Louisville Football: Live stream, forecast, TV info and preview for WKU

Louisville football will take the field again at Cardinal Stadium this weekend when the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers come to town.

It’s been exactly 20 years since the Louisville football program got a chance to go head-to-head with in-state foe, Western Kentucky. In that 20 years a lot has changed for both programs as Louisville has moved from the C-USA to the Big East and now to the ACC, while Western Kentucky has made the transition from DII to being apart of the FBS, playing in the C-USA.

This isn’t the high scoring, explosive Western Kentucky team that we’ve become accustomed to over the last few years behind Jeff Brohm, as former Notre Dame offensive coordinator, Mike Sanford, has taken over.

The Hilltoppers are in the midst of a rebuilding season after going 6-7 last year, and may struggle to make a bowl. That was appearant last week when WKU dropped their second game of the season to Maine, 31-28.

Louisville is coming off of a rough game themselves against FCS opponnett Indiana State, a game that many players, coaches, and fans alike all wish to forget about.

Western Kentucky vs. Louisville

When: Saturday, September 15 – 7:30 EST

Where: Cardinal Stadium – Evan Lepler, Takeo Spikes, Lyndsay Rowley will be on the call

Projected Forecast: 88°, 20% chance of rain, 10 mph winds (Weather Channel)

TV: Fox Sports South (Region by region affiliates)

Live Stream: WatchESPN.com

Radio: 840 WHAS – Paul Rogers, Alex Kupper, Jody Demling will be on the call

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Game preview

As mentioned, the Cards and Hilltoppers will square off for the first time since 1998. Louisville currently leads the series, 19-12, and the last time these teams faced off the Cards pulled out a huge victory, winning 63-34.

The scoring may not be nearly as high on Saturday night, as the Louisville offense has really struggled to get going, scoring just 31 points against lowly Indiana State and 14 against #1 ranked Alabama.

While this should be an extremely winnable game (lose this and the fan base riots) there are still a lot of question marks surrounding Louisville. The biggest being who will be the team’s starting quarterback? Bobby Petrino said yesterday during the ACC coaches teleconference that he expects to make a decision “later in the week” so we could hear something today or tomorrow. Puma Pass started the first two games for Louisville, playing extremely well against Alabama before struggling in the monsoon versus Indiana State and being pulled for redshirt freshman Malik Cunningham.

Cunningham brought a new element to the Louisville offense that we hadn’t seen from Pass, but was extremely similar to what we became accustomed to over the last three years with Lamar Jackson. After not scoring any points in the first half, Cunningham led the Cards to four straight scoring drives and showed the coaching staff he could potentially be the best option at QB moving forward.

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We are very likely to see both quarterbacks this weekend for extended periods of time as the coaching staff looks to make a decision on who will start for the remainder of the season. Either way, Louisville’s running game will need to get going as the team has yet to get a touchdown from a running back this season. Look for Colin Wilson, Trey Smith, Jeremy Smith, and Dae Williams to separate themselves from the pack as one tries to prove they are “the guy,” for the Cards.

On the defensive side of the ball Brian VanGorder will continue his search for a replacement for injured defensive end and team captain, Jon Greenard. The defense struggled to stop the run against Indiana State, giving up 175 yards rushing including a 24 yard run and a few 10+ rushes as well. Western Kentucky is much more talented than the Sycamores and they showed in both games they can move the ball offensively .

Interestingly enough the Hilltoppers currently rank 98th nationally in total offense, which unfortunately is 11 spots higher than the Cards. Behind Drew Eckles, who we’ll talk about more in depth in a bit, WKU has averaged 347 yards per game on 264 passing yards and 96.1 rushing yards. They showed in week one against #4 Wisconsin that they could run the ball, even against a stout defense. They finished that game with 124 total rushing yards, which is frankly pretty damn good when you consider the opponent.

Eckles, who has been pretty good for the Tops, was injured last weekend against Maine and is currently a game-time decision. If he’s not able to go Mike Sanford will turn to either Steven Duncan or Davis Shanley.

Louisville has to make a statement this weekend as they finish up their early season non-conference schedule and get conference play going next week at Virginia. Poor tackling, gaping holes, inability to block for long periods of time and an inconsistent ground game will quickly be exposed by teams with equal or superior talent.

Right now the Cards have no reason to panic, but come out of the Western Kentucky game with a close win or worse, and this season may quickly unravel.

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However, I don’t see that happening. I think Bobby Petrino will come out fired up and his play calling and his players performance will reflect. The spread is currently around 21, and while I’m not sure the Cards will cover, I do think it’ll be at least a 2 touchdown win.

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