Louisville Football: An In-Depth Look at the 2023 Schedule
On January 20, 2023, the 2023 Louisville Football schedule was released. The Cards are entering their first season under new head coach Jeff Brohm and are coming off an 8-5 season in 2022 that included victories over #10 Wake Forest, #24 North Carolina State, and unranked Cincinnati in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Louisville football’s 2023 regular season schedule includes seven home games, three road games, and two neutral-site games. It also includes four weekday games (the most since 2016) and will be the first season since 2013 without Florida State, Wake Forest, and Syracuse on the Cardinals’ schedule.
Read on for a preview of the entire 2023 Louisville Football schedule.
Friday, September 1 vs. Georgia Tech
The Jeff Brohm era opens on a Friday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia against Georgia Tech in the 2023 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game. The Yellow Jackets finished the 2022 season with a 5-7 record.
After the dismissal of Geoff Collins, Brent Key took over as the interim head coach and managed to finish the season with a 4-4 record (including victories on the road against Pittsburgh and North Carolina) over the final eight games.
Georgia Tech holds a 2-0 all-time record against Louisville, and they will be competing in their third Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game since it began in 2008. The University of Louisville will also be competing in their third overall Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
Both Louisville and Georgia Tech are winless in this particular opening matchup (with the former suffering losses to Auburn and Ole Miss and the latter suffering losses to Tennessee and Clemson).
It will be exciting to see which team can snap the streak and secure their first Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game victory in the 2023 season opener.
Thursday, September 7 vs. Murray State
The home opener at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium will take place on a Thursday night against Murray State. The Racers are coming off a 2-9 season in 2022 in which they failed to record a road victory.
Louisville has a 14-6 all-time record against Murray State and has won the last six in the series. Murray State will seek their first win against Louisville since 1984, while Louisville will seek their ninth win in thirteen home openers since 2011.
Saturday, September 16 vs. Indiana
Louisville is set to take on Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was reported last month that the Hoosiers were seeking to cancel their three-game series with the Cardinals (which includes this year’s neutral-site game and one home game for each team extending through the 2025 season).
However, as it stands, Indiana will face the Cardinals for the first time since 1986. Indiana has a 2-0 all-time record against Louisville and looks to secure their third victory in as many tries.
Tom Allen became IU’s head coach on December 1, 2016 after Kevin Wilson’s sudden resignation before the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. Allen and the Hoosiers were able to finish the COVID-shortened 2020 season with an overall record of 6-2 and ranked #12 in the final AP poll. However, they followed their 2020 success with overall records of 4-8 and 2-10 in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, respectively.
The Hoosiers look to bounce back this year and compete amongst the top half of the Big Ten East.
Saturday, September 23 vs. Boston College
Louisville will match up against Boston College in their fourth game of the 2023 season. The Eagles finished the 2022 season with a 3-9 overall record but managed to upset the Cardinals last year 34-33 at home on a 26-yard field goal attempt with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals have a slight edge with an 8-7 all-time record against Boston College. Jeff Hafley returns for his fourth season as the head coach at BC, and the Eagles will enter the 2023 season without star wide receiver Zay Flowers (who declared for the 2023 NFL Draft) or quarterback Phil Jurkovec (who announced his transfer to the Pittsburgh Panthers in December 2022).
Friday, September 29 at NC State
The Cardinals will play their first true road game on a Friday night at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Although Louisville’s defense secured a 25-10 victory against the Wolfpack last November, NC State finished the 2022 season with an 8-5 overall record including key wins vs. Florida State, at North Carolina, and vs. Wake Forest.
The Wolfpack trail Louisville 4-8 all-time in the series, and they will be without their four-year starter Devin Leary (who entered the transfer portal and committed to Kentucky in December 2022) in the 2023 matchup against the Cardinals. Instead, NC State will showcase their new quarterback Brennan Armstrong, a graduate transfer from the University of Virginia.
Saturday, October 7 vs. Notre Dame
The Cardinals will return home for an early October matchup with Notre Dame. After an 0-2 start in 2022, the Fighting Irish were able to finish the season at 9-4 overall. They earned home wins against Clemson and BYU and road wins against Syracuse and North Carolina. Notre Dame also managed to end the South Carolina Gamecocks’ hot streak (which included wins over Tennessee and Clemson) in the 2022 Gator Bowl, winning by a final score of 45-38.
The Fighting Irish enter their second season under head coach Marcus Freeman and possess a 2-1 all-time record against the Cardinals. They will look to secure their third straight victory in the series versus Louisville.
Saturday, October 14 at Pittsburgh
The back half of the 2023 Louisville Football schedule begins with the Cardinals traveling to Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to face off with their old Big East foe. Pittsburgh owns a 10-9 series record against Louisville and has won six of the past eight games played between the two teams.
Louisville did manage to turn their 2022 season around (after a mediocre 3-3 start) with a 24-10 home victory against the Panthers in October 2022. The University of Pittsburgh went on to finish the season with a 9-4 overall record and a huge win over UCLA in the 2022 Sun Bowl.
Louisville will seek to even the overall series at 10 games apiece, while Pittsburgh looks to take command of the series and avenge their loss last season.
Saturday, October 28 vs. Duke
Louisville will take on the Duke Blue Devils after an extra week of rest. The Cardinals last met the Blue Devils in November 2021 and won convincingly by a score of 62-22. UofL has defeated Duke by double digits in all three of their matchups (dating back to 2002).
However, Duke’s football program has made an incredible turnaround since their 2021 season in which they finished with a 3-9 overall record. In 2022, the Blue Devils finished with nine wins (their most since 2014), including a 30-13 victory against Central Florida in the Military Bowl.
Duke seeks to build on their recent success and earn their program’s first football victory over the Louisville Cardinals.
Saturday, November 4 vs. Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech will travel to Louisville to battle the Cards in early November. The Hokies and Cardinals will meet for just the second time since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014.
Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 6-2, and Louisville is seeking their first win in the series since 1992.
Head Coach Brent Pry looks to rebound his team’s success after a disappointing 2022 season in which they finished with a 3-8 overall record and tied for last in the ACC Coastal Division with a 1-6 conference record.
Thursday, November 9 vs. Virginia
The Cards will face off against the Virginia Cavaliers for the tenth straight season dating back to 2014. Louisville owns a 6-5 all-time record and a 4-1 all-time home record against Virginia. The Cardinals’ only home loss against Virginia came in 2021 when the Cavaliers took a 34-33 lead on a touchdown with just 0:22 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers finished the 2022 season tied for last in the ACC Coastal Division with a 3-7 overall record and a 1-6 conference record.
The University of Virginia’s final two games were canceled after the tragic deaths of three of the team’s players in November 2022. They have high hopes to have a bounce-back year in 2023 despite the departure of their veteran quarterback Brennan Armstrong.
Saturday, November 18 at Miami
Along with Georgia Tech and Virginia, Miami is set to be one of Louisville’s three annual ACC opponents over the next four years. Mario Cristobal got off to a rough start in his first season with the Hurricanes, as they finished the 2022 season with a 5-7 overall record and lost four of their final six games by 24 or more points.
However, Miami boasts the ACC’s top recruiting class for 2023 and looks to get back on track this season. Miami holds an 11-3-1 all-time record against Louisville, but the Cardinals have managed to win three of the past five in the series.
Saturday, November 25 vs. Kentucky
Louisville concludes their 2023 season with a home matchup against in-state rival Kentucky. Scott Satterfield finished his tenure at UofL winless in the Governor’s Cup, as the Cards were outscored 123-47 over the past three matchups. Jeff Brohm hopes to flip the script in 2023 and secure Louisville’s first home victory against the Wildcats since 2014.
Kentucky began the 2022 season 4-0, reaching as high as #7 in the AP poll before losing six of their final nine games and finishing the season at 7-6.
The Cats lost both of their key pieces in the backfield in starting quarterback Will Levis and starting running back Chris Rodriguez to the 2023 NFL Draft. But they did manage to land former NC State quarterback Devin Leary in the transfer portal.
As one might expect, this matchup is set to be one of the most important games (if not the most important game) in Brohm’s debut season with the Cards.