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Everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s kickoff against the #11 Cardinals.
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Date: November 9th, 2023
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Channel: ESPN
Betting line: Louisville -20.5
3 players, 2 matchups, and 1 prediction for Virginia football vs #11 Louisville
Previewing UVA vs Louisville by answering questions from Card Chronicle
Five takeaways from UVA football’s blowout loss to Georgia Tech
Kickoff is at 7:30 — leave your pre, in, and post-game thoughts here and be sure to check back in for plenty of postgame content later tonight, tomorrow, and next week!
We’ll also be active on Twitter throughout the game and all season long so follow along on there for our staff’s live reactions.
Streaking the Lawn — @STL_UVA
Zach Carey — @Zach_Carey_
Dan Siegel — @DanSiegel_
Ryan Reese — @HoosOn_First
Ben Wieland — @BenWieland
Paul Guttman — @Tiki_UVA
Corbin Lathrop — @CorbinLathrop
John Kurcina — @JohnKurcina
Lastly, here are some of the game notes provided by UVA:
INSIDE THURSDAY’S MATCHUP
• Virginia and Louisville will meet for the 12th time overall and the 10th time as members of the ACC. The two schools have met every year since 2014.
• The Cavaliers will face their third ranked opponent this season when squaring off against the No. 11 Cardinals on Thursday. All three matchups against the ranked foes have been on the road. Four of the six UVA games away from Scott Stadium have either been against a team in the top-25 or receiving votes (Miami).
• The last time UVA visited Louisville it staged a fourth quarter comeback victory that ended with a Grant Misch one-yard touchdown catch with 33 seconds left on the clock. It marked Virginia’s first ever win in Louisville.
• Virginia recorded its first ever win over a top-10 opponent on the road when facing then-No. 10 North Carolina on Oct. 21. The last time UVA won two road games over AP ranked foes in the same season was in 1998 (19-0 vs. No. 25 Auburn and 36-32 over No. 20 Virginia Tech).
• Thursday will be UVA’s fourth night game of the season and first Thursday night matchup since defeating Georgia Tech 16-9 in Atlanta last season. UVA is 69-59-1 all-time in night games.
• The Cavaliers will square off against the ACC’s top rushing defense (88.8) in Louisville on Thursday. UVA has faced two of the league’s top three rushing defenses in a three-week span. Against Miami, currently the No. 2 in rushing defense in the ACC, UVA amassed 138 yards on the ground, only the second team to eclipse 100 yards rushing against Miami in 2023.
TOP STORYLINES
• Malik Washington leads the ACC in receiving yards (1,044) and receptions (79) and ranks third and second in FBS, respectively in these categories. He has caught a pass in 34-straight games and recorded 100-yard receiving efforts in four consecutive games, the first UVA wide receiver to accomplish the feat. He currently ranks sixth all-time on UVA’s single-season receiving yards list and needs just 18 yards to vault up to third.
• 11 of Virginia 12 opponents this season currently possess a .500 record or above. Virginia Tech, UVA’s final game of the season, is the only team below .500 at 4-5.
• Thursday’s game could feature two of the top big-play quarterbacks in the ACC. Jack Plummer averages an ACC-best 14.02 yards per completion. UVA true freshman Anthony Colandrea averages 13.37 yards completion and is responsible for six of UVA’s eight plays this season over 40 yards.
• Virginia has owned double-digit leads in six of its nine games this season. The Cavaliers have been on the wrong end of four games decided by three points or less this season. In the first 19 games of Tony Elliott’s tenure, the Cavaliers have been a part of eight games decided by a field goal or less and are 1-7 in those contests.
• Six true freshmen, CB Dre Walker, WR Jaden Gibson, QB Anthony Colandrea, WR Suderian Harrison, LB Kam Robinson and S Caleb Hardy, have started games for Virginia this season. A total of 10 true freshmen have seen action this year and 25 Cavaliers have made their collegiate debuts.
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