No. 13 Louisville and visiting Virginia Tech have plenty at stake during their pivotal Atlantic Coast Conference clash on Saturday.
With the Cardinals (7-1, 4-1 ACC) and Hokies (4-4, 3-1) each having just one conference loss, the winner of Saturday’s contest will have the inside track toward advancing to the conference title game on Dec. 2 in Charlotte.
Just don’t mention that to Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry.
“Yeah, we don’t think about that. I’d be disappointed if somebody was,” Pry said. “We work really hard on focusing on the next opponent. These guys understand and know that that’s part of the key to our success, to us improving.
“Anytime you look ahead, you get your butt beat. I hope we’re not doing that. I’m not. Staff isn’t. And certainly continue to talk to our players about that.”
The Hokies have rebounded from a 1-3 start to win three of their past four games, averaging 30.8 points over that span.
Bhayshul Tuten rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown and Malachi Thomas added 87 yards on the ground last week for Virginia Tech, which rolled up a season-high 318 rushing yards in a 38-10 romp over Syracuse.
Louisville rebounded from a 38-21 setback at Pitt on Oct. 14 with a 23-0 rout of visiting Duke last week.
Jawhar Jordan rolled up a career-high 163 rushing yards and two touchdowns vs. the Blue Devils en route to being named ACC Running Back of the Week. He has set career-high totals in rushing yards (824) and touchdowns (10) this season.
Jordan’s two scores staked Louisville to an early 14-0 lead.
From there, Cardinals first-year coach Jeff Brohm saw his defensive charges take over the game. Duke mustered just 202 yards of total offense, marking the fourth straight game in which Louisville held its foe under 300 yards.
“I think our defense has confidence in themselves and the package that we’re using, and they play aggressive,” Brohm said. “If we cannot give (the opposing) offense the ball back by having turnovers early on and sustaining some drives like we did this past game and putting points on the board early, it definitely plays to our advantage.
“Our defense has taken advantage of it, and they’ve done a really good job, so it’s really a credit to our players. I think they play really hard early on, and they come ready to play.”
That’s a recipe for success, especially at home. Louisville’s last loss in front of its home fans was to Florida State on Sept. 16, 2022.
Virginia Tech safety Jalen Stroman was listed as questionable for the Saturday game due to a right shoulder injury.
“He’s one of our tougher players,” Pry said on Tuesday. “He’s had some injuries before. He seems to always come back a little quicker. I hope we have him. We need him. He’s one of those guys that can run and get you on the ground back there, and they’ve certainly got some guys that can do some things with the ball. But he’s questionable at this point.”
