Louisville football 2025-26 season is all of a sudden right around the corner. The Cardinals will kick off against Eastern Michigan in front of 60,000 strong, representing the red and black.
Jeff Brohm and his squad's offense is going to score a lot of points this season. They are expected to have a top 25 offense, led by USC transfer Miller Moss and preseason All-American Isaac Brown.
Louisville's offense is well-stocked, and it is expected to carry most of the load for the team.
However, the big question mark heading into ACC media days is their defense, and specifically their defensive end. The Cardinals have set their sights on ACC glory and the ACC Title, and if they want to make that happen, their defense will have to step up, specifically their new defensive ends.
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Louisville football's biggest 'Area of Concern' is their Defensive Ends
The Cardinals lost a massive piece from the last few seasons as senior Ashton Gillotte was a dominant piece on Mark Hagen's defense. Giollote was the star on Louisville's defensive front line, earning 21.5 sacks over the last three seasons, including 11 in 2023.
Now, the Cardinals will turn to two transfers, Wesley Bailey and Cev Lubin, to replace Giolotte, and it appears it is their biggest hole heading into the season. With media days coming up, someone must ask Brohm if his defensive end is looking good heading into the season.
Bailey and Lubin both come from smaller football programs, as Bailey transfers in from Rutgers and Lubin comes in from Coastal Carolina. Lubin had a massive season for the Chanticleers last year as he racked up 43 total tackles, 9.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and three pass deflections.
It will be crucial that one of these transfers can step up the Cardinals' secondary, which is just as thin. Louisville's secondary lost four of its top five defensive backs from last season, so pressure on the opponent's quarterback will be crucial.
ESPN recently put out an article for the biggest "Area of concern for Top 25 college football teams in 2025," and with Louisville being ranked No. 22 in their preseason top 25, David Hale wrote about the Cardinals' "Area of Concern", and completely agrees.
"For the past three years, Louisville was able to rely on a genuine star off the edge in Ashton Gillotte, who racked up 21.5 sacks from 2022-24. Gillotte is off to the NFL now, a third-round pick by the Chiefs. That leaves a major void at defensive end. Louisville has a couple of transfers -- Wesley Bailey from Rutgers and Clev Lubin from Coastal Carolina -- hoping to fill the void, but the strength of the D-line will certainly be on the interior, where the Cards have much more established depth. As Louisville works to remedy issues defending the pass, finding someone -- or, ideally, a few guys -- who can get after the QB will be one of the most critical jobs for the defense as it prepares for 2025. "David Hale
The Cardinals' interior on the defensive line is expected to be their strength, but the outside, where chaos is created and pressure is applied to contain the quarterback, is an area of concern for fans.
Louisville's defensive line will have some depth, and it will have potential, but heading into game one, something fans must keep an eye on is how much pressure the defensive ends are getting on the quarterback, because if they want to beat Miami and Clemson, pressure on those elite quarterbacks will be pivotal.
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