2020 Louisville Cardinals football team

The 2020 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the team's second season under head coach Scott Satterfield. The Cardinals played their home games at Cardinal Stadium, formerly known as Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, in Louisville, Kentucky, as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

2020 Louisville Cardinals football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	4–7 (3–7 ACC)
Head coach	Scott Satterfield (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Dwayne Ledford (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Bryan Brown (2nd season)
Base defense	4–2–5
Home stadium	Cardinal Stadium
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

2020 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Notre Dame y^		9	–	0					10	–	2
No. 3 Clemson y$^		8	–	1					10	–	2
No. 22 Miami (FL)		7	–	2					8	–	3
No. 18 North Carolina		7	–	3					8	–	4
NC State		7	–	3					8	–	4
Boston College		5	–	5					6	–	5
Pittsburgh		5	–	5					6	–	5
Virginia Tech		5	–	5					5	–	6
Virginia		4	–	5					5	–	5
Wake Forest		3	–	4					4	–	5
Georgia Tech		3	–	6					3	–	7
Louisville		3	–	7					4	–	7
Florida State		2	–	6					3	–	6
Duke		1	–	9					2	–	9
Syracuse		1	–	9					1	–	10
Championship: Clemson 34, Notre Dame 10
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll.

After compiling a 4–7 regular season record (3–7 in ACC play), Satterfield advised in mid-December that "we aren’t in line for a bowl" after Louisville's director of athletics conferred with ACC officials.^[1]

Schedule

Louisville had games scheduled against Kentucky, and Murray State, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2][3] This will be the first season since 1993 that the Cardinals do not play Kentucky.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	8:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky*		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	W 35–21	11,179
September 19	7:30 p.m.	No. 17 Miami	No. 18	Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ABC	L 34–47	12,120
September 26	12:00 p.m.	at No. 21 Pittsburgh	No. 24	Heinz Field Pittsburgh, PA	ACCN	L 20–23	0 (Behind closed doors)
October 9	7:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech		Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	ESPN	L 27–46	11,000
October 17	2:30 p.m.	at No. 4 Notre Dame		Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	NBC	L 7–12	10,182
October 24	12:00 p.m.	Florida State		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCRSN	W 48–16	11,465
October 31	4:00 p.m.	Virginia Tech		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	L 35–42	11,901
November 14	8:00 p.m.	at Virginia		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA	ACCN	L 17–31	1,000
November 20	7:30 p.m.	Syracuse		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ESPN	W 30–0	11,192
November 28	4:00 p.m.	at Boston College		Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA	ACCN	L 27–34	0 (Behind closed doors)
December 12	12:00 p.m.	Wake Forest		Cardinal Stadium Louisville, KY	ACCN	W 45–21	10,959
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 24 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

The ACC released their schedule on July 29, with specific dates selected on August 6.^[2]

Rankings

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV*	18	24	RV
Coaches	RV	RV*	16	RV	—
CFP	Not released															Not released

Game summaries

Western Kentucky

See also: 2020 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	7	7	0	7	21
Cardinals	7	21	7	0	35

Miami

See also: 2020 Miami Hurricanes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 17 Hurricanes	14	6	17	10	47
No. 18 Cardinals	3	3	14	14	34

At No. 21 Panthers

See also: 2020 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Cardinals	7	10	3	0	20
No. 21 Panthers	13	7	3	0	23

At Georgia Tech

See also: 2020 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	7	14	6	0	27
Yellow Jackets	7	7	12	20	46

At Notre Dame

See also: 2020 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	0	7	0	7
Fighting Irish	6	0	6	0	12

Florida State

See also: 2020 Florida State Seminoles football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Seminoles	7	7	2	0	16
Cardinals	21	10	7	10	48

Virginia Tech

See also: 2020 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hokies	14	7	7	14	42
Cardinals	0	14	0	21	35

At Virginia

See also: 2020 Virginia Cavaliers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	3	7	7	0	17
Cavaliers	7	7	7	10	31

Syracuse

See also: 2020 Syracuse Orange football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Orange	0	0	0	0	0
Cardinals	3	17	7	3	30

At Boston College

See also: 2020 Boston College Eagles football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardnials	3	7	3	14	27
Eagles	7	6	7	14	34

Wake Forest

See also: 2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demon Deacons	7	3	3	8	21
Cardinals	0	21	7	17	45

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2021 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
2	57	Tutu Atwell	WR	Los Angeles Rams
4	109	Dez Fitzpatrick	WR	Tennessee Titans

References

1. Rutherford, Mike (December 16, 2020). "Louisville will not play in bowl game". cardchronicle.com. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
2. "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
3. Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.