Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Pitt Panthers

Louisville Cardinals (3-0, 0-0 ACC) at Pitt Panthers (2-1, 0-0 ACC)

- Kickoff: Saturday, September 27 at 12:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa
- Weather Conditions: Partly to mostly cloudy. High 77F. Winds light and variable.
- How To Watch: ESPN2
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -5.5
- All-Time Series: Pitt Leads 11-10
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 37-9 on Nov. 23, 2024 (L&N Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Game Notes

Louisville

The Cardinals moved to 3-0 with a 40-17 win over Bowling Green last Saturday at L&N Stadium. In the first meeting between the two schools, the Cardinals held the Falcons to 321 yards of total offense and forced a pair of turnovers.
Jeff Brohm becomes the first Louisville coach to start 3-0 in three straight seasons since taking over the program in 2023.
The Cards are looking to go 4-0 for first time since the Cards opened the season at 6-0 before dropping a 37-21 decision at Pittsburgh in 2023.
Quarterback Miller Moss captured his first 300-yard game in a Louisville uniform and the sixth overall in his career by going 23-of-32 for 316 yards.
Missing starting running backs Isaac Brown and Duke Watson, Keyjuan Brown filled in with 84 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.
Wide receiver Caullin Lacy recorded 268 all-purpose yards. The senior had a 75-yard touchdown among three punt returns for 106 yards to go with two kickoff returns for 65 yards and eight receptions for 97 yards.
Lacy became the first player in program history to have two punt returns of at least 75 yards in a season. He’s is the fourth Louisville player to return two punts for TDs in a season.
Lacy amassed 268 all-purpose yards, the 12th highest total in a game by a Louisville player. He joins Howard Stevens, Walter Peacock, and Hassan Hall as the fourth Louisville player to have two career games with at least 250 all-purpose yards.
The Cardinals recorded a pair of interceptions in the win over Bowling Green. Safety D’Angelo Hutchinson and defensive back Antonio Watts recorded their first career interceptions in the win over the Falcons.
Placekickers Cooper Ranvier and Nick Keller are the first pair of Louisville kickers to make field goals in the same game since Ron Bell and Klaus Wilmsmeyer did so vs. Syracuse in 1989.
Keller broke the school record for longest field goal made with a 57-yarder, surpassing Brock Travelstead’s 56-yard field goal at Notre Dame last year
Ranvier pushed his career field goal accuracy to 6 of 6, becoming the first Louisville kicker to make the first six field goal attempts of his career
Defensive end Clev Lubin pushed his season total to 19 tackles with five stops today, including a shared tackle for loss to go with his first two pass breakups at Louisville
The Cardinals continue to be one of the best teams in the nation against the pass, holding Bowling Green to 11-for-21 for 131 yards and a pair of interceptions. Louisville has limited the opposition to an average of 114.7 yards per game.

Pitt

Picking up where he left off in 2024, Reid totaled 147 all-purpose yards in his season debut against Duquesne, highlighted by a 53-yard touchdown run and an 88-yard punt return for a score, the longest punt return in Acrisure Stadium history and the longest by a Pitt player since 1945. Reid tallied 141 all-purpose yards (46 rush, 69 rec., 26 PR) against Central Michigan, highlighted by a 32-yard catch and a 19-yard run
Against Duquesne, the team racked up its most yards in a game (460) since 10/5/24 against UNC (520), and saw 13 different receivers catch a pass from Panther quarterbacks in the season-opening win. The team followed it up in Week 2 with 464 yards of total offense, and ranks second in scoring (53.0) and touchdowns (13) in the ACC.
In Week 1, Eli Holstein threw four touchdown passes (15-of-23, 215 yards) for the first time in his career, becoming the first Pitt quarterback to do so since Kenny Pickett in 2021, while also rushing for 41 yards. Against CMU, Holstein went 21 of 28 for 304 yards and four touchdowns, leading the ACC in passing TDs for the week. He paces the league in passing efficiency (199.99) and touchdowns (8) and is the first Pitt QB to throw eight-plus TDs through the first two games of a season since at least 1995. At WVU, Holstein completed 22 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown.
Under Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has rushed for at least 200 yards on 37 occasions. Pitt is 30-7 in those contests. During that span, the Panthers have nine games with at least 300 rushing yards and are 8-1 in those outings.
Pitt ranked fifth nationally in defensive touchdowns with an ACC-high four (tied with SMU) last season. Pitt ranked third nationally in pick-sixes last year with an ACC-best four. Pitt has scored 27 defensive touchdowns during Pat Narduzzi's tenure. Pitt is 18-6 under Narduzzi when scoring at least one defensive TD in a game.
All-America linebacker Kyle Louis had a team-high four interceptions last season. That total did not include his interception of a 2-point conversion pass at Boston College (Nov. 30). Louis ranked 17th nationally in total interceptions among all defenders. Among FBS linebackers he ranked second (tied for first among Power 4 linebackers) in 2024.
Pitt has finished in the top two nationally in sacks per game in four of the past six seasons (2019-24). Pitt had 41 total sacks last season. Its average of 3.15 sacks per game ranked six nationally (second in the ACC). Linebacker Kyle Louis had a team-high seven sacks.
Pitt has finished among the national top 20 in team tackles for loss each of the past six seasons (2019-24). Last season, Pitt had 106 TFLs. The Panthers’ average of 8.2 TFLs per game ranked fourth nationally and second in the ACC.
From 2019-24, the Panthers finished in the nation’s top 12 in rushing defense four times. Last year, Pitt is surrendered 112.8 rush yards per game to rank 19th nationally (third in the ACC).
Under the direction of Pat Narduzzi, Pitt has collected at least five sacks in a game 32 times. The Panthers are 28-4 under Narduzzi when they total five or more sacks.
During Pat Narduzzi’s tenure, Pitt has held an opponent under 250 yards 25 times. Pitt is 22-3 in those contests, including a 10-1 mark against ACC foes. The Panthers are 12-0 under Narduzzi when holding an opponent under 200 total yards

Depth Charts

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

Comparison

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

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing all white, while Pitt has yet to announce their uniform combination.

The details 🥶#GoCards pic.twitter.com/gxXbpa8FA7
— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) September 24, 2025