Second Quarter Dooms #16 Louisville in Penalty Ridden Upset Loss to Wake Forest

No. 16 Louisville came into Saturday’s matchup with Wake Forest riding a high. A huge win over ranked SMU last week put the Cards in the early driver’s seat for the “Road to Charlotte” and the ACC Championship game.

Lincoln Kienholz and the offense were garnering praise from every national angle, Keyjuan Brown was named National Running Back of the Week, Kaleb Beasley was named National Defensive Back of the Week, the ACC Huddle was in town, and it was an opportunity to showcase the program on ESPN.

And then for the game:

A plethora of penalties, a second quarter disaster in the secondary, the inability to establish the running game and missed field goals late cost the Cards.

This was the first time Jeff Brohm faced the Demon Deacons as the head coach of Louisville. Jake Dickert in his second season as the man in charge in Winston Salem reached over the driver’s seat, pulled the keys out of the ignition and said, “Find another path to Charlotte.”

The Ville came in with two starters announced out on the defensive side, Antonio Watts and Koen Entringer. Two massive pieces to compensate for.

It took a bit for both offenses to get going on Saturday. Louisville’s first two drives resulted in six plays for negative four yards. Wake’s first drive went 35 yards, before Stanquan Clark stepped up on fourth down to stuff the driving Deacs. Wake’s next drive went for 38 yards and a field goal as the Gio Lopez to Carlos Hernandez connection was established.

Lincoln Kienholz found the end zone early in Saturday's matchup with Wake Forest. | William Caudill

With the Cards finding themselves trailing early, Kienholz navigated a well-balanced drive with Isaac Brown in the backfield with him. The Cards went 75 yards in 11 plays capped off with a Kienholz scramble from five yards out to put the Cards ahead 7-3.

The Demon Deacons’ first drive of the second quarter cemented the statistics of each team being in the bottom five of the FBS in penalty yards per game. The Cards came in 134th in the country, with Wake coming in 136th (out of 138 active teams in the FBS).

Wake started the drive with two false starts and on 2nd and 20 before Clev Lubin was called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty.

Lopez hit Hernandez three plays later on 3rd and 15 for 48 yards down the visitor’s sideline. Ty Clark III crossed the goal line two plays later to put the Deacs back ahead 10-7 on a quick seven play drive that took one minute and forty-seven seconds.

Gio Lopez takes a big hit against Louisville Saturday. | William Caudill

The Cards answered right back with an 11-play drive. Lawayne McCoy was banged up towards the beginning of the drive and Treyshun Hurry relieved him with two receptions. Keyjuan Brown hit a few holes and had 20 yards on the drive, before Kienholz scrambled in from six yards out to put the Cards back ahead 14-10.

Wake fired right back with a four-play drive capped by a 77-yard touchdown over the top as Lopez found a wide-open Hernandez behind the Louisville secondary, putting the Demon Deacons back ahead 17-14.

The Cards came into Saturday without turning the ball over through the first three games, that changed late in the first half as Kienholz had a pass deflected and intercepted by Somad Eaddy.

Once again, it was Lopez to Hernandez for 31 yards to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by running back Ty Clark III. Louisville was down 10 (24-14), but a quick strike from Kienholz to tight end Jaleel Skinner, who scampered 66 yards tight roping the sideline cut the lead to 24-21 at the half.

Jaleel Skinner tight ropes the sidelines for a score to cut the Wake Forest lead to 24-21 at the half. | William Caudill

After a first quarter with 10 combined points and one penalty, the second quarter brought a combined 35 points and 10 penalties. Wake ended the half with 292 yards to Louisville’s 239. Lopez found Hernandez six times for 170 yards and a score.

Louisville’s rushing game was stagnant. The Cards combined for 20 carries and 63 yards between the Brown’s, Kienholz and Braxton Jennings.

The second half was an offensive nightmare for the Cards. Five possessions resulted in one red-zone trip and Louisville was only able to manufacture two field goals from Carson Hilbert in the third quarter. The Louisville defense locked in for the second half and gave the Cards every opportunity, holding the Deacs to six points on a field goal in the third and fourth quarter.

It was a 27-27 tie going to the final quarter.

Carson Hilbert hits a 41-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter. | William Caudill

The fourth quarter started with a Wake Forest turnover after Ben Perry forced a fumble at the Deacs 29-yard line, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty set the Cards back to the 44-yard line. The Cards turned it over on downs four plays later as Kienholz could not find McCoy.

Wake would use a near seven-minute drive to convert a field goal by Connor Calvert to give them the final advantage at 30-27.

Louisville would have two more chances in the closing six minutes. Kienholz and McCoy connected twice for 40 yards to get the Cards in the redzone for the only time in the second half. Kienholz absorbed a sack on a 3rd down at the Wake 14-yard line, which moved the Cards back to the 25-yard line. Hilbert missed a 42-yard field goal with 2:29 left.

The Louisville defense forced a quick three and out and had one last chance with the ball at their own 31 and 1:52 left. Kienholz found Tre Richardson for 19 yards to get The Ville to the Wake Forest 30-yard line, before a holding penalty backed the Cards up to the 40-yard line. Louisville faced a 4th and 20 and put Nick Keller in to attempt a game tying 56 yarder. Wake stacked the left side of the line and blocked the attempt.

The Deacs took a knee from there and escaped for their first victory in Louisville since 2018, 30-27.

Wake ended the game with 402 yards to Louisville’s 399. The Deacs were penalized 10 times for 85 yards, while the Cards committed nine penalties for 90 yards. Wake was only 2-for-10 on third down, The Ville 7-for-15.

Lopez was 12-for-19 with 225 yards and a score through the air. Hernandez finished with 9 receptions for 194 yards and a touchdown. Clark III scored two touchdowns on 21 carries for 91 yards.

For the Cards, Kienholz was 27-for-36 with 324 passing yards and a touchdown while scoring twice on the ground. The Cards had five receivers with 70+ receiving yards (Hurry, McCoy, Richardson, Skinner). Louisville had 38 carries as a team for a net 75 yards. Keyjuan Brown led the Cards on the ground with 49 yards on 12 carries.

Defensively, Stanquan Clark and TJ Capers led the Cards with 12 and 10 sacks respectively. Ben Perry, Clev Lubin and Jerod Smith all finished with a sack a piece.

Sep 26, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons running back Ty Clark Iii (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Louisville Cardinals at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Carter-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Coach Brohm voiced his displeasure after the loss:

"Disappointing Saturday without question, didn't play very sharp at all, it cost us. We've been doing it every week. There's a lot of things you've got to get fixed, it falls on the head coach. So, we have to find other ways to get these things fixed better and play way more efficient, way smarter. You're not going to win against good teams if you continue to do dumb things. You have to play Wake too. Wake made way too many plays to do that, we gave up big plays, we weren't able to run the ball. We had way too many penalties and it cost us."

Now the Cards must lock all the way in as there is NO margin for error the rest of the way. There will be scoreboard watching every week, hopes of upsets and cheering for Ole Miss and Wake Forest to continue to win and keep the resume of losses as respectable as possible.

Next up for The Ville is the first road trip of the conference slate to Raleigh. Louisville and NC State will kick it off at 3:30 p.m. on a network to be determined between the ACC Network or ESPN2.

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