Good evening, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans.
@TalkinACCSports and I have been answering ACC mailbag questions to kill some time before college football starts (we all miss it, damn it!) – and we will answer any about the ACC question – within reason as long as it’s clean.
Please see our first five installments below. Specifically, we answered:
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@Civilian_Wolf’s question here about the Virginia Tech – North Carolina State University football game;
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@RedWhitePodcast question here about whether Pittsburgh is underrated;
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@LiquidSolidz question regarding Jacoby Brissett’s chances for an ACC player of the year type season;
Today, we answer another question from @ER (who is awesome – he helped drive a lot of questions in our mailbag). @ER asks us why Louisville is getting a lot of love as they lost a lot of talent to the NFL. That’s a reasonable question.
@hokiesmash @TalkinACCSports why does everyone love louisville so much? they lost an ass ton of talent to the NFL but still picked high.
— Evan Roberts (@ER) July 30, 2015
It is very true that Louisville lost a lot of talent to the NFL (10 draft picks!!!! H/T ACC.com). Hell of a first ACC season there by the Cardinals.
That said, the cupboard is not bare, specifically on defense. Two of Louisville’s football players, including DE Sheldon Rankins and LB James Burgess, made the first team-all ACC defense. @TalkinACCSports has four of Louisville’s players in his first, second, and team All-ACC defensive teams over at @CFBMatrix – and rates the Cardinals defensive line and linebackers as the ACC’s 2nd and 3rd best units, respectively. And Devonte Fields, TCU transfer, is an absolute baller at the outside linebacker position for Louisville.
Louisville’s defense is still going to be pretty solid (the offense gets in you the game – the defense wins you the game). The offense will make strides – this is a young team with a young QB – and the Cardinals will need a good running game from Brandon Radcliff and production from the WR slot in James Quick.
Short answer: Are they getting a lot of love nationally (and in the ACC) and is it warranted? Louisville is getting love because of that D – it’s still going to be strong – and it’s going to keep the Cardinals in a lot of games this year (I didn’t really think I’d be talking defense first about Bobby Petrino teams – his teams generally have been offensive Thanksgiving festivals). How well the Cardinals offense does this year will determine Louisville’s success. I think we’re looking at an 8-4 season for the Cardinals – and the whoever wins the NC State/Louisville game could be a 9-game winner in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
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