#18 Louisville v #20 Duke: Gameday Guide

Everything you need to know for #18 Louisville and #20 Duke’s ACC showdown

The #18 Louisville Cardinals will take on the #20 Duke Blue Devils today, they will kickoff at 3:30 on the ACC Network.

Louisville is coming off a bye week and a previous loss 2 weeks ago against the lowly 1-5 Pitt Panthers, while Duke is coming off a loss to #4 Florida State 38-20. Duke comes in at 5-2 with their 2 losses being to ranked teams (FSU & Notre Dame), while Louisville comes in a 6-1, and both teams only have 1 loss in the conference.

Both teams have a lot on the line for this game. Whoever comes out victorious will have a much greater chance at making the ACC Championship and possibly a highly touted bowl game. Both teams will want a win to get over their recent losses, and it will be a physical matchup inside L&N Stadium.

Matchup History:

This will just be the 4th all time meeting between the Cardinals and the Blue Devils, and their 3rd since joining the ACC. Louisville is 3-0 in their previous games with these final scores:

Louisville win 40-3: September 7th, 2002, Durham, North Carolina

Louisville win 24-14: October 14th, 2016, Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville win 62-22, November 18th, 2022, Durham, North Carolina

Louisville has outscored Duke 126-39 in their 3 games, and the Cardinals have not won a game by less than 10 to the Blue Devils in those meetings.

Duke Team Overview:

Duke’s team and player stats are listed below:

Offense:

Yds/Game: 366.6 (75th FBS, 9th ACC)

Rush Yds/Game:197.4 (19th FBS, 2nd ACC)

Pass Yds/Game:169.1 (109th FBS, 14th ACC)

Pts/Game: 29.6 (61st FBS, 7th ACC)

Defense:

Yds/Game: 303.1 (25th FBS, 4th ACC)

Rush Yds/Game:136.4 (60th FBS, 8th ACC)

Pass Yds/Game:166.7 (16th FBS, 3rd ACC)

Pts/Game:13.9 (5th FBS, 1st ACC)

Duke’s Top Players:

Riley Leonard (QB): Questionable to play on saturday, 981 total passing yards, 60.6% completion rate.

Jordan Waters (RB): 465 total rushing yards, 5.96 yards per carry, 9 TDs

Jaquez Moore (RB): 390 total rushing yards, 5.65 yards per carry, 3 TDs

Jalon Calhoun (WR): 379 total receiving yards, 15.6 yards per catch (25 receptions), 2 TDs

Jordan Moore (WR): 348 total receiving yards, 12.8 yards per catch (27 catches), 3 TDs

Louisville Team Overview:

Louisville team and player stats are listed below:

Offense:

Yds/Game: 447.0 (19th FBS, 3rd ACC)

Rush Yds/Game: 178.3 (41st FBS, 5th ACC)

Pass Yds/Game: 268.7 (32nd FBS, 3rd ACC)

Pts/Game: 34.1 (27th FBS, 4th ACC)

Defense:

Yds/Game: 305.4 (28th FBS, 6th ACC)

Rush Yds/Game: 97.1 (15th FBS, 2nd ACC)

Pass Yds/Game: 208.3 (63rd FBS, 8th ACC)

Points/Game: 20.6 (39th FBS, 4th ACC)

Top Louisville Players:

Jack Plummer (QB): 1,901 total passing yards, 63.5% completion rate, 13 TDs, 8 interceptions

Jawhar Jordan (RB): Questionable to play, 661 total rushing yards, 7.43 yards per carry, 8 TDs

Isaac Guerendo (RB): 207 total rushing yards, 3.98 yards per carry, 3 TDs

Jamari Thrash (WR): 519 total receiving yards, 17.3 yards per catch, 6 TDs

Game Broadcast Information:

Broadcast: ESPN

Kickoff: L&N Stadium

Broadcast commentators: Sean McDonough (play by play), Greg McElroy (analyst), and Molly Mcgrath (sideline reporter).

Radio: Paul Rodgers (play by play), Craig Swabek (analyst), the game can be heard on 93.9 or 970 AM.

Matchup Overview:

Louisville will host Duke at 3:30 in what is the biggest game the Cardinals have played in the ACC this season. Whoever wins this game will have a huge upper hand in the ACC standings, and may even challenge Florida State in the ACC Championship if things go right.

Louisville started as a -4.0 point favorite, but since then it has gone up to -6.0 point favorites. The over/under is also 46 for the game. The experts seem to favor Louisville in what is predicted to be a low scoring matchup.

While this won’t be as big as a matchup like the Notre Dame game, it will still be a huge game for the Cardinals and the Blue Devils.

Hopefully Brohm and the Cardinals can best Mike Elko and his Blue Devils tonight.