Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Atlantic Coast Conference Pool)

Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-3, 3-3 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (3-7, 2-7 ACC)

- Kickoff: Saturday, December 12 at 12:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
- Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Some light rain is likely. High 58F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WHAS 840/790 WKRD
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -2.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 5-2
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 62-59 on Oct. 12, 2019 (BB&T Field - Winston-Salem, N.C.)

Game Notes

Louisville

The Cardinals had another week off after dropping a 34-27 decision to Boston College on Nov. 28. Quarterback Malik Cunningham recorded 427 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in the loss.
Cunningham rushed for 133 yards on 17 carries, reaching 100 rushing yards for the fourth time in his career, the second-most in program history by a quarterback.
The Cardinals ran up 493 total yards of offense in the loss, their fifth consecutive game and eighth time in 10 games with at least 400 yards of offense.
Louisville outgained Boston College 493-435, the fifth time the Cardinals have outgained their opponent in seven losses this season.
Placekicker James Turner made both of his field goal attempts in the loss, giving him seven consecutive makes over the last five games. He’s made 12-of-14 field goal attempts this season.
Head coach Scott Satterfield will pay tribute to 18 seniors prior to the game. The Cardinals will honor: C.J. Avery, Robbie Bell, Cole Bentley, Maurice Burkley, Rodjay Burns, Marlon Character, Cam DeGeorge, Derek Dorsey, Dorian Etheridge, Dez Fitzpatrick, Jared Goldwire, Mitch Hall, Isaiah Hayes, Roscoe Johnson, Jawon Pass, Tabarius Peterson, Ean Pfeifer and Russ Yeast.
The Cardinals have turned the football over 24 times this season — the most in the nation. Louisville has committed multiple turnovers in eight games and at least three in seven contests, including the last four consecutive games.
Cunningham has rushed for 1,550 yards and 16 touchdowns in his career — both second in school history by a quarterback. He’s rushed for 571 yards this season, the third-highest total by a quarterback in school history.
The Cardinals were solid on third down, going 7-for-12 in the loss to Boston College. It was the highest percentage in the Scott Satterfield era. The Cardinals averaged 18.5 yards a completion on third down and 7.4 yards per attempt.
Wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick finished with eight receptions and a career-high 182 yards in the loss to Boston College. Fitzpatrick moved into sixth on Louisville’s career receiving yards list with 2,512 in his career. It was the eighth 100-yard receiving game of Fitzpatrick’s career, tied with Mario Urrutia for 10th-most in UofL history.
Louisville ranks 18th nationally against the pass, yielding 185.7 yards per game, which also leads the ACC. Opponents have only thrown for only 300 yards once (325, Miami), and the Cardinals are allowing an average of 154.1 yards over the last five contests.
Linebacker C.J. Avery continues to lead the Cardinals in tackles with 70 after recording 10 in the loss to Boston College. He owns four double-digit tackle games this season and five for his career.
Since being inserted into the lineup, Jalen Mitchell has rushed 28 times for 166 yards and two scores in the last three games. He's averaging 5.9 yards per carry over that span.

Wake Forest

The running back duo of Kenneth Walker III and Christian Beal-Smith have been hard to stop through the first seven games of the 2020 campaign. In the last six of the last seven games, at least one of the backs have gone for over 100 yards rushing. Against North Carolina, it was Beal-Smith’s turn to break the century mark. On just 17 carries he went for 120 rushing yards (7.1 yards per carry). This included four runs of 12 yards or better with a game-long 37 yarder helping set the tone in the first quarter.
On three seperate occasions this season including at Syracuse on Oct. 31, Kenneth Walker III has finished a game with three rushing touchdowns. All three have come in conference play against NC State (Sept. 19), Virginia (Oct. 17) and Syracuse (Oct. 31). He posted two rushing touchdowns at North Carolina, making it six straight games with a touchdown.
In the last six games, the Demon Deacons have found the endzone 21 times. In 2019, Wake Forest finished the season with 18 total touchdowns as a team.
Against Syracuse, Carlos “Boogie” Basham Jr. saw his streak of 23 games with a tackles for loss come to an end. Over the course of the nation’s longest streak, he had a total of 29.5 tackles for loss and 112 total tackle for loss yards. He added a 0.5 TFL on Saturday at North Carolina.
During the first five games of the season, Basham recorded a sack in each game. Over the last 17 contests, the Roanoke, Va. native has at least one sack in 13 games. He is currently fourth on Wake Forest’s all-time sack list with 20.5 total sacks, 3.0 away from third all-time.
Last season, the Demon Deacons finished the year with 14 interceptions by 10 different players. Through seven games, Wake Forest is on pace to break that mark as nine different players have accounted for the Deacs’ 12 total interceptions. After week 13 of the FBS season, Wake Forest is the one of just four teams in the country to have three or more interceptions returned for touchdowns. Ja’Sir Taylor and Zion Keith have both returned their interceptions 45 yards for TDs while Gavin Holmes touchdown at Syracuse was from 32 yards out.
Wake Forest has forced a turnover in the last 16 contests. The last time the Demon Deacons failed to force a turnover came against Elon on Sept. 21, 2019.
Through seven games, Wake Forest has only turned the ball over once this season and the Deacs are the only FBS schools who has played more than five games yet to throw an interception this season and the only ACC school who has not thrown an interception this year. The Demon Deacons +15 turnover margin this season ranks first nationally and leads the ACC.
Kenneth Walker III’s 13 rushing touchdowns this season are two away from the program record of 15 in a single season. He is the second player in the Dave Clawson era (John Wolford, 10, 2007) with double-digit rushing scores

Depth Charts

Here are the depth charts for both teams ahead of their matchup: Louisville vs. Wake Forest

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing red helmets, jerseys and pants.

𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀

🔴🔴🔴#GoCards x #BeatWake pic.twitter.com/31YOq1s33m
— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) December 9, 2020

Team Captains

Louisville (season): Quarterback Micale Cunningham, wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick, inside linebacker CJ Avery, inside linebacker Dorian Etheridge and tight end Marshon Ford

Wake Forest (season): Defensive lineman Carlos "Boogie" Basham Jr., tight end Brandon Chapman, quarterback Sam Hartman, defensive back Luke Masterson and defensive back Ja'Sir Taylor.

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