First Scouting Report: No. 17 Kentucky at Louisville

An early look ahead to Kentucky’s next football game:

The opponent

No. 17 Kentucky (8-3, 5-3 SEC) closes out the 2018 regular season with a visit to archrival Louisville (2-9, 0-8 ACC), Saturday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium in a game that will be telecast by ESPN2. In the first game after the firing of U of L head coach Bobby Petrino, the Cardinals and interim head man Lorenzo Ward lost to North Carolina State 52-10 on Saturday.

The all-time series between Kentucky and Louisville is tied 15-15, but U of L leads the modern rivalry (since 1994) 15-9.

Most recent meeting

Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 156 yards as Louisville avenged an upset loss to Kentucky from the prior season with a decisive 44-17 pounding of the Wildcats on Nov. 25, 2017, at Kroger Field. The game was marred by an early brawl, and Kentucky received multiple personal foul penalties.

“Not a good effort on any of our parts,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said afterward. “We didn’t play very good, we didn’t coach very good and we certainly didn’t play with the discipline and character that this team has.”

Know your foe

1. With Bobby Petrino fired, Louisville is down four coaches with which it started the season. When U of L Athletics Director Vince Tyra dismissed Petrino on Nov. 11, he also fired three of Petrino’s relatives who were on the Cardinals coaching staff. Also gone are quarterbacks coach Nick Petrino, Bobby’s son, and defensive line coach L.D. Scott and safeties coach Ryan Beard, both Petrino sons-in-law.

2. Louisville’s struggles in 2018 have been on both sides of the ball. Going into the games of Nov. 17, U of L ranked 111th (out of 129) in the FBS in total offense (351.5 yards a game) and 117th in total defense (468.3 yards a game allowed. By way of comparison, Kentucky stood 112th in total offense (346.9) and 18th in total defense (321.8).

3. There is no home-field advantage in the modern’s Governor’s Cup rivalry. Since 1994, Kentucky is 4-10 against Louisville in games played in Lexington but 5-5 against U of L in Cardinal Stadium.

Mark Story: (859) 231-3230; Twitter: @markcstory

This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 3:24 PM.