Louisville vs. Wake Forest

Louisville and Wake Forest have 11 meetings on file, the first in 2006; Louisville leads the series 7–⁠4 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Louisville 6–⁠4.

Louisville wins
7
Wake Forest wins
4
Ties
0
Earliest on file
2006
Longest streak
4 Louisville
Current streak
1 Wake Forest
Last 10 meetings
Louisville 6–⁠4
Most recent
2026

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
2000s1–⁠0
2010s4–⁠2
2020s2–⁠2
Both ranked
1 meeting: Louisville 1, Wake Forest 0
Average margin
13.2 points; 4 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Louisville
4–⁠2 Louisville’s record at home
At Wake Forest
2–⁠2 Wake Forest’s record at home
Neutral sites
1–⁠0 Louisville first

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Louisville’s biggest win2016: Louisville 44, Wake Forest 12by 32 points
  2. Wake Forest’s biggest win2018: Wake Forest 56, Louisville 35by 21 points
  3. Upset2019: Louisville 62, Wake Forest 59Louisville had a 22% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset2026: Wake Forest 30, Louisville 27Wake Forest had a 29% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Ranked showdown2006: Louisville 24, Wake Forest 13No. 6 Louisville at No. 16 Wake Forest

Coach against coach

YearsLouisvilleSeriesWake Forest
2014–⁠2018Bobby Petrino3–⁠2Dave Clawson
2019–⁠2022Scott Satterfield3–⁠1Dave Clawson

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Louisville’s side (Petrino 3–⁠2 against Clawson). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Louisville and Wake Forest, 2006 on1300150017002010201520202025

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

John Wolford Wake Forest28 of 34, 461 yards, 5 TD2017 Passing
Matt Colburn Wake Forest20 carries, 243 yards, 3 TD2018 Rushing
Sage Surratt Wake Forest12 catches, 196 yards, 3 TD2019 Receiving
Greg Dortch Wake Forest10 catches, 167 yards, 4 TD2017 Receiving
Carlos Hernandez Wake Forest9 catches, 194 yards, 1 TD2026 Receiving

Named most valuable

Brian Brohm2006

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on). Most valuable: as the games’ Wikipedia articles name them (CC BY-SA).

On television

2026ESPN1.0 million viewers

Viewers: Nielsen, as compiled by nschultz7’s ratings tracker.

Every game

Sep 26, 2026Wake Forest 30, 16Louisville 27at Louisville
Oct 29, 2022Louisville 48, 10Wake Forest 21at Louisville
Oct 2, 202124Wake Forest 37, Louisville 34at Wake Forest
Dec 12, 2020Louisville 45, Wake Forest 21at Louisville
Oct 12, 2019Louisville 62, 19Wake Forest 59at Wake Forest
Oct 27, 2018Wake Forest 56, Louisville 35at Louisville
Oct 28, 2017Wake Forest 42, Louisville 32at Wake Forest
Nov 12, 20165Louisville 44, Wake Forest 12at Louisville
Oct 30, 2015Louisville 20, Wake Forest 19at Wake Forest
Sep 27, 2014Louisville 20, Wake Forest 10at Louisville
Jan 2, 20076Louisville 24, 16Wake Forest 13Hard Rock StadiumOrange Bowl

Every game is listed as played on the field.