Louisville Breezes Past Eastern Kentucky in Season Opener

As expected, the Louisville football program's 2025 season is off to an incredibly fast start.

Kicking off year three of the Jeff Brohm era with a matchup against in-state FCS foe Eastern Kentucky, the Cardinals easily cruised to a blowout victory over the Colonels, securing a 51-17 win on Saturday at L&N Stadium.

Louisville (1-0, 0-0 ACC) moves to the 3-0 under head coach Jeff Brohm in season-openers, having won by a combined score of 152-51, including 113-17 between the 2024 and 2025 openers.

Whether Louisville was on offense or defense, they were an overwhelming force against Eastern Kentucky, out-gaining them 542 yards to 150. The Cardinals averaged 8.1 yards per play, while the Colonels got past midfield just four times in their 12 total drives. The only area where UofL left some to be desired was in the penalty department, committing 12 of them.

The offensive star of the show, unsurprisingly, was Isaac Brown. The star running back only had six carries, but that's all he needed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

USC transfer quarterback Miller Moss was mostly sharp in his UofL debut. He went 17-of-25 for 223 yards and a touchdown, albeit with a pair of interceptions as well. Wide receivers Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy combined for nine receptions for 125 yards, while running back Duke Watson caught Moss' touchdown. WR Kris Hughes also had three catches for 50 yards and a score.

Lacy also collected a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown, which was the second-longest punt return in program history (96 - Greg Campbell vs. Memphis State on Nov. 7, 1970). He finished the game with 204 all-purpose yards.

Defensively, the Cardinals held EKU QB Myles Burkett to 5-of-14 for 76 yards, and gave up just 74 rushing yards on 39 attempts (1.9 YPC). They collected six tackles for loss plus four sacks by game's end. Defensive tackle Jordan Guerad finished with a team-best six tackles, defensive end Clev Lubin tallied a pair of sacks.

Louisville put their foot on the gas right out of the gates, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first seven-plus minutes. They capped off their opening drive with a 31-yard rushing score from Brown, then after forcing an Eastern Kentucky three-and-out on the Colonels' first drive, Lacy took the ensuing punt to the house.

Adding in an eight-yard score on a keeper from Moss in the final minute of the opening quarter, and the Cardinals not only out-scored EKU 21-0 through the first quarter, but put up 164 yards of offense while holding their visitors to negative-three.

Louisville added three more touchdowns in the second quarter, with the first team unit scoring on their first five drives of the afternoon. Brown ripped off a 68-yard run for his second score, Watson caught a 30-yard contested pass, then Keyjuan Brown punched it in from a yard out.

However, there was some sloppiness to end the half, as Moss threw back-to-back interceptions down the stretch - both coming to former Kentucky corner Vito Tisdale. A high pass tipped off of TreyShun Hurry's hands and into Tisdale's for a pick-six, while Antonio Meeks could not hold onto the ball after hitting the ground, allowing Tisdale to snag it out of the air.

Still, these were the only highlights from Eastern Kentucky's defense against Louisville's first-team offense, as the Cardinals still put up a whopping 373 yards in the first half. Combine that with their first-team defense holding the Colonels to just 38 yards during this time, and the home team went into halftime with a resounding 41-7 advantage.

Once the backups entered the game in the second half, there was a little bit of a fall off from an offensive standpoint. Louisville put up only 169 yards after halftime, and scored a touchdown on only one of their five second half drives. Placekicker Cooper Ranvier also added 23-yard chip shot field goal.

Brady Allen was the first backup quarterback to enter, and he went 6-of-9 for 69 yards and a 31-yard touchdown to Kris Hughes, although he too threw an interception. Deuce Adams also got some run, going 2-for-3 through the air for 21 yards, while also running for 10 yards.

Defensively, the Cardinals continued to come after the Colonels, with the backups giving up just 112 second half yards. While they gave up two scored - a touchdown and a 38-yard field goal - in five EKU drives, the touchdown came as a result of a short field following Allen's interception.

Next up, Louisville has a short turnaround and will host James Madison for their first primetime showdown of the young season. Kickoff against the Dukes is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST.