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Louisville vs Wake Forest Football Highlights (10/2/2021)

Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Virginia Cavaliers

The Cardinals return to Louisville for their ACC home opener against the Cavaliers.

Virginia Cavaliers (3-2, 1-2 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (3-2, 1-1 ACC)

- Kickoff: Saturday, October 9 at 3:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
- Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy skies. High 83F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: WHAS 840/790 WKRD
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -2.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 5-4
- Last Meeting: Virginia won 31-17 on Nov. 14, 2020 (Scott Stadium - Charlottesville, Va.)

Game Notes

Louisville

  • Louisville had their three-game winning streak snapped with a 37-34 loss to undefeated Wake Forest last Saturday in Winston-Salem.. Nick Sciba kicked a 29-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to secure the win.
  • The Cardinals gained a season high 522 yards of total offense in the loss, including season bests in rushing (213) and passing (309). Louisville has out-gained the opposition in seven of its last 11 losses in the Scott Satterfield era.Quarterback Malik Cunningham accounted for four more touchdowns to give him 78 in his career, which moves him into a tie for fifth place all-time on the school’s career list.
    • Cunningham recorded his fourth 300-yard passing game of his career, completing 19-of-26 passes for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss. He tossed his seventh touchdown strike of 75 or more yards with a 75-yard catch and run by wide receiver Tyler Harrell to tie score at 34-34.
  • • The Cards rushed for a season best 213 yards and two scores, averaging a solid 5.0 yards per carry. Jalen Mitchell accounted for 89 yards on the ground, while Trevion Cooley carried 11 times for 61 yards and averaged a solid 5.5 yards per carry.
  • Kicker James Turner has consecutive field goal streak snapped at 13 when he missed from 50 yards in the second quarter. All three of his career misses at Louisville have come from a distance of 50 or more yards.
  • Safety Qwynterrio Cole recorded his first career interception in a UofL uniform in the fourth quarter to equal the score at 27- 27. Cole concluded the game with six tackles.
  • Linebacker C.J. Avery registered his seventh career double-digit tackle game with a season high 12 stops in the loss. He ranks first on the team with 36 total tackles in the first five games.
  • For the second-straight game, linebacker Jack Fagot recorded a sack and was second on the team in tackles with eight.

Virginia

  • Virginia captured its first road victory since Nov. 2, 2019, snapping a five-game road losing streak after defeating Miami, 30-28. The road win over the Hurricanes was the first since 2011.
  • The Cavalier defense limited the Hurricanes to an opponent season-low, 203 yards passing, the fewest by an ACC opponent since Louisville’s 161 in 2020. Virginia held Miami to just 10 yards of total offense in the first quarter, allowing the Cavaliers to jump out to a 9-0 lead.
  • Miami missed a 33-yard field goal as time expired to give Virginia the thrilling victory.
  • Virginia won possession battle, holding the ball for a season-high 34:24, including 11:40 of the first quarter. Under Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia is 15-3 when possessing the ball for 34 minutes or more.
  • Playing in his hometown for the fifth time in his career, Alonso put forth a career effort in his first win in South Beach. The senior defensive end recorded a career-high in sacks (2) and tackles for loss (3). One of his five tackles on the night was a stop in the end zone in the first quarter to record UVA’s second safety of the season.
  • Senior Wayne Taulapapa rushed for a season-high 62 yards and 11 carries against Miami. In the process he became the 45th Cavalier to eclipse 1,000 yards for his career
  • Wide receiver Billy Kemp IV led the Cavaliers with nine catches against Miami, one shy of his career high. It marked the sixth time in his career he had nine or more catches in a game. Going into Saturday, Kemp has 136 career catches, the eighth most ever by a UVA wideout.
  • Both Kemp and Dontayvion Wicks are listed on the Biletnikoff Award Watch list, annually recognizing the country’s top receiver. Kemp was on the preseason watch list and Wicks was a midseason addition on Sept. 29.
    • Dontayvion Wicks caught a season-low two passes against Miami but still racked up 75 receiving yards and scored his fifth touchdown of the year. He has caught a touchdown in four-straight games. With back-to-back 100-yard receiving performances against UNC (183) and Wake Forest (114), Wicks became the first Cavalier wide receiver with consecutive 100-yard receiving games) since Hasise Dubois in 2019 (Virginia Tech & Clemson).
  • Virginia is second in the country in passing yards per game, with 398.0 and second only to Fresno State in total yards with 1,990. Fresno State has 2,376 through six games.
    • Quarterback Brennan Armstrong is credited with 1,973 of those passing yards and his 394.6 per game are the second-most of any signal caller in the country. He is averaging 408 yards per game in total offense, also the second-most of any player in the country. Armstrong ranks 9th in the FBS in points responsible for (98), 11th in points responsible for per game (19.6), and seventh in passing touchdowns (14).

Depth Charts

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

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Demon Deacons, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of the Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Virginia

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing white helmets and pants with red jerseys, Virginia will be wearing blue helmets with white jerseys and pants.

Additional Coverage

(Photo of Hassan Hall: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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