Louisville football's 2024 schedule is out. Here are 5 key games for Jeff Brohm's team
Louisville's football players will need to be road warriors this season.
While one of their best wins came at Miami last year, the Cardinals generally struggled on the road. Three of their four losses were away from L&N Stadium. They benefited playing Duke and Notre Dame at home, where they thrived and earned commanding wins.
Louisville has a challenging road schedule in 2024, and if the Cardinals hope to get back to the ACC championship game, they’re going to have to play better away from home.
Here are five key games for Louisville in 2024:
at Notre Dame, Sept. 28
One of Louisville’s signature wins last season was against the Fighting Irish, who finished 14th in the US LBM Coaches Poll. It was only the second time in four meetings that the Cardinals got a win and did so in front of a record-setting crowd. A year later, they’ll go to Notre Dame in search of their second win on the Fighting Irish’s home field.
Although the game in South Bend, Indiana, is one month into the regular season, it will be a good early test for the Cardinals after contests against Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Georgia Tech. A win would be a good momentum push and confidence boost for the next week, when U of L jumps back into conference play against SMU, its new ACC mate.
Miami, Oct. 19
Sandwiched between road games against Virginia and Boston College is a home game against Miami. The Hurricanes likely will be one of the more competitive teams the Cardinals play at home. This is also the midpoint of the ACC schedule, which makes it even more important to collect as many wins as possible for a chance to make it back to Charlotte, North Carolina, in December for the league title game.
Louisville played at a high level at home last year and set itself up for one of the top two spots in the ACC. If that trend continues, U of L should defeat Miami for only the fifth time in program history.
at Clemson, Nov. 2
The Tigers are back on the schedule. After having a year off from playing each other in 2023, Louisville and Clemson will face off for the first time since the Tigers’ 31-16 win over the Cardinals in 2022.
Despite falling on hard times recently, Clemson has been one of the conference’s powerhouses. The Tigers are the only team on Louisville’s schedule to have a perfect record against the Cardinals, pocketing eight wins since U of L joined the ACC in 2014. The opportunity to play at Clemson and get a win would be a big step in coach Jeff Brohm’s second year after setting a high bar in his coaching debut with his alma mater. The Cardinals also will have an extra day to prepare after playing Boston College on a Friday night the week before.
at Stanford, Nov. 16
Louisville got a taste of what it would be like traveling to the West Coast for its bowl game, playing Southern California in San Diego. The Cardinals should benefit by playing Stanford on the other side of an open week but still must conquer the challenge of adjusting to a different time zone and climate during what’s generally a colder time of year.
The Cardinals and Cardinal have never played, which makes it even more important to begin the series with a win. It will be the second-to-last ACC game of the season, which, if the 2024 season is anything like 2023, can be the difference between Louisville earning a spot in the conference title game again and falling out of the ACC race.
at Kentucky, Nov. 30
The Governor’s Cup always will be an important game on Louisville’s schedule, especially considering the Cardinals' five-game losing streak. For as much momentum as the Cardinals were riding last year, they couldn’t get over the hump to beat Kentucky, which was their lone home loss of the season.
This year, U of L will try to get the job done on the road. In the Cardinals' last game at Kroger Field, Louisville lost, 26-13. If the Cardinals build off the transfer portal and continue to improve during the 2024 season, they have a decent chance to snap their losing skid against their rivals.
Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: 5 key games for Jeff Brohm on 2024 schedule
