Jeff Brohm has a handful of losses during his time at Louisville that could be deemed "bad". His loss to Stanford in 2024 would qualify for that classification. Stanford came into that game with a 2-7 record, with one of those wins being against an FCS school. They were more prepared than the Cards, and they played as if their season was on the line. The Cardinal will come to Louisville this time around with an improved program and two upset victories in the ACC to their name.
Stanford hit the portal this offseason to shore up a quarterback position that has struggled for the last few years. Davis Warren landed back in his home state after spending some time as a starter at Michigan. Warren has shown that he has the talent to make plays in this offense, but he has been extremely inconsistent and has not shown the ability to play at a truly high level. Against Georgia Tech and NC State, Warren threw for over 300 yards and a combined 7 touchdowns. Outside of those games, he has been below average at best. Louisville has to find a way to pressure Warren, as that is when he has struggled this season.
The key to the Stanford two-game winning streak has been Micah Ford at running back. The 6/225 junior has put up over 300 yards rushing over the last two weeks, while also being a threat in the passing game with over 100 yards receiving. His 9 yards per play over the last two games is comparable to Keyjuan Brown's output for the season. The trend towards being an explosive player for this offense will need to end this week, as this offense goes as Ford goes. He has nearly twice as much all-purpose yardage as any other player on Stanford's offense.
Receiver is an interesting position for the Cardinal as they have one player who has shown the ability to break out in a game, but they have a few reliable guys overall. Caden High has two 100-yard games this year, and those games came against Georgia Tech and NC State. High showed up in the big games this year as a dynamic talent who can make plays at all three levels of the defense. He is the receiver they have to make a plan for this weekend. That has not been something this defense has been able to do a single time this season.
JonAnthony Hall and Nico Brown are the other top receivers on the outside in this offense. Hall has been able to make a couple of big plays this year, while Brown has been an option in the red zone. Neither player has been a truly consistent threat this year, but they are plenty capable of stepping up to have a big game. This entire receiver group has feasted on zone coverage, so it would be nice to see the UofL secondary get a chance to challenge these guys in man coverage. The Cards also need to be aware of Benji Blackburn at tight end. He has been very good with 24 catches this year.
The Stanford offensive line profiles as a solid group. They don't give up a lot of negative plays, though they could be better at preventing sacks. Watching their games, I think some of the sacks are coverage sacks due to their receivers struggling to get open and Warren holding onto the ball. Warren is athletic enough to extend plays, but he doesn't look to run when he doesn't have an open option. The Cards have been very good at getting pressure and sacks in three of the last four halves of play. They will need to utilize the aggressive scheme they rolled out against FSU to force this line to show that they can protect the quarterback as well as open holes for Micah Ford.
