The SMU win was a statement. Now comes the part that matters just as much.
Don’t let your foot off the gas.
Louisville just showed what it can look like when everything starts coming together in a 41-31 win over No. 16 SMU. Saturday isn’t about recreating that moment. It’s about building on it.
Wake Forest is good enough to make this uncomfortable if Louisville gives them the chance.
Here are 10 things to know, watch and expect before kickoff.
1. Story of the Game — Don’t Let Them Hang Around
This game is about putting Wake Forest away before it has a chance to become annoying.
Wake brings another dangerous offense, and this feels like another opportunity for Louisville’s defense to show us what its ceiling really is. I don’t want to feel like our team has to score 40 every Saturday to beat a good opponent.
The defense has flashed. Now I want to see it control a game.
Get Wake behind the chains. Make Gio Lopez uncomfortable. Get off the field.
Don’t give a capable team three quarters to start believing.
2. Know the Opponent — Jake Dickert Can Coach
Wake Forest went 9-4 in Jake Dickert’s first season, beating SMU along the way and capped it by beating Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. It was the most wins ever by a first-year head coach at Wake Forest.
Dickert came to Winston-Salem from Washington State, where he took over a program dealing with significant uncertainty and still produced three straight bowl appearances while putting nationally ranked teams on the field.
Jake Dickert is a heck of a football coach, and his teams tend to make you earn it.
Wake isn’t rebuilding from scratch. Dickert stabilized the program immediately, and now he has an experienced quarterback running the offense.
3. By the Numbers — 82.6%
This number almost looks like a typo.
Wake Forest opponents have completed 90 of 109 passes this season.
That’s 82.6 percent.
Wake also has zero interceptions through three games.
There are plenty of ways to explain defensive statistics through only three weeks, but you can’t ignore that number.
Louisville should have completions available.
Take them. Don’t force the hero ball when Wake is willing to give you something underneath.
4. Watch This Early — Offensive Line Encore
This might be the thing I’m most interested in watching early.
Was SMU the breakthrough?
Louisville ran for 265 yards against the Mustangs, with Keyjuan Brown exploding for 163, and the offensive line didn’t allow a sack for the second straight game.
Now do it again.
I want to see movement at the line of scrimmage. I want Louisville’s backs getting downhill before they’re forced to create something themselves.
One dominant rushing performance is encouraging.
Two starts looking like an identity.
5. Deciding Matchup — Louisville’s Pass Rush vs. Gio Lopez
Louisville’s defensive front really hasn’t had many opportunities this season to simply tee off and pin its ears back.
We’ve seen flashes of pressure, but we haven’t consistently made quarterbacks miserable. Saturday would be a good time to start.
Gio Lopez has thrown for 887 yards and seven touchdowns through three games, and he’s athletic enough to punish a defense when the pocket breaks down.
Sacks would be great, but this matchup is really about containment.
Hoping that Trinidad and Jennings have prepared us well for this style of football.
Make Lopez play on Louisville’s terms.
6. Their Guy — Langston Hardy
Keep an eye on No. 11.
Langston Hardy is the kind of defensive lineman who might go unnoticed for stretches and then suddenly wreck a possession.
Hardy led the ACC last season with 17 tackles for loss, added seven sacks and earned All-ACC recognition.
That matchup becomes particularly interesting after what Louisville’s offensive line did against SMU.
Don’t let him be the reason a promising drive suddenly becomes third-and-14.
7. 502 MVP — Tre Richardson
Tre Richardson has been right there every week.
83 yards against Ole Miss.
98 against Villanova.
62 against SMU.
This feels like the week he finally breaks through that 100-yard mark.
Wake has allowed an absurdly high completion percentage, and Richardson has already shown he can hurt defenses at every level.
I think Louisville makes a point of getting the ball into his hands early and lets him go to work.
502 MVP Prediction: Tre Richardson — 100+ receiving yards
8. Did You Know?
The last Louisville-Wake Forest game got completely out of control.
Louisville trailed 14-13 at halftime against No. 10 Wake in 2022.
Then came one of the wildest quarters in program history.
The Cardinals forced six turnovers in the third quarter alone, scored 35 points in the quarter and finished the afternoon with eight takeaways in a 48-21 win.
Six turnovers. In one quarter.
It was a damn good time.
9. 502 Bold Call — Louisville Cleans It Up
Not every bold prediction needs to be four touchdowns or 300 yards. Sometimes it’s something this team simply needs to do better.
Louisville finishes with five or fewer penalties.
Good teams eventually have to stop giving opponents free yards and free opportunities. I think we see a cleaner, more disciplined Louisville team Saturday.
10. 502 Score Prediction — Louisville 35, Wake Forest 21
I don’t think this feels comfortable early.
I expect another rock fight for a while. Wake hangs around, Louisville has trouble creating much separation and we probably go into halftime looking at a one-score football game.
Then Louisville starts leaning on them.
The offensive line takes over. The defense gets Lopez off schedule. A short field or a big play finally creates some breathing room.
And instead of spending another fourth quarter hanging on for dear life, Louisville gets to play from ahead.
It’s tight early. It isn’t late.
Louisville 35, Wake Forest 21. Keep the foot on the gas.