Louisville Favored by 22.5 as Stanford's Road Struggles Meet Cardinals' Injury List

Louisville will play Stanford at L&N Stadium on Saturday as a 22.5-point favorite, a spread built on Stanford's 0-3 road record and a 150-17 scoring deficit in those games. The Cardinal have not won away from home since beating Syracuse in September 2024, a streak of 14 consecutive road losses that stands as the longest active run in major college football. Stanford averages 5.8 points and 233.8 yards in its four losses, against 34 points and 485.5 yards in its four wins.

Louisville returns from its bye week at 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, having beaten Florida State and Syracuse. Stanford sits at 4-4 and 2-3 in conference play after a 31-28 win over NC State on Oct. 24, the same NC State team that handed Louisville one of its three losses. The Cardinals average 42.8 points per game at home and lead the nation in plays of 40, 50 and 60 yards or longer.

Jeff Brohm has pushed for four complete quarters of football from his team all season. "We haven't really done that," Brohm said. "It's not super easy to do. The other team's good, too." Brohm turned play-calling duties to his brother Brian Brohm and took on more defensive oversight after the season's third loss; Louisville has won twice since. The staff has since shifted practice emphasis toward quality repetitions and first-team versus first-team competition, Brohm said: "I just think every little detail matters now."

Louisville will be without leading receiver Lawayne McCoy, a junior transfer from Florida State who has 513 receiving yards and four touchdown catches on 25 receptions, an average of 20.5 yards per catch. Tight ends Travis Egan and Hamilton Atkins, offensive tackle Bryten Close, and linemen James Glover-Tyson and Anwar O'Neal are also out. Linebacker Gradey Anthony is listed as questionable. On the defensive side, Antonio Watts is out; Jaydin Broadnax and Kris Brunson are questionable; Daylen Russell and Sam Dawson are out; Jerod Smith II is probable.

Stanford's secondary is thinner. Cornerbacks Brandon Nicholson, Breylan Thompson and Sam Neely III are out, along with defensive back Zaiden McDonald and linebackers Matt Rose and Preston Jernegan. Stanford quarterback Davis Warren has thrown for at least 300 yards in three games and has no more than two interceptions across at least 200 pass attempts. Running back Micah Ford has 329 rushing yards in Stanford's last two games, the most of any FBS player in that span.

Louisville's Lincoln Kienholz has 10 rushing touchdowns, a total surpassed among Cardinals quarterbacks only by Lamar Jackson and Malik Cunningham. His 82-yard run against Syracuse was the longest by a quarterback in program history. Kienholz averages 5.9 yards per carry as a team unit, fourth nationally, and Louisville has 25 rushing touchdowns in seven games, matching last season's full total. Kaleb Beasley has five interceptions in his last five games, tied for the national lead, the first Louisville player with five interceptions in a season since Jaire Alexander in 2016.

The game is set for Saturday, Oct. 31, at 3:15 p.m. ET at L&N Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, airing on ACC Network with Jorge Sedano, Rodney McLeod Jr. and Annabelle Hasselbeck on the call. Radio coverage runs on 93.9 The Ville and 970 WGTK with Paul Rogers, Craig Swabek and Jody Demling. The over/under is set at 60.5.

Stanford leads the series 1-0 after a 38-35 win in Palo Alto in 2024, a game in which Louisville led by 14 points in the fourth quarter before Stanford scored 17 points in the final seven minutes and won on a field goal as time expired. Saturday also marks Louisville's 100th Homecoming game; the Cardinals are 62-37 in the previous 99.