You better get Louisville now, because they are coming. Following a nightmare 2018 season, that as we’ve said several times was among the very worst in ACC history, Louisville roared back into relevance with a remarkable 8-5 season that just about nobody saw coming.
You won’t find many people that didn’t think Scott Satterfield wasn’t a great hire for Louisville. It was universally hailed as one of the best hires going into the 2019 season. @Hokiesmash_ASD called it THE best hire of the off-season, and advocated heavily for his hire on this site. Still a bowl appearance seemed out of reach. Competitiveness and maybe a 2 or 3 game improvement from 2-10 seemed like a best case scenario.
In started in game 1 against a very good Notre Dame team. Louisville lost 35-17, but they looked fast and well coached. They clearly lacked depth and were undersized defensively, but they showed a spark that wasn’t seen the entire 2018 season.
Then the wins starting coming – first over Eastern and Western Kentucky. Then there were wins over Boston College and Wake Forest. At 4-2, a bowl appearance seemed possible. Wins over Virginia, NC State, and Syracuse got Louisville to 7 wins.
The Cardinals lost 5 times, but here’s what to take from that. Louisville never lost back to back games. The Cardinals may have lost, but they didn’t repeat the same mistakes.
More often than not, their losses were due to personal issues and not coaching ones.
Even in the bowl game win over Mississippi State, the Cardinals looked at a disadvantage at the line of scrimmage and got behind 14-0. Satterfield and staff adjusted and began bringing increased pressure through a variety of blitz packages. That always comes with risk, but it is what Louisville needed. They won impressively outscoring Mississippi State 38-14 the rest of the way.
Sophomore Malik Cunningham has shown Lamar Jackson type flashes as a QB. He is extremely quick as a runner, and ever improving as a passer. Cunningham will be back to lead the Louisville offense against next year.
If Satterfield can fashion this kind of turnaround in one year, what can he accomplish with a couple of recruiting classes?
There’s no question in my mind a top 25 season is just around the corner for the Cardinals.
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