Two programs looking for their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season meet on Saturday afternoon when Louisville visits Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.
A win by the Cavaliers (2-3, 0-2) would be the first in the ACC under coach Tony Elliott, while a win by the Cardinals (2-3, 0-3) might cool down the hot seat for fourth-year coach Scott Satterfield.
Virginia is coming off a lackluster 38-17 defeat at Duke, its first against the Blue Devils since 2014. The Cavaliers gave up 248 yards on the ground and turned the ball over twice.
Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong’s struggles continued as he completed just 19 of 37 passes, the fourth straight game he has been under 55 percent in Elliott’s offense. He finished at 65.2 percent in 2021.
“We’re not playing smart football,” Elliott said. “We’re not playing complementary football, and we’re struggling when the bullets start flying to just come together as a team, hunker down, battle for each other.”
Armstrong needs two touchdown passes to pass Matt Schaub (56) for the Virginia career record.
Louisville has its own concerns in the passing game with quarterback Malik Cunningham experiencing “concussion-like symptoms” after last Saturday’s 34-33 loss at Boston College, according to Satterfield.
Cunningham visited the medical tent in the third quarter after a hit to the head on a targeting penalty but played two more series before taking another hit and exiting the field with a trainer.
“It was the next hit. I didn’t even see it,” Satterfield told reporters Tuesday.
Cunningham, who is questionable for Saturday, passed for 186 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 62 yards and three scores before leaving the game. Backup Brock Domann completed only 1 of 8 passes for 19 yards with a pick.
Satterfield, now 20-22 at Louisville, said he plans to be more involved with the defense and special teams moving forward.
“Losing games,” he answered when asked why he was making the change. “That’s it.”
The all-time series is tied 5-5. Virginia scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to win 34-33 at Louisville last season.
–Field Level Media
