Louisville Preseason CFB26 Preview Series: Game 11 vs. SMU

The Cardinals face the Mustangs in their final road game of the virtual season.

Louisville’s Isaac Brown gets a first down against SMU this Saturday. | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Welcome to the 'Louisville Preseason CFB26 Preview Series.' Here, we at Louisville Cardinals On SI are CPU simulating each of the Cardinals' games for their upcoming 2025 season using the video game 'EA Sports College Football 26.'

Today, we're looking at Louisville's road matchup against SMU.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program was nearly able to pull off a massive virtual comeback against Clemson, but came up just short.

Digging themselves into a 20-point hole early in the fourth quarter, it proved to be too big of a deficit to come back from, with the Cardinals falling to the Tigers 20-14 at virtual L&N Stadium. UofL falls to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in ACC play so far in our Preseason CFB26 Series.

Louisville could only muster 238 total yards agains Clemson. QB Miller Moss went 23-of-33 for 239 yards and a touchdown to WR Chris Bell, but also threw an interception. RB Isaac Brown ran for just 10 yards, but also a score. While S JoJo Evans and LB Stanquan Clark each had 13 tackles, the Cards as a team gave up 483 yards to the Tigers.

This week, we have Louisville's final virtual game on the road, heading to Dallas to take on SMU. In College Football 26, the Mustangs sport an 84 overall rating, with their offense coming in at 87 overall and their defense at 82 overall.

Offensively, real-world SMU still figures to be very deadly in 2025. Kevin Jennings - at 89 overall - is the fourth-highest rated QB in the ACC, the WR duo of Jordan Hudson and Yamir Knight are both at 84 overall, and the Mustangs have a very good offensive line - led by 90 overall guard Logan Parr.

SMU does lose a lot of elite pieces from last year's defense, but they still have plenty of playmakers here. The safety duo of Isaiah Nwokobia (91 OVR) and Ahmaad Moses (89 OVR) headline a defense that sports eight players at 80 overall or higher.

So how does College Football 26 have the game between Louisville and SMU playing out? Check out the Cardinals vs. the Mustangs on the virtual gridiron below:

Complete Preseason CFB26 Preview Series:

• Game 2 vs. James Madison
• Game 3 vs. Bowling Green
• Game 4 at Pitt
• Game 5 vs. Virginia
• Game 6 at Miami
• Game 7 vs. Boston College
• Game 8 at Virginia Tech
• Game 9 vs. Cal
• Game 10 vs. Clemson
• Game 11 at SMU
• Game 12 vs. Kentucky

(Photo of Isaac Brown: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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