Schedule Change Alters Louisville's Game Plan for 2020 Season

Amidst the ups and downs of an irregular offseason caused by COVID-19, the Louisville Football program still had their eyes fixated on the season-opener against NC State on Wednesday, September 2 at Cardinal Stadium.

Or so they thought.

Last Wednesday the ACC's Board of Directors voted to alter the football schedule for the 2020 season, moving to a 10 conference games & one non-conference game scheduling model.

It's a move that had a serious effect on the month of September for the Cardinals. Not only was NC State completely removed from their new schedule, but so were the Clemson Tigers - a team that Louisville was originally slated to play the week after on Sept. 12.

"That was a little devastating not to be able to play NC State after you've been preparing for them in spring ball," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said in a teleconference with reporters Monday. "As well as Clemson with them being the second game, doing all that work for those guys. But hey, it is what it is."

However it's not a complete waste. Brown says that in case the Cardinals find themselves matched up with either team in the ACC Championship Game should they make it there, the game plans will still be on hand for them to use.

The real struggle comes from having to game plan for teams they were not anticipating on facing. As part of the schedule change, Louisville will now also be squaring off against Georgia Tech, Miami & Pitt. Adding to the difficulty, the week-by-week schedule has yet to be released - so it's very possible that Louisville could face any (or all) of the three early on.

"Those are teams that we were not getting ready to prepare for, so we had to start trying to get our [graduate assistants] to start breaking down some film so we can kinda get a little jump start on it now," Brown said. "Especially since because you don't know when you're gonna play them. They may be the first game of the season."

While Brown acknowledges the tough task of having to game plan for a schedule filled with 10 ACC opponents - and one that isn't completely set in stone - he was relieved to see some plan to have football in 2020.

"We were just excited to see that we actually had some teams to play," he said.

Louisville will begin their 2020 fall camp on Tuesday, August 4 at 9:30am EST. Their first game has yet to be determined - as has its location - but it will take place the week of Sept. 7-12.

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