Louisville football fans, we have finally arrived at the “meat” of the schedule and the conference games. Louisville will play its first ACC game, traveling to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers this Saturday. Acrisure Field (formerly Heinz Field) has not been a kind place to the Cardinals over the years. Louisville has yet to win at Pittsburgh since joining the ACC in 2014 (0-3 in road games at Pitt during that stretch). The Cardinals will look to reverse that trend and get their 2025 conference schedule off to a strong start.
The first preliminary injury report for this game was released on Thursday evening, with many Cardinals fans disappointed with the findings reported. Louisville will be without key defensive pieces in LB Stanquan Clark (as expected) and CB Rodney Johnson Jr., and may be without defensive line staples in Wes Bailey and Rene Konga (both listed as questionable). However, the highlight of the report is solely at the running back position. Louisville will be without Keyjuan Brown and may be without Isaac Brown and Duke Watson (both listed as questionable).
These reported injuries could put the running game and defense in a potentially rough spot for the first ACC game of the season if those who are questionable are unable to play. Louisville will need to rely on other key starters to step up and take on a greater share of the team's load, especially in a tough spot on the road.
So, here are five Louisville football players who will need to have big games to avoid an upset against the Pittsburgh Panthers.