Louisville football is just seven days away from their first game of the 2025 season. Week 0 kicks off the most wonderful time of the sports year. All the work, all the preparation, all the time and effort; it all leads to this moment, the kick off of a season filled with dreams, expectations, and opportunity. It's the one time of the football season when every award or goal can still be achieved, and anything can happen.
Week 1 has notoriously been a tone-setter for most teams on how the season will play out. It's what sets college football apart from most other sports since only 12 games are played in this relatively short season. It makes every game count that much more.
This reality has been especially true for the Louisville Cardinals. Most memorable seasons in Louisville’s history have started with a bang in Week 1. More often than not, one particular player has stood out as a game-changer in these games. As we quickly approach Week 1 of the 2025 season against Eastern Kentucky, it seems like the perfect time to reminisce on the Cardinals teams of the past. It's an excellent opportunity to see how one player's performance can catapult a team into a great start for memorable seasons.
Top 5 Week 1 performances for Louisville football since 2000
5. Deion Branch, WR - 2000
Stat Line: 9 Receptions, 123 Receiving Yards, 2 Touchdowns
The Louisville legend (and future Super Bowl MVP) posted an incredible day to start the season against the bitter in-state rival. Deion Branch’s masterful performance at the wide receiver position was undoubtedly welcomed by quarterback Dave Ragone, who also posted 256 passing yards and three touchdowns himself in the same game.
Louisville went on to win the Governor’s Cup 40-34 that day. Branch went on to have 71 receptions, 1,016 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns in the 2000 season, where Louisville ended with a 9-3 record and reached as high as No. 22 in the AP Poll.
This season laid the groundwork for the Cardinals' success in the 2000s. It propelled Louisville into the national spotlight and the top 25 rankings, a place where the Cardinals grew instead at home for most of the decade.
Related: 3 under-the-radar wide receivers who could explode for Louisville in 2025
4. Teddy Bridgewater, QB - 2013
Stat Line: 23-28, 355 Passing Yards, 5 Touchdowns
True Cardinal fans had to know Teddy Bridgewater’s name would grace this list at some point. The current Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup started his junior (and final) season with the Cardinals off with a bang.
Sure, the opponent was no longer the hated Wildcats from across I-64, but this was a significant performance nonetheless. Louisville was coming off a highly successful 2012 season, which ended with a massive Sugar Bowl win against the Florida Gators.
It also cemented Bridgewater’s status as one of the top quarterbacks in college football at the time. This performance was a sign of more to come for the 2013 season. With only one loss in 2013 against the Central Florida Knights and Blake Bortles, Louisville rolled through the 2013 season and showed that they were ready to move on to bigger and better conferences.
Louisville was primed to make the move to the ACC the following season and further expand the brand of Louisville football. The Cardinals capped off the season with the best “hello” to the ACC, a 36-9 throttling of now conference foe Miami Hurricanes in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Related: Amid coaching scandal, a Louisville legend is coming out of retirement
3. Michael Bush, RB - 2006
Stat Line: 17 Rushing Attempts, 128 Rushing Yards, 3 Touchdowns
This performance should come with an asterisk, as the potential for additional production was tragically cut short. Bush was entering his senior and final season as a Louisville Cardinal with high hopes and expectations, being a Louisville native, but his time was unfortunately cut short due to a devastating injury.
Bush’s performance and Louisville's dominating 59-28 win over the cross-state rivals Kentucky gave a considerable head start to what would become one of Louisville's most memorable seasons. Led by the star QB, current Louisville offensive coordinator and Louisville native as well, Brian Brohm, Louisville would finish the season 12-1, which included a win in the Orange Bowl against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Had it not been for a disappointing loss against Rutgers late in the season, this Cardinals squad could have played its way into the BCS National Championship game—a memorable season nonetheless for the Cardinals and one that genuinely put the Cardinals into the national spotlight.
Related: 5 Louisville football players that will make or break the Cardinals' 2025 season
2. Elvis Dumervil, DE - 2005
Stat Line: 11 Total Tackles, 6 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles
The lone defensive entry on this list, Dumervil, posted one of the most incredible stat lines for a game in recent Louisville Football history. His six sacks played a huge role in stopping new Kentucky QB Andre Woodson and the UK offense. Louisville won this game 31-24 in a hard-fought matchup to start the 2005 season. Dumervil’s presence was felt all game, with him stepping up and making key defensive plays in critical moments.
It was a fantastic start for a massive season for Dumervil, which included an incredible 20 sacks. Dumervil would go on to win the Nagurski Award, which is awarded to college football’s top defensive player at the end of each season. This also established Dumervil as a prime defensive prospect for the NFL draft, where he was selected in the 4th round by the Denver Broncos and experienced great success.
Dumervil’s impact on the stellar defense, especially in the Governor’s Cup to open the season, gave Louisville the leader it needed to be successful. Louisville also finished the season 9-3, laying the foundation for the memorable 2006 season mentioned in the previous section.
Related: 5 Louisville football players with the most to prove in 2025
1. Lamar Jackson, QB - 2016
Stat Line: 17-23, 286 Passing Yards, 6 Passing Touchdowns, 11 Rushing Attempts, 119 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing Touchdowns
Many Cardinals fans will recognize this year right off the bat. Jackson started his sophomore and Heisman-winning season with style, with a 70-14 drubbing of the Charlotte 49ers. Jackson was coming off an impressive end to the 2015 season, where he started to emerge as the star the Cardinal coaching staff envisioned when he stepped onto campus.
Looking at that stat line shows just how impressive Jackson was in a Louisville uniform. Now let it sink in that Jackson did not play in the second half of this game. Yes. All of those yards and touchdowns occurred by halftime.
This was obviously a massive sign of things to come for Jackson and the Cardinals. This stat line became the norm week after week as the Cardinals continued their winning ways. They played at the highest levels and in some of the most memorable games that season, from the 63-20 runaway win against the Florida State Seminoles to the heartbreaking loss down in Death Valley to the Clemson Tigers.
Related: 3 stats prove Louisville football legend Lamar Jackson deserved MVP, not Josh Allen
For all the latest on Louisville football's offseason, stay tuned.