Wake Forest earned a solid measure of respect during last Friday’s home game against fifth-ranked Miami, rallying from a 31-7 deficit in front of a nationally televised audience to make things uncomfortable for the Hurricanes down the stretch.
The Demon Deacons (2-1) draw another nationally ranked foe and ACC title contender this week, visiting No. 16/19 Louisville on Saturday. Another nationally televised audience awaits on ESPN, with the game kicking off from L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium at noon.
Here is everything to know about the matchup, including how to watch, how to listen, odds, stat comparisons, series history and storylines to follow.
🔄 Last Updated: September 22, 2026 4:34 pm
🏟️ How to Watch Wake Forest at Louisville Football
Matchup: Wake Forest (2-1, 0-1 ACC) at No. 16/19 Louisville (2-1, 1-0 ACC)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium (Louisville, KY)
TV/Stream: ESPN
TV Announcers: Tom Hart (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline).
Wake Forest Radio: Flagship WBRF 98.1 FM and affiliates for the Wake Forest Sports Network
Wake Forest Radio Announcers: Stan Cotten (play-by-play), Lary Sorensen (color), Dave Goren (sideline)
📊 Game Odds
Spread: Louisville -12.5
Total: 58.5 points
Moneyline: Wake Forest +380 | Louisville -500
Lines via DraftKings Sportsbook: Updated Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2:55 p.m.
🩹 Injury Updates
Notable injury and player availability updates will appear here as we get closer to kickoff.
⏪ Last Time Out
No. 5 Miami 33, Wake Forest 20 – Darian Mensah completed his first 24 passes, and the Hurricanes built a 31-7 lead. But Wake Forest rallied back in the second half to keep things respectable, led by quarterback Gio Lopez (312 yards, 3 TDs) and receivers Jack Foley (118 yards, 1 TD) and Carlos Hernandez (69 yards, 1 TD).
No. 23 Louisville 41, No. 16 SMU 31 – The Cardinals prevailed down the stretch in a game that included eight lead changes and extreme heat (95 degrees at kickoff). Keyjuan Brown rushed for 163 yards and scored touchdowns on plays covering 58 and 53 yards.
🔍 Early Storylines to Watch: Wake Forest at Louisville
Another ranked opponent for the Demon Deacons
Wake Forest hosted No. 5 Miami this past Friday. Now the Deacs must get ready for a Louisville team that climbed to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the AFCA coaches poll after a win over SMU. The Cards were the biggest riser in the AP poll following the 41-31 triumph over the Mustangs.
Can Wake Forest clean up its mistakes?
The Demon Deacons clamped down on Darian Mensah and the Hurricanes in the second half, rallying from a 31-7 deficit to pull within 13. But Wake often was its own worst enemy, committing 13 penalties for 137 yards. Louisville is too explosive and athletic, and Wake’s margins will be too thin to commit that many miscues again this week.
Can Louisville avoid a big-game letdown?
Saturday’s win over a ranked SMU team has renewed talk of Louisville as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender from the ACC. The Wake-Miami result should have the Cardinals’ attention, but this game does have letdown potential if Louisville isn’t focused against the gritty Deacs.
How will the Louisville secondary handle Gio Lopez?
The Wake Forest quarterback finished with 312 passing yards and three passing TDs against Miami’s defense. Louisville gave up 336 yards against Ole Miss in the opener. Can the Cardinals disrupt one of the ACC’s most prolific quarterbacks of the early season?
Louisville’s rushing game could be a handful
Running backs Keyjuan Brown and Isaac Brown share the same last name but have differing styles. Keyjuan Brown is the freight train, a physical senior who earned the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honor after his 163-yard, two touchdown performance against SMU. He has gained 231 yards on the season.
Isaac Brown, a junior, is more like the express line, a home-run threat who also can reliably catch passes out of the backfield. He has rushed for 164 yards thus far with one touchdown.
But key too much on the Brown and Brown, and quarterback Lincoln Kienholz also can do damage. Kienholz had 32 attempts through three games for 153 net yards and four touchdowns.
📊 Wake Forest at Louisville Stats and Trends
📈 Team Stats
| Team Stats Category | Wake Forest | Louisville |
| Record | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Points/Game | 32.0 | 46.0 |
| Total Offense/Game | 434.7 | 515.3 |
| Rushing Yards/Game | 137.0 | 229.0 |
| Passing Yards/Game | 297.7 | 286.3 |
| Total Defense/Game | 379.3 | 406.7 |
| Rushing Yards Allowed/Game | 144.3 | 161.3 |
| Passing Yards Allowed/Game | 235.0 | 245.3 |
| Third-Down Conversions | 42.10% | 44.10% |
| Opponent Third Downs | 45.00% | 33.30% |
| Sacks | 6.0 | 3.0 |
| Turnovers Lost | 1 | 0 |
⭐ Individual Leaders
| Stats Category | Wake Forest | Louisville |
| Passing | Gio Lopez — 887 yards, 7 TD, 1 INT | Lincoln Kienholz — 816 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT |
| Rushing | Ty Clark — 144 yards, 1 TD | Keyjuan Brown — 231 yards, 2 TD |
| Receiving | Carlos Hernandez — 21 rec., 322 yards, 2 TD | Tre Richardson — 15 rec., 243 yards, 1 TD |
| Tackles | Vincent Firenze — 26 | Kaleb Beasley — 21 |
| Sacks | Langston Hardy — 2.0 | Clev Lubin / Tyler Thompson — 1.5 |
| Kicking | Connor Calvert — 6-7 FG, 8-8 PAT* | Carson Hilbert — 4-4 FG, 13-14 PAT |
🔎 What the Numbers Say
Louisville has been explosive. The Cardinals are averaging 515.3 yards and 46 points per game and 8.0 yards per play. Wake hasn’t faced an offense producing at quite that level yet.
But Wake can throw with them. The Deacs actually average more passing yards than Louisville, 297.7 to 286.3, with Lopez accounting for 887 yards and seven touchdowns against only one interception.
The ground-game gap is substantial. Louisville averages 229.0 rushing yards per game to Wake’s 137.0. And Louisville isn’t doing it with one player — Keyjuan Brown, Isaac Brown and Lincoln Kienholz all have at least 150 rushing yards.
Can Wake Forest run against elite defenses? After averaging 194.5 rushing yards in its first two games against Akron and Purdue, the Deacs managed only 22 yards on 16 attempts against Miami.
Neither offense has been giving the ball away. Wake has lost only one turnover through three games, while Louisville has yet to lose one — no interceptions thrown and no fumbles lost.
Penalties jump off the page for Wake. The Deacs are averaging 95.7 penalty yards per game. Louisville isn’t exactly pristine at 94.0, either.
📚 Series History
- Louisville leads the all-time series 7-3
- Last Meeting: Louisville 48, Wake Forest 21 (Oct. 29, 2022)
- First Meeting: Louisville 24, Wake Forest 13 (Jan. 2, 2006 – Orange Bowl)
- Wake’s last win in the series came in October 2021. Nick Sciba kicked a 29-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to give the Deacons a 37-34 triumph – pushing Wake’s record to 5-0, 3-0 ACC
- Wake Forest’s only win at Louisville came in 2018, a 56-35 triumph that saw the Deacs pile up 591 total yards. Senior running back Matt Colburn II rushed for 243 yards and three TDs.
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