Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. James Madison Dukes

James Madison Dukes (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) at Louisville Cardinals (1-0, 0-0 ACC)

- Kickoff: Friday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: L&N Stadium in Louisville, Ky.
- Weather Conditions: Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. High 85F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
- How To Watch: ESPN2
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -13.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 1-0
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 34-10 on Nov. 11, 2022 (L&N Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Game Notes

Louisville

• The University of Louisville continues its stretch of three-straight home games when the Cardinals host James Madison on Friday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
• The Cardinals and Dukes will meet for only the second time in school history and the first time since the 2022 season. Louisville won the only encounter 34-10.
• The Cardinals amassed 542 yards of offense against EKU, the sixth highest total in a season opener. Louisville rushed for 229 yards and four scores and averaged a solid 7.6 yards per carry in the 51-17 win over the Colonels. It was Louisville’s fourth-straight win dating back to last season.
• Head coach Jeff Brohm became the first Louisville coach to win his first three season openers since Bobby Petrino won his first five from 2003-06 and 2014.
• Scoring 51 points in the season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky, Louisville scored at least 30 points for the 12th time in 14 home games under Brohm.
• Quarterback Miller Moss made his Louisville debut by going 17-of-25 for 223 yards and one touchdown. He tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Duke Watson for his lone passing touchdown of the game.
• Wide receiver Caullin Lacy caught four passes for 62 yards, but electrified the crowd with a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown — Louisville’s longest punt return since 1970 and the second longest in program history. It was his second special teams score in his Louisville career after he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown last season in a 52-45 loss to Miami at L&N Stadium. Lacy averaged 31.25 yards on four punt returns against EKU.
• Running back Isaac Brown notched his sixth 100-yard rushing game in only his 14th career game when he totaled 126 yards on six carries. The sophomore averaged 21.0 yards per carry, which included a 68-yard touchdown run — his 12th career rushing touchdown in his first two seasons.
• Defensive end Clev Lubin, who registered 9.5 sacks with Coastal Carolina last season, made an impressive Louisville debut with four tackles and a pair of sacks against Eastern Kentucky.
• Louisville allowed only 150 yards of offense, holding the Colonels to 74 yards rushing and 76 yards passing. The Cardinals sacked EKU quarterback Myles Burkett four times and limited the Colonels to an average of just 1.9 yards per carry.
• Defensive tackle Jordan Guerad built off his Defensive MVP performance in the Sun Bowl by recording six tackles and one tackle for loss against the Colonels.
• Placekicker Cooper Ranvier connected from 23 yards on the first field goal attempt of his career. The kicker also went 5-of-6 on points-after-touchdown attempts in the victory over EKU.
• Defensive lineman AJ Green had three solo tackles in the win over the Colonels, including his second career sack.

James Madison

• Entering Friday’s game, JMU has won games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams in back-to-back seasons.
• Both wins were also the two highest-scoring games for the Dukes versus a power-conference program.
• The Dukes are 4-10 all-time against the ACC, with two wins over Virginia and one each against North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
• Last season, JMU had a 53-point first half en route to a 70-50 win at UNC. Alonza Barnett III scored a JMU-record seven touchdowns, becoming the first Sun Belt player to register five passing touchdowns and two rushing scores in the same game. He had career highs of 388 passing yards, 99 rushing yards and 487 total yards, which ranked third in JMU single-game history for total offense.
• The 70 points were an opponent record at Kenan Stadium, and the 120 combined points marked the highestscoring game in JMU history.
• The season prior in 2023, JMU stormed back from 11 down in the fourth quarter to defeat Virginia in Charlottesville, 36-35, in the teams’ first meeting in 40 years. JMU’s defense held UVA to 18 rushing yards while Ty Son Lawton rushed for two touchdowns and Jordan McCloud threw the game-winning touchdown to Kaelon Black with 55 seconds remaining.
• In each of the wins, JMU blocked a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. Last year, Terrence Spence blocked a punt, and Jayden Mines picked it up for the score. In the UVA win, Aiden Fisher blocked the punt near the goal line and D’Angelo Ponds scooped it up for the touchdown.

Depth Charts

Here are the depth charts for both teams ahead of their matchup: Louisville vs. James Madison

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Dukes, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of the Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. James Madison

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing white helmets with red jerseys and pants, while James Madison will be wearing all white.