defense and a much better defense than Duke or Syracuse and will slow him down. Christopher Rodriguez will be able to give the Cats some ball control and keep Cunningham off the field but I do feel the Cats are the better team overall and come away with a close win. Should be a great game.”

THE PICK: Kentucky 38, Louisville 35.

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