3 days ago2 min read

Cardinals Clash: No. 19 Louisville Visits Stanford

Cardinal Clash | Louisville vs. Stanford — © Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In an important Atlantic Coast Conference matchup between teams with similarly-named mascots, the struggling Stanford Cardinal (2-7, 1-5) will host the No. 19 Louisville Cardinals (6-3, 4-2) at 3:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 16 at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif.

This will be the first time these two football programs have ever met, and Louisville is favored by a whopping 20.5 points. While the Cardinals are coming off an impressive road win over No. 20 Clemson (7-2, 6-1), Stanford is reeling with six consecutive losses.

High Stakes for Louisville

With only two conference losses, Louisville is in fourth place in the ACC and has a chance of making it to the conference championship game on Dec. 7 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. In order to achieve that goal, the Cardinals must beat the Cardinal and their next ACC opponent, the Pitt Panthers (7-2, 3-2).

Stanford Standouts

The Cardinal is hopeful that star center Levi Rogers will return from injury to play against Louisville. Rogers' absence has hurt Stanford this year. He started all 12 games last year and, per Pro Football Focus, is the highest-rated pass blocker in college football.

Rogers' return would be a boost for quarterback Ashton Daniels, who has struggled, throwing more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (6). Daniels has been steadier in the run game, rushing for 483 yards and 2 TDs.

The star of the Cardinal offense is wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, who has 46 catches for 592 yards (65.8 per game) and 5 TDs. He has racked up these stats despite Daniels' struggles and despite opponents routinely double-teaming him.

Louisville Leaders

The Louisville defense is coming off back-to-back impressive outings. That unit is coached by defensive coordinator Ron English, who was a teammate of Stanford coach Troy Taylor on the Cal Golden Bears (5-4, 1-4) in the 1980s. In a press conference on Nov. 12, Taylor commended the job English has done with the Louisville defense this season. "Ron is a phenomenal defensive coach and a great person," Taylor said. "He does an outstanding job with their defense. They're very deep on the defensive line [and] they do a lot of different things defensively. They're sound, they're fast, they’re good tacklers. They present a big challenge and he’s an outstanding coach and a good friend."

Sophomore linebacker Stanquan Clark is the team's leading tackler with 57, including 4.5 tackles for loss. Junior LB Antonio Watts and senior defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte have 5 and 5.5 sacks, respectively. For a Stanford offense that has not mustered over 30 points in its six-game losing streak, dealing with this stout trio of defenders will be challenging.