With spring practice underway and Louisville football officially knowing who they play this season and when, let's take a deep dive and predict each game for this upcoming 2025 season.
Louisville football went 9-4 in 2024 with a 5-3 ACC record. The Cardinals have some new faces on this 2025 roster, including a new starting quarterback, and a whole new secondary. Former USC quarterback Miller Moss transferred to Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals this offseason, as the unanimous 4-star prospect will look to take over Tyler Shough, who declared for the NFL Draft.
So, how will Louisville football fair in the ACC with the giants like Clemson and Miami, and newcomer of SMU? Who will step up for Louisville?
Here are my predictions for each of Louisville football's games in the 2025 season.
Louisville football is opening its season at home in L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. The Cardinals will most likely have some growing pains in this game, but when the clock hits zero, the game will not be close.
Not much really has to be said about this matchup, but it will be a perfect opportunity for Miller Moss to showcase his arm strength and skill, and build a connection with Caullin Lacy, and for the secondary to get some quality reps.
This is an easy pick, as Louisville football will pick up their first win of the season, and should run away early, and never look back
This game will be a great week-two test for Jeff Brohm and his Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals will go head-to-head with James Madison University at home again, and it will be a great battle.
JMU is coming off an impressive 9-4 season, including a 70-50 victory over a fellow ACC team, North Carolina. Cardinals are much better than the Tar Heels and the skill position in this game with the Dukes will show.
The Dukes gave up 191.5 rushing yards per game last season, and that isn't a great recipe for this dominant rushing offense. Expect this offensive line and Isaac Brown to have a field day this game and take over.
While James Madison is an upgrade from week one's opponent Eastern Kentucky, the Cardinals will secure their second win of the season and start 2-0.
Louisville football will start on a three-game home stretch, as on Sept. 20, the Cardinals will face Bowling Green in week 3. Don't overlook this game, as the Falcons nearly pulled off the upset over the Penn State Nittany Lions last year at PSU.
Bowling Green secured eight wins last season, and five of their six losses came by one score or less. The Cardinals' offense will have to elevate their game this week, and it could be a Miller-Moss performance. On top of that, expect this defense to step it up, and see TJ Quinn have a staple of a game before ACC play.
Louisville football will secure their third win on the season, and start the year 3-0 for the third consecutive season.
Louisville first ACC opponent of the season is the Pitt Panthers, and it is also Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals' first away game of the season. This will be the toughest opponent for Louisville so far, but the Cardinals are coming off a 37-9 win from last year and will look to head into their bye week 4-0.
This will be a hard road battle-tested game for Miller Moss and the Cardinals, but Jeff Brohm and his squad will pull off the win. Louisville will start 4-0 for the first time since 2023, and it will be a great feeling.
Expect this game to be close, and maybe come down to who has the ball last, but at the end of the day, Louisville has the best player on the field in Isaac Brown and the better quarterback and will come out on top over the Pitt Panthers.
This matchup with Virginia is the definition of a trap game. The Cardinals will have to make sure they don't overlook the Cavaliers, and look ahead to their bye week and Miami.
The Cardinals should dominate this game, but just like last year, it was much closer than anyone thought it would be. UofL has the record on UVA, as Louisville is 8-5 all-time in this matchup, and Louisville will make it 9-5. The Cavaliers' defense doesn't have enough to play with Caullin Lacy and Chris Bell on the outside and not enough on the interior to keep Isaac Brown contained.
Jeff Brohm and Louisville football will go into their bye week 5-0.
This is the matchup everyone has been waiting for. A potential rank-vs-rank showdown, maybe even a top 15 showdown, the Louisville Cardinals vs the Miami Hurricanes.
Both teams gained new quarterbacks from the transfer portal, as Miami picked up Carson Beck from Georgia, and the Cardinals, of course, have Miller Moss from USC. This showdown last season was an absolute shootout and one of the best games in college football.
This game is being labeled as the game that will make or break the Cardinals season, and a huge deciding factor if Louisville makes it to the ACC Championship. This will be a dog fight of a matchup, but it might just be too much for the Cardinals.
This Miami team is expected to be one of the best in the nation, and adding Beck might just be too much for this Cardinals defense. Miami wil secure the victory and pick up their fourth win over the Cardinals in the last five games of this rivalry.
Louisville football will lose this game, and fall to 5-1 and give Miller Moss his first loss as a Cardinal.
The Cardinals return home and will play in front of their loyal fans. UofL will be hungry after their close loss to Miami the week prior, as the Cardinals will face Boston College in their 18th showdown. Louisville holds a 10-7 record over BC.
Louisville has won three of the last four, and two-straight over Boston College, and the Cardinals will make it four of the last five and three-straight over the Eagles. It was a close game last year at Boston College's home field, but this year, following a tough loss to Miami, expect a hungry Jeff Brohm Cardinals team to run away with this game.
This has potential to be a season-changing game and to show the whole ACC that the Cardinals are the real deal and are not going away. Louisville football will improve to 6-1 in the season.
Louisville travels back on the road, and this time it will be in one of their most challenging environment, as they will play Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium. However, VT hasn't been the same, and Lane Stadium hasn't had the same impact as it has in the past.
The Cardinals enter this game trying to compete for the ACC title and possibly a chance at the College Football Playoffs. Louisville football will have too much offensive power in this game and can lean heavily on their passing game. This could be a Chris Bell or Cauliin Lacy breakout game, as either will be able to have a 100-yard game against this Hokies defense.
Expect the three-headed monster of Moss, Lacy, and Brown to thrive and lead the Cardinals to 7-1.
This will be another trap game, as Louisville football fans will all be excited for next week's showdown with Clemson, but the Cardinals must make sure not to overlook Cal.
This game will be closer than some may think, as the Golden Bears will look to shock the ACC and end the Cardinals' dreams. However, after a tough first half, Louisville will run away with this game and start looking forward to maybe the biggest game in Cardinals football's recent history.
Louisville football improves to 8-1, and will be a top 15 team in the nation, and will now have their ACC Championship dreams on the line next week vs Clemson.
Can the Cardinals do it? Can the Cardinals get it done and secure their second-ever win over the Clemson Tigers? This game will mark a three-game gauntlet of a stretch for Louisville football, and this game is vital for their ACC dreams.
It will come down to Miller Moss. The transfer quarterback has to be able to throw with Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik and make smart decisions. This game will be close. The Cardinals blew the Tigers out last year, despite the final score of it only being 33-21.
Louisville is 1-8 all-time vs Clemson, and unfortunately, this Tigers offense will be just too much for the Tigers' weakness on the defensive side. Brown will do all he can like last year and try to rush for 150-plus again, but at the end of the day, this Tigers team is even better than last year, and Dabo Swinney will have them ready for this top-15 showdown in Louisville.
Cardinals will fall to the Tigers, and will fall to 8-2 on the year.
Win, and the Cardinals most likely have a shot at the ACC Championship; lose, and they will probably fall out of the top two. Cardinals are trying to bounce back from last year's loss against SMU, but this SMU team will be just too much for Miller Moss and company.
SMU returning quarterback, Kevin Jennings will look to have a smilar game this year, but this time on SMU's home turf. Last season Jennings threw for 21/27, 281 passing yards, and rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Jeff Brohm and his Cardinals will fall in consecutive years to SMU, and will be 8-3 entering the last week, and will try and secure that ninth win next week against Kentucky.
Well, the Cardinals are most likely out of the ACC Championship game and College Football Playoffs conversation, but they still have to keep the Governor's Cup and defeat their in-state rival, the Kentucky Wildcats.
And they will. Louisville football is coming off two straight losses and wants to finish on a high note and secure that nine-win season yet again for the third-straight season. Cardinals will be too much for this Wildcats team and will secure the over in their win total from preseason, and will be 9-3.
Conclusion
These are just my projections; some may agree, and others may disagree. The Cardinals have a tough ACC schedule with SMU, Miami, and Clemson, and it is vital for Louisville to secure at least one win in those three games to make history and win 10 games this season.
The Cardinals have all the skills on the offensive side to compete in the ACC for a title, but the defense worries most. Jeff Brohm and his staff have a lot of work to do, but they have a path to contend in the ACC. I see the Cardinals going 9-3 in the 2025 season and 5-3 in the ACC.