Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Boston College Eagles

The Cardinals hit the road for a short turnaround against the Eagles.

Sep 23, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals wide receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (9) scores a touchdown despite the efforts of Boston College Eagles defensive back Jalen Cheek (10) during the second half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Louisville defeated Boston College 56-28. / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Louisville Cardinals (4-3, 2-2 ACC) at Boston College Eagles (4-3, 1-2 ACC)

- Kickoff: Friday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. EST
- Location: Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
- Weather Conditions: Partly cloudy. Low 44F. Winds light and variable.
- How To Watch: ESPN2
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -7.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 9-7
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 56-28 on Sept. 23, 2023 (L&N Stadium - Louisville, Ky.)

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville scored 45 points against Miami, its highest total in a non-overtime loss in program history. The Cards scored 52 points in a double overtime loss at Army in 1999.
• Louisville’s five-game homecoming winning streak and 3-0 record versus ranked opponents on homecoming fall as the Cards drop to 61-37 in homecoming games.
• Louisville allowed two touchdowns in the third quarter, its first third-quarter TDs allowed in seven games this season.
• Quarterback Tyler Shough threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns as the Cards dropped a 52-45 decision to Miami on Saturday. The four touchdown strikes equaled a career high, while his 342 yards passing were the second most in his Louisville career.
• Shough’s 31 pass completions are the most by a Louisville player since Teddy Bridgewater was 35 of 45 in a 36-9 win vs. Miami in the 2013 Russell Athletic Bowl. Shough recorded his third 300- yard passing game at Louisville and fourth game with 300 yards of total offense.
• As an offense, the Cardinals totaled 448 yards of total offense in the loss, the fifth time this season of compiling more than 400 yards of offense, and the second-most in an ACC contest.
• Louisville was held to 106 yards on the ground, the second-fewest total during the 2024 season.
• Ja’Corey Brooks registered his third 100-yard receiving game and third multi-touchdown game in the loss to the Hurricanes, catching six passes for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was also his third multi-touchdown game.
• Chris Bell caught five passes for 77 yards, while Isaac Brown reached a new career best with six catches for 23 yards.
• Caullin Lacy totaled 248 all-purpose yards in the loss, including the school’s 11th 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and the first since 2021.
• The Cardinals gave up a season high 538 yards and allowed Cam Ward to throw for 319 yards and four touchdown passes.
• Louisville sacked Cam Ward three times, with Ben Perry and Jordan Guerad recording their first sacks of the season
• Defensive lineman Ramon Puryear recorded a career high eight tackles in the loss to the Hurricanes, while Tamarion McDonald added a team high nine stops.
• Miami scores 52 points to match the fifth highest total Louisville has allowed in 27 seasons at L&N Stadium.
• The Cardinals are looking for their second-straight ACC road win for the first time since the 2016 season with wins over Virginia and Boston College.
• Louisville is 9-0 when it wins the turnover battle under head coach Jeff Brohm and 5-7 when it doesn’t. Louisville was even in the loss to Miami.
• In the 52-45 loss to Miami, the Cards also had the fifth-highest point total in a game at L&N Stadium. The 45 points was also the most points in a non-overtime game since 1999.
• Louisville forced one turnover in the loss to Miami, it’s first miscue in their last 13 quarters.
• Louisville and Miami combined to score 56 points in the second, with each team scoring 28 in the second half. Louisville allowed its first touchdown of the season in the third quarter.
• It’s the second time in two seasons that the Cards combined for 56 points in a half, and the first since 2019 in a win at Wake Forest had both teams tally 28 points.
• Quarterback Tyler Shough is tied for seventh nationally with 18 touchdown passes after tossing four in the loss to Miami — the second game of four or more touchdown throws in a game.
• Shough has thrown for 2,016 yards in seven games, the 10th-best total in the FBS rankings, passing for over 300 yards in three games.
• Running back Isaac Brown is tops on the team in rushing with 564 yards and is second on the team with 20 receptions for 115 yards.
• Brown has 564 yards rushing this season, the third highest total by a true freshman in program history. He trails Lamar Jackson who had 960 yards in 2015 and John Brewer who had 573 yards in 1948.
• Duke Watson had three carries for 39 yards to go with a four-yard TD reception against Miami, the first TD catch of his freshman season and third TD overall.
• Watson and Brown both have rushing and receiving TDs this season, making them Louisville’s first pair of true freshmen to accomplish that in the same season since 1954 when Lenny Lyles and Bill Layne did it.
• Brooks ranks fifth in the nation and leads the ACC with eight touchdown receptions. His eight receiving scores are the most by a receiver since Tutu Atwell had 12 in 13 games during the 2019 season.
• Brooks has scored in five of seven games this year, tallying multiple touchdowns in three games. Brooks has eight receptions for 164 yards
  and four touchdowns on third-down this season.
• Caullin Lacy has caught 15 passes for 179 yards and is averaging 97.0 all-purpose yards in his first four contests.
• Louisville allowed 219 yards on the ground in the loss to Miami — the highest total since Clemson rushed for 248 yards in 2022.
• The Cardinals are 12th nationally in yards per play at 7.2 and stand tied for second in the country with 15 plays of 40+ yards and eight of 50+ yards this season.
• Jeff Brohm’s teams are 9-3 at home in two seasons as the head coach.
• Tamarion McDonald led Louisville with 9 tackles, including six solo stops in the loss to Miami. The safety owns 18 tackles combined in the last two contests.
• Shough is on pace to pass for 3,456 yards, which would be the most yards since Lamar Jackson threw for 3,660 yards in 2017.
• Safety M.J. Griffin has moved up to second on the team in tackles with 38 after recording seven or more tackles in each of the last three games.
• After being held to one sack in the last three games, the Cards responded with three in the 24-20 win at Virginia and added three more in the loss to Miami.
• Defensive lineman Ramon Puryear played in his 59th game, tied for third most on the Louisville career list, and had a career-high eight tackles while making his second straight start and the 16th of his career.

Boston College

• BC is 9-9 in regular season Friday games since 1991, 5-7 at home and 4-2 in such games on ESPN2. The game marks the first-ever Friday match-up between the Eagles and Cardinals.
• The Eagles last won a Friday night game at home in the 2021 Red Bandanna Game against Virginia Tech.
• Boston College trails the all-time series, 7-9, including a 4-6 mark in ACC games with the home team winning the last six contests. BC was the last road team to score a win; 45-42 in 2017.
• Louisville doubled up Boston College, 56-28, in Kentucky a year ago. The last match-up in Chestnut Hill was a 34-33 BC win in 2022.
• Defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku ranks third in the country in total sacks at 9.0, which ranks second in the ACC. His 12.0 TFLs are also third in FBS, but tops in the conference.
• Thomas Castellanos is top-10 nationally in passing efficiency (5th, 176.2) and yards per attempt (9th, 9.43), which both rank second in the ACC.
• The BC defense has intercepted nine passes, ranking 15th in the FBS and fourth in the ACC. BC intercepted just eight passes in 2023.
• Head coach Bill O’Brien was hired on Feb. 9 and introduced as the Eagles’ 37th head coach on Feb. 15.
• Two games into his tenure, O’Brien had BC back in the AP Top-25 for the first time in seven years.
• BC also sold out the second home game of O’Brien’s time on the Heights; a win in the annual Red Bandanna Game over Michigan State. It was just the second sellout at BC in the last six years.
• Through seven games, Thomas Castellanos has five multiTD games, including a career-high four vs. Duquesne (9/7). He has already matched his passing touchdown total from a year ago with 14. Castellanos was responsible for three touchdowns at FSU (9/2) and rushed for 73 yards to pass Tyler Murphy for the most career rushing yards by a BC quarterback at 1,186. Castellanos’ 28 career touchdown passes at BC are tied for 11th most in program history with Paul Peterson (2003-04) and one back of Tim Hasselbeck (1997-00) for 10th. In 2023, Castellanos was the first quarterback to lead BC on a five-game win streak as the starter in all five games since Chase Rettig in 2010. His 13 2023 rushing touchdowns were the third most in the ACC and the most in a season or career by a BC quarterback. Castellanos’ 13 rushing TDs were the most by an Eagle since AJ Dillon ran for 14 in 2019.
• Two-time transfer running back Treshaun Ward enters week eight as the Eagles’ leading rusher with 305 yards and is fourth in receiving with 170 yards. Ward was named the ACC Running Back of the Week after a 138-yard all-purpose effort at his original team, FSU (9/2). Ward surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards vs. Duquesne.
• Transfer running back Kye Robichaux began the 2023 season fourth on the depth chart, but injuries thrust him into a feature role in week-two against Holy Cross. He produced a 94-yard game on 19 carries with a touchdown. A week later, Robichaux got his first start as an Eagle and went for 64 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Robichaux opened the 2024 season with a two-touchdown, 85-yard game at FSU (9/2). He scored his first TD on a reception from Castellanos before plunging in for his second TD of the game on the ground. He is third on the team with 239 rushing yards to go with three rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown.
• Six-foot-five transfer wide receiver Jerand Bradley has five receptions and two touchdowns on the season. He scored on a game-opening drive at Missouri (9/14) and hauled in the game-winning touchdown vs. Western Kentucky (9/28).
• Wide receiver Lewis Bond appeared in eight games with six receptions for 57 yards in his first two seasons. Bond, a versatile receiver that can play all three wide out positions, emerged in 2023 as a primary option for the BC quarterbacks. Last season, he led BC in receptions (52), receiving yards (646) and touchdowns (7). He is one of four returners in the ACC to post a season of 50/600/7 or better.
• In back-to-back games, tight end Kamari Morales found the end zone against Duquesne (9/7) and Missouri (9/14). Morales is third on the team in receptions at 15, while being tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns at three.
• BC started the same five players on the o-line in 11 of 12 regular season games a year ago. In 2022, the Eagles did not repeat a starting combination until a week-10 win at NC State.
• The Boston College defense ranks 15th in FBS and fourth in the ACC with nine interceptions. It is the most interceptions by a BC defense since 10 in 2021. The Eagles have already passed their season interceptions totals from 2023 (8) and 2022 (7). The Eagles last posted more than 10 interceptions in a season with 18 in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018. BC has three multi-interception games this season and has at least one interception in five of seven games.
• Donovan Ezeiruaku, a 2022 All-ACC pick, finished fourth in the league in sacks (8.5) and tackles for loss (14.5) in 2022. Last season he was fourth on the team with 53 tackles.
• Neto Okpala took over as the starter opposite Ezeiruaku early in 2023 and produced 26 tackles, five TFLs and two sacks.
• Cam Horsley anchors the group inside at defensive tackle with 53 games and 41 starts under his belt. He made 41 tackles, including three TFLs, a season ago.
• George Rooks, a former Michigan Wolverine, was the newcomer to the group a season ago. He totaled 29 tackles and four quarterback hurries in his first season at BC.
• Kam Arnold played corner in high school, moved to safety as a freshman and then transitioned to linebacker in 2021. He has started 40 consecutive games at linebacker. Ranking third on the team in tackles a year ago, Arnold is the Eagles’ top returning tackler with 66.
• Through seven games, the BC owns a pass coverage of 83.9 rating, according to PFF. The secondary was responsible for all four takeaways vs. Michigan State (9/21) with three interceptions and a forced fumble on a kickoff by safety Carter Davis. BC players have totaled eight interceptions and 20 pass break-ups with Amari Jackson leading with five. Jackson picked off his first pass of the season against MSU (9/21). Cornerback Max Tucker and nickelback Khari Johnson lead the team with two interceptions apiece.

Depth Charts

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

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Mustangs, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of the Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Boston College

Uniform Report

Louisville will be wearing white helmets, jerseys and pants; while Boston College has yet to announce their uniform combination.

Friday night fit 🥶#GoCards pic.twitter.com/PwVCsWNg9G

— Louisville Football (@LouisvilleFB) October 23, 2024

Additional Coverage

• Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Miami
• Watch: Jeff Brohm, Karl Maslowski and Louisville Players Preview BC
• Louisville's Defensive Struggles Exploited in Loss to Miami
• ACC Football Power Rankings: 2024 Week 9
• Louisville Football Redshirt Tracker: Week Nine
• Louisville Football CFB25 Preview: Game 8 at Boston College
• Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions for Eagle Insider's A.J. Black
• Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Boston College
• From The Pink Seats: Miami Recap, Boston College Preview

(Photo of Ahmari Huggins-Bruce: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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