The Louisville football team is finally gearing up for their first true test of the 2025 season. The Louisville Cardinals are getting ready for an epic showdown with the Pittsburgh Panthers this weekend in Week 5 from Acrisure Stadium.
Louisville fans are quite confident that the Cardinals will march into Acrisure Stadium and secure a win on Saturday. A significant reason Cardinals fans are optimistic is that their defense has been dominant through three games. They feel good that Louisville won't just win the trenches, but will also dominate Pitt's star running back, Desmond Reid.
Entering the 2025 season, Reid was regarded as a Preseason All-American, but after his poor performance last year vs the Cardinals and his underwhelming start to the 2025 season, he is gearing up to face the best defense so far this year, and this Cardinals' defense is going to make it a long day for him.
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The Louisville football team will dominate Desmond Reid and Pitt's offense
While Reid is one of the most explosive backs in the nation, he has shown against elite defenses that he has a hard time breaking free and leading his Pitt Panthers to a victory. Mark Hagen and Ron English proved last year that Louisville can dominate the trenches and completely eliminate Reid from the game plan, and this Saturday will be the same outcome.
Clev Lubin has been a dominant force through three games, leading the Cardinals in total tackles with 19, while also recording 3.5 sacks, two pass deflections, and one forced fumble. Reid has yet to face a player like Lubin, and last season, when these two teams met, Ashton Gillotte laid out the blueprint for Lubin, who logged three tackles for a loss, including two sacks.
Reid logged 18 carries but was only able to get 59 rushing yards in last year's dominant Cardinals victory, which is just 3.1 yards per carry. His longest run was just for 18 yards, and if you take that run away, he ran 17 times for 41 yards, which is just 2.4 yards per carry. The Cardinals gave up just 75 total yards on the ground last season, and with Reid coming off an injury against West Virginia, it should be a dominant day for this Louisville defense.
As of now, it is uncertain whether Reid will be a full go on Saturday, but regardless of whether Reid plays or Juelz Goff is their No. 1 guy, the Cardinals' defense is poised to dominate this rushing attack and lead Louisville to its fourth win of the season.
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For all the latest on Louisville football's 2025 season and recruiting, stay tuned.