Louisville Cardinals (3-2, 1-1 ACC)
Head Coach: Scott Satterfield (66-38 overall, 15-14 at Louisville)
Series: Louisville leads the series 5-4
Last Meeting: UVa defeated Louisville 31-17 in Charlottesville last year
Louisville Offense
Like Virginia, Louisville’s offense has been effective so far this season. The Cardinals are averaging 32.2 points per contest, and have gone over 30 points in each of their last four games after scoring 24 in the opener against Ole Miss. The Cardinals are averaging just over six yards per play, and have been extraordinarily balanced, with 198 rushing attempts and 170 passes. The Cardinals have rushed for at least 130 yards in each game this season, and had a 208-yard effort at Wake Forest last weekend. Through the air, the Cards have had at least 200 passing yards per contest with a pair of 300-yard games.
Louisville has converted just over 39 percent of their third down tries, and are 17-for-18 in the red zone. The Cardinals are even in turnover margin, with six giveaways and six takeaways. Louisville has had trouble hanging on to the football, with eight fumbles forced by opponents. Only four of those ended up as turnovers, so it’s hard to say Louisville has had really good or bad turnover luck thus far.
The Cardinals are going to lean heavily on quarterback Malik Cunningham on Saturday, as they have all year long. Cunningham will square off against Virginia for the fourth consecutive season, having lost both matchups in Charlottesville with a win the last time UVa went to the Derby City. Cunningham hasn’t had much success through the air against Virginia, going 25-for-40 for 322 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in three meetings. Cunningham did torch Virginia on the ground last year, rushing for 197 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 20 attempts.
This year, Cunningham has shown improvement as a passer, completing 64 percent of his passes, with seven touchdowns and only two interceptions. Cunningham had his best passing performance of the season at Wake last week, going for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cunningham has also been a good runner, particularly around the goal line. The Louisville quarterback has rushed for 10 touchdowns this season, which ranks second nationally.
