Louisville football hosts its first ranked opponent of the 2025 season. Here’s what Cards fans can expect from UVA.
Welcome inside the lines for writeups that I will be posting weekly on Louisville Football. The purpose of these articles is to help you, the fan, gain a better understanding of the next opponent… and, also, to beat any and every allegation that fullbacks can’t read/write.
Deep breath in … deep breath out. The roller coaster of last week’s game vs. Pitt is finally over. The Cards win on the road in a wild comeback, 34–27.
Last week we talked about how this could be the game where Miller Moss “has a day.” To the surprise of many, Moss threw for 339 yards and 3 TDs, taking control of the game. Let’s build on that momentum and talk about how Louisville football can duplicate some of that success vs. Virginia at home this week.
Head ball coach for Virginia is none other than Tony Elliott. Elliott is in his 4th season at UVA, and quite frankly is saving his job every week this season. Personally, I am shocked that Elliott has not had more success as a head coach, but that’s the way the game goes sometimes. Elliott and the Hoos enter this game 4-1 after pulling off a dramatic double-overtime upset over Florida State.
Their offense is clicking — ranked 8th nationally in total yards and 18th in scoring offense.
Let’s dive into Louisville football and the Wahoos.
Virginia’s Offensive Threats
Offensively, Virginia is led by quarterback Chandler Morris. Morris is another one of these multiple-stop transfer quarterbacks. Starting at Oklahoma, then heading to TCU, stopping at North Texas for a year, then finally landing at UVA this season.
Morris seems like an easy guy to follow when it comes to leadership. Looks to be a high-energy guy when playing. Throws a good football most of the time, but will force some balls which have led to interceptions from the opposing team. Morris is more than capable with his legs, especially in the red zone. Eyes must be on Morris in the red zone. Louisville can’t get lost and have him scramble in for an easy touchdown.
Outside of Morris, there are two running backs to watch out for. J’Mari Taylor is the leading rusher, while Harrison Waylee has the most carries for the team. Both guys have great vision when it comes to running the football. One is clearly more speed and the other more power. BOTH are going to break arm tackles if we don’t wrap up.
When these guys get to the second level, it won’t be a juke, it will be a run straight through your face.
Receiving wise, Trell Harris is the guy to watch. A clear take-the-top-off-the-defense style football player, averaging 17.4 yards per catch. Harris will try to use his speed and route running ability to put our DBs in bad spots.
Cam Ross is the second leading receiver but has more receptions than Harris. Clearly your possession guy. Don’t think there will be much dink and dunk from UVA this week.
Stopping this offense will be a tough task for this defense, but I truly believe the Pitt game helped our guys more than you realize. For example, go watch the Florida State vs Virginia game. You will see multiple balls that Morris throws that just last week T.J. Quinn was intercepting when Louisville football played Pitt.
The key with these guys is knowing the down and distance. If it’s 2nd, 3rd, and 10 you HAVE to know where the sticks are because that’s where UVA is throwing the ball. Stop Morris and you win the game. Watch the wheel route in the red zone again — Virginia scored on this exact play vs Florida State.
Continued below.
Virginia Defensive Breakdown
Defensively, the leading tackler for Virginia is a name Louisville football fans are more than familiar with, Devin Neal. Neal is leading the team with a total of 29 tackles on the year.
Neal, as we know, is a very smart football player and not afraid to stick his nose in there to make a hit. I hope his familiarity with Jeff Brohm’s offense doesn’t help here. Personally, I am thinking Neal will try to overthink stuff because he “knows this offense,” leading to big plays due to busted coverages.
Two other guys to note for the UVA defense are James Jackson and Ja’Son Prevard. Jackson, a grad-student linebacker, is very physical and plays up on his toes. Like everyone we have played this season, expect him to try and shoot some gaps to get TFLs in the run game. Prevard leads the team in INTs with 2 on the year. This kid is fun to watch though. He is all over the field making huge plays.
Louisville Football Keys to Success
While rewatching some of the games UVA has played this year I couldn’t help but think our offense will have a lot of success vs them on Saturday. Florida State saw a lot of success when running the football in power and counter game. Specifically in ace or spread situations where you get UVA with just one ILB in the box.
That is something we also can do well with the weapons we have on the outside and with how good Isaac, Duke, and Keyjuan are.
Miller Moss just needs to continue to build off the 3rd and 4th quarters of last week. If he plays that way, Louisville football can play with just about anyone in the country.
Thanks for reading, hope to see you all out at the game, and as always Go Cards!
