Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Wildcats

Louisville Cardinals (7-4, 5-3 ACC) at Kentucky Wildcats (4-7, 1-7 ACC)

- Kickoff: Saturday, November 30 at 12:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Kroger Field in Lexington, Ky.
- Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 38F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
- How To Watch: SEC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -3.5
- All-Time Series: Kentucky leads 20-15
- Last Meeting: Kentucky won 38-31 on Nov. 25, 2023 (L&N Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Game Notes

Louisville

The Cardinals closed their 2024 ACC schedule with a dominating 37-9 win over Pittsburgh at L&N Stadium. Louisville completed its ACC season with a 5-3 mark, its ninth conference winning percentage of .500 or better in 10 seasons as an ACC member.
After surrendering a 14-point lead in a loss at Stanford, the Louisville defense performed well in the Cards’ 37-9 win over Pitt on Saturday in the final home game of the season. Louisville limited Pitt to 265 yards of offense, including just 75 yards on the ground. Louisville, which entered the game with just three interceptions, matched its season output with three as Stanquan Clark picked up his first two career passes and Corey Thornton added his first at Louisville.
2 consecutive 100-yard games for wide receiver Chris Bell, caught two passes for 101 yards and a 68-yard touchdown from Tyler Shough.
Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks recorded the 11th 1,000-yard receiving season by a Louisville player. He leads the team with 61 catches for 1,013 yards.
Brock Travelstead made three field goals to improve to 16 of 23 on field goal attempts, which is tied for the sixth most field goals made in a season.
6 interceptions this season after Louisville doubled its season total with three interceptions in the 37-9 win over Pitt on Nov. 23.
Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, the Cardinals have posted a 49-41 overall record, with a pair of 7-1 seasons over the course of its 10 seasons in the league, The Cards went 7-1 in 2016 under the prowess of Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and in 2023 when the Cards advanced to their first ACC title game. Louisville fell 16-6 to Florida State in Charlotte.
There is no question the Cardinals have played until the end under head coach Jeff Brohm in his two seasons leading the program. In 24 games, the Cardinals have played in 12 one-score games under Brohm, with the Cards posting a solid 7 5 record in those contests despite falling 38-35 at Stanford on Nov. 16.
Louisville will play its final game in November after hammering Pitt 37-9 at L&N Stadium on Saturday. The Cards are 165-176-5 all-time in November including a 102-81-2 at home and 63-95-3 on the road. Head coach Jeff Brohm is 5-2 during the month of November at Louisville and his teams are 24-11 all-time.
After Louisville defeated Clemson on Nov. 2, Louisville improved to 21-65-1 versus AP Top 25 teams, including an 11-18 record at home. Louisville is 5-38-1 against teams ranked in the top 25 on the road.
Head coach Jeff Brohm team’s have been known to be able to put points on the board. Louisville enters Saturday’s rival hame against Kentucky ranked 17th nationally averaging 36.2 points per game. Louisville has scored 30 or more points eight times this season and are 6-2 in games where the Cards have tallied better than 30 points in a contest.
Under head coach Jeff Brohm, the Cardinals are 17-8 in their last 25 games with three losses coming against top-20 teams. Louisville is 10-3 at home over the last two seasons with one loss to No. 6 Miami 52-45 during the 2024 season.
The Cardinals are +1 in turnover margin, but UofL has only lost 10 balls all season through 11 games — three coming in a 31-27 win at Boston College and three in a loss at Notre Dame. That means, in the other eight games, the Cards have only yielded the ball to the opponents just three other times.
The Cardinals are 9-3 in games under head coach Jeff Brohm where a running back rushes for 100 yards in a game, including a 3-2 mark this season. Freshman running back Isaac Brown owns four games over the century mark this season and another rookie, Duke Watson added another one when he rushed for 117 yards and three scores against Stanford.
Louisville played the third of its four non-conference games when it lost to Notre Dame on Sept. 28. Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Cardinals are 30-19 in non-conference action, including a 3-3 record last season.
Isaac Brown is 104 yards short of helping the Cardinals have a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,000-yard reciever and a 3,000-yard passer in the same season for only the third time in school history, and the first time since 1999.
Injuries on the offensive line has slowed the running game this season, but the Cards might be hitting their stride over the last three games. The Cards rushed for 212 yards in Saturday’s win over Pitt, which included a 47-yard touchdown run by Isaac Brown. Louisville rushed for over 200 yards for the second time in three games and the fourth time all season.
Injuries have been a major problem on the offensive line this season as eight different players have made starts in 2024. Lance Robinson and Victor Cutler are out for the season with injuries, while Austin Collins, a starter in the first seven games, has been relegated to reserve action in the last two games. Eight different players have made starts on the offensive line this season and the team has used five different versions of a starting lineup.
After scoring first in 12 of 14 games during last season’s 10-4 season, the Cardinals have only scored first in five of 11 games. They are being outscored 83 75 in the first quarter this season after outscoring Pitt 10-0 on Saturday. Boston College held a 20-0 lead in the first half before Louisville mounted its comeback.
Tyler Shough, who is off to a 7-4 start as the starter, has been the catalyst for the success in the offense this season. The seventh-year player has thrown for a career high 3,067 yards and 23 touchdowns through the first 11 games. Shough will make his 12th start of the season on Saturday against Kentucky — the most in his career as a collegiate quarterback.
Defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte has been a sack machine and added two to his total in the win over Pitt — his first multi-sack game of the season. Gillotte added two sacks to up his total to 26.5, which moves him into sixth place on the school’s all-time sacks list. He has taken over the sacks lead this season with 4.5
Teams are starting to learn to not throw the football in the direction of cornerback Quincy Riley. In 56 career games at Middle Tennessee and Louisville, Riley has registered 14 career interceptions after recording one in the win over Jacksonville State — the seventh since transferring to Louisville for the 2022 season.
T.J. Quinn has moved back into the team lead with 75 stops after recording a career high 13 tackles in the loss to Stanford and nine more in the win over Pitt. The junior has 46 tackles in the last five games. The junior has five or more tackles in nine of the 11 games this season.
Defensive lineman Ramon Puryear earned a full scholarship to play football at Louisville after walking on his first two seasons from Eastern High School in Louisville. Puryear became the first Louisville player to have two fumble return touchdowns in a season since Deon Palmer in 2005, scoring on a fumble recovery in the end zone. Puryear played in his 65th game to extend his program record for games played. The Eastern High product made his sixth straight start and the 19th of his career while logging three tackles, one of which was solo, and a pass breakup against Stanford.

Kentucky

Kentucky will close out the regular season by playing host to in-state rival Louisville at Kroger Field on Saturday for The Governor’s Cup. It will mark the 36th meeting between the two teams. Kentucky leads the all-time series, 20-15 and has won the last five meetings. The series is tied in Lexington, 10-10.
The Wildcats defeated then-No. 9 Cardinals, 38-31, in rival territory in 2023. At the time, it marked the highest Associated Press-ranked win of the Mark Stoops era
and it tied for the eighth-highest AP-ranked victory in program history at the time. The Cats’ reset those standards when they defeated No. 6/5 Rebels on Sept. 28 of this season.
Kentucky is coming off a loss to No. 3/3 Texas in Austin, Texas, 31-14. Offensively, UK was led by freshmen in rushing (Jamarion Wilcox - 11 carries, 50 yards), receiving (Willie Rodriguez, three receptions, 53 yards) and passing yards (Cutter Boley - 10-of-18, 160 yards).
The Wildcats have won their last 19 straight nonconference games in the regular season, a streak that streak is second in the nation behind Georgia (27). UK has won 17 straight nonconference games at Kroger Field, dating back to the start of 2018. Kentucky has won 22 of its last 24 nonconference games.
Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, senior running back, is just 21 yards rushing from eclipsing 1,000 for his college career. He leads the team with 118 carries for 535 yards and five touchdowns in 2024.
Dane Key, a junior wide receiver, who leads the team with 47 receptions for 715 yards in 2024, has made a big jump up the career lists at Kentucky. For his career, he has 126 receptions – 13th in program history – for 1,870 yards – fifth in program history. He needs 219 yards to tie for fourth in program history. Of his 47 receptions, 14 have been 20 yards or more.
The Wildcat defense ranks in the nation’s top 30 in five categories - Punt Return Defense (2.5 yards per return), Red Zone Defense (70.5 percent), Kickoff Return Defense (16.9 yards per return), Scoring Defense (20.4 points per game) and First Down Defense (192 allowed).
All-American transfer linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson is leading the UK defense in total tackles (62), despite missing the game against Murray State on Nov. 16.
Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops is the longest-tenured active head coach in the SEC and the sixth longest-tenured active head coach in FBS. Now in his 12th season at Kentucky, Stoops is one of only 19 head coaches who have
coached at least 12 seasons at an SEC school since the league’s first season in 1933.
In 1994, the Governor’s Cup was created as the trophy for the winner of the Kentucky-Louisville football game. Donated by The Kroger Company at a cost of $23,000, the Governor’s Cup stands 33 inches tall and weighs 110 pounds.
The Wildcats have won their last 19 straight nonconference games in the regular season. That streak is second in the nation behind Georgia (27). UK has won 17 straight nonconference games at Kroger Field, dating back to the start of 2018. Kentucky has won 22 of its last 24 nonconference games
Barion Brown and Dane Key eclipsed 1,000 career yards receiving - in the same game - as sophomores last season at South Carolina on Nov. 18, 2023.
Ja’Mori Maclin, who played the last two seasons at North Texas (2022-23) after transferring from Missouri (2020-21), led the wide receiver room ahead of the season with 1,389 career yards receiving. In fact, he recorded 1,004 of those yards just last season, logging 57 catches and 11 scores at North Texas in 2023.
Prior to the start of 2024, Kentucky’s offensive linemen combined for 207 career games played and 143 career games started in the FBS. UK’s 143 career games started was ranked second in the Southeastern Conference and ninth in the FBS. UK’s offensive line includes five returners that appeared in at least 12 games in 2023
Gavin Wimsatt played in 25 games at Rutgers over the previous three seasons. He started 19 games, including all 13 in 2023. He totaled 2,537 passing yards and 14 touchdowns and also had 628 net rushing yards and 11 TDs.
Brock Vandagriff played in 13 games at Georgia over the last three seasons (no starts) from 2021-23. He completed 12-of-21 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns and had 46 net rushing yards during that stretch.
This season, Kentucky retained nine starters on defense from 2023, including: Defensive linemen: Octavious Oxendine, Keeshawn Silver and Deone Walker; Linebackers: Alex Afari Jr., J.J. Weaver and D’Eryk Jackson; Defensive backs: Maxwell Hairston, Jordan Lovett and Zion Childress
Altogether, 16 defenders on the roster have seen significant action for at least two seasons, either at Kentucky or another school in the FBS, including six defensive linemen, five defensive backs and five linebackers.
Heading into the regular-season finale in 2024, defensive coordinator Brad White’s defense ranks among the top 30 in the nation in three categories. In addition, UK defenders have the Wildcat special teams (coached by Jay Boulware) in the top 25 in two categories.
Kentucky has held 12 of its last 25 opponents - 48.0 percent - to less than 100 yards rushing, dating back to the final game of 2022. While not reflected, it is also worth mentioning, UK held No. 1/1 UGA to just 102 yards rushing on Sept. 14.
UK allowed less than 200 yards passing in each of the first four games in 2024, including against South Carolina and No. 1/1 Georgia, a stretch that included two Southeastern Conference teams, for the first time since 1989.
Kentucky has earned at least one turnover in all 11 games this season, combining for 15 turnovers in 2024. Kentucky had a season-high three interceptions against Murray State on Nov. 16. It also was its most interceptions in a game at Kroger Field since picking off six against Mississippi State in 2020.
Maxwell Hairston made five interceptions, including four against Southeastern Conference opponents, as a sophomore and first-year starter in 2023, running two of those back for touchdowns.
Named to nearly every preseason watch list he was eligible for, Deone Walker, a 6-foot-6, 348-pound defensive lineman, has started in 34 straight games that he has played in, a stretch dating back to his freshman season in 2022.
J.J. Weaver, outside linebacker, is one of only 11 members from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision to be named to the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. He is also a semifinalist for the coveted Wuerffel Trophy.
Going into the regular-season finale in 2024, Alex Raynor is 25-of-27 at field goals and 72-of-74 at extra points in his two-year career at Kentucky.

Depth Charts

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

Comparison

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

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing red helmets with white jerseys and pants; while Kentucky has yet to announce their uniform combination.

🔴 Battle Armor 🔴#GoCards pic.twitter.com/9pGbviSA5s
— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) November 27, 2024

Additional Coverage

(Photo of D'Eryk Jackson, Isaac Guerendo: Matt Stone - The Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X