Ranked in the Top 25 in September for the first time since 2020, No. 22 Louisville looks to continue its strong start on Saturday at home against Jacksonville State.
The visiting Gamecocks were favored in last week’s opener against Coastal Carolina, but coach Rich Rodriguez’s team turned the ball over three times, allowed 552 yards of total offense and dropped a 55-27 decision at home.
On the flip side, the Cardinals were heavily favored at home last week and decked Austin Peay 62-0, allowing just 106 yards of total offense.
“(It’s) a great opportunity for our players be in a great venue against a really good team,” Rodriguez said. “Our guys know the challenge in front of them, and I think they’ll give great effort, great focus all week by getting the chance to play Louisville, who I think is, probably the best team in the ACC, at least one of the best teams.”
Louisville has 41 newcomers on the roster after going 10-4 last season, making it to the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game for the first time in school history. Second-year coach Jeff Brohm has warned his team that Jacksonville State “will be ready for this opportunity.”
Brohm and Rodriguez met once before, when the former’s Purdue squad edged Arizona 38-35 in the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl.
“He’s very good and he’s been doing this a long time,” Brohm said of Rodriguez, who also coached at West Virginia and Michigan.
“You know when you are going against him there’s a lot to prepare for. He understands the game, he gets it, he’s done it and he knows how to take players and maximize their talent level. So, we’ll have our hands full. This is a well-coached team and they’re going to be hungry coming off a loss at home.”
Louisville’s Tyler Shough, a transfer from Texas Tech, passed for 232 yards and four touchdowns in one half of play against Austin Peay. The Cardinals saw 15 players catch at least one pass and were led in rushing by true freshman Isaac Brown, who had 123 yards and one TD on five carries. Brown’s rushing total was the most by a true freshman in a debut in school history.
On defense, the Cardinals had 14 tackles for a loss and seven sacks.
The Gamecocks rotated two quarterbacks against Coastal Carolina and Rodriguez said that will likely continue, with Logan Smothers starting and Tyler Huff also playing. Huff completed 7 of 14 passes for 173 yards and one TD but two interceptions. Smothers had 61 yards on 7-of-13 passing.
“It’ll be a very, very talented team that plays hard, and like I said, they’ve got good players across the board, but we do too,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got good players and it’ll be a fun game.”
This will be the first time Jacksonville State, a member of Conference USA, has played an ACC foe since upsetting Florida State in 2021.
