Louisville Not Overlooking Season-Opening Matchup vs. Eastern Kentucky

The countdown to kickoff is inching closer and closer to hitting zero.

Last weekend, college football made its return with the annual slate of "week zero" games, highlighted by No. 22 Iowa State's 24-21 win over No. 17 Kansas State in Ireland. This upcoming weekend, the vast majority will also get in on the season-opening action with week one.

The opening weekend of college football has several marquee matchups on tap. No. 1 overall Texas heads to The Shoe to take on No. 3 and defending national champion Ohio State. No. 9 LSU travels to No. 4 Clemson in the hyped up battle for the real "Death Valley." No. 6 Notre Dame, the national runner-up, is going to Coral Gables for a showdown with No. 10 Miami.

As for the Louisville football program, while they have a handful of marquee opponents on their schedule, their season-opener doesn't exactly have a ton of national flair behind it. For the second year in a row, they'll be opening up the season with a matchup against an FCS opponent, this time welcoming in-state foe Eastern Kentucky up to L&N Stadium.

"Coach (Walt) Wells done a really good job coaching that football team," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "They play football the right way, fundamentally sound, and they'll come in here hungry and ready to go. We've got to come out swinging, and play our best football."

Louisville is a massive favorite in this matchup this Saturday, opening up as a nearly 40-point favorite over EKU earlier this week. But just because the Cardinals viewed as a team who should cruise to victory, head coach Jeff Brohm knows from personal experience not to overlook an underdofg team who's hungry to make a statement.

"I've been at Western Kentucky, and when you're there, you got a chip on your shoulder, you're hungry, you're out to prove what type of football you can play. Anytime you get a chance to play against a power opponent, you're going to be ready to go. These players will be licking their lips and ready to play football, and show what they can do. Then I'm sure Coach will have them ready to do that.

"We've got to understand that, and understand that on any given day, anything can happen. We've got to step up to the challenge and be really good, be sharp and execute, and make plays, and be precise in what we're doing. Because, without question, EKU will come in here hungry and ready to play."

While the Colonels started their 2024 season getting smacked by Mississippi State and Western Kentucky by a combined scored of 87-7, they actually wound up being a good team by FCS standards.

EKU finished the regular season going 8-4 and 6-2 in UAC play, which was actually enough for them to clinch an at-large bid in the FCS playoffs. In fact, they very nearly pulled off a road upset over Villanova in the first round. However, on the final play of the game, the would-be game-winning touchdown reception was just barely out of bounds, sealing a 22-17 loss.

As you can imagine, given the current nature of college football, head coach Walt Wells' squad is going to look a tad different in 2025. For starters, starting quarterback Matt Morrissey and running back Joshua Carter both graduated, while leading tackler linebacker Maddox Marcellus transferred to Virginia.

That being said, Wells and his staff have positioned Eastern Kentucky well for another run at the FCS playoffs. QB Myles Burkett transfers in from Albany, FCS Freshmen All-American wide receiver Marcus Calwise Jr. returns, as does second-leading tackler linebacker Braden Sullivan.

Additionally, there is a good amount of continuity in the staff, as offensive coordinator Andy Richman and defensive coordinator Jake Johnson have a combined 10 years of experience in Richmond. While there isn't any film available for the current EKU squad, the Louisville staff knows what to expect out of a Walt Wells-coached team.

"They do a great job of making you discern between run and pass, trying to make it very difficult not to give you anything easy, to where you can just line up and tee off on them either way," linebackers coach Mark Ivey said of EKU. "They're going to make you defend both. They've got some really balanced things that they do to put you in a precarious situation where you are stopping in the run, and they're hitting you for the pass, and vice versa.

"Watching them play, there were some games last year where they were down by some points, and they came back and won. A couple times it was double digit deficits, and they just kept battling, and ended up winning those ball games. In the playoffs, you're talking an inch from advancing, on that last play the game, to the second round, and another victory."

Brohm and his staff have a lot of respect for the way Wells runs his program, with Ivey calling him a "quality football coach" and someone who is "going to do a lot of things to try to put us in positions that'll be advantageous for them." Along with the "one game season" mentality that has been a staple of Brohm's culture since he arrived back in Louisville, UofL's coaches have imparted this respect for Wells onto their players.

"Eastern Kentucky's a good team," center Pete Nygra said. "We watched film on them, they made the playoffs last year in the FCS, they're a fantastic team. You treat each week the same. You treat each opponent the same. It's a one-game season, you focus on going 1-0 that week, and then as soon as that game's done, win or loss, you go into the next one."

Kickoff between Louisville and Eastern Kentucky is set for Saturday, August 30 at 3:00 p.m. EST.