In Scott Satterfield’s first season at Louisville, he could no wrong. It’s been well documented. He inherited a Louisville team that was one of the worst in ACC HISTORY. He wins 8 games last year, ACC COY, a bowl win, and returned a most of a very a dynamic offense.
Before the ACC went divisionless, there were whispers Louisville could be Clemson’s biggest challenger in the ACC Atlantic.
Even after an off-season of across the board upheaval, Louisville still entered the season in high regard. Saturday night with the nation watching in prime-time, and the game of the weekend with the Miami Hurricanes – Louisville face planted.
A win would have put the Cardinals in the top 15, instead Louisville gets to watch Miami ascend to the position they wanted to be in following the game.
Louisville offense was solid against a good Miami defense. They put up 34 points and over 500 yards. The defense though was a total mess. Ranked 102 in the country last year the defense need to make big time improvement. It wasn’t there tonight. Miami scored at will putting up 47 points. When I said what could derail Louisville’s season it was the defense.
Will Go 6-5 (5-4) if:
Louisville loses to Miami and Pittsburgh in weeks 2 and 3. The Cardinals host Miami and go to Pittsburgh in their games 2 and 3. These are critical swing games for Louisville, and Miami and Pitt are more than capable of knocking of Louisville. If the Cardinals lose these two, I would expect it will be due to their defense that couldn’t slow the Canes or Panthers down.
An offseason of optimism now changes to one of concern. DC Bryan Brown has to be wondering what to do as the defense was riddled with busted coverages, missed assignments, and physically manhandled upfront. It showed little growth from last season, and frankly it looked like a poorly coached unit. A lack of talent is one thing, but the lack of fundamental play was alarming. Miami TE Brevin Jordan could put together his NFL Draft highlight reel just off this game. He was a total mis-match for the Louisville secondary. Miami QB D’Eriq King shredded Louisville apart like he was back at Houston when he became a darkhorse Heisman candidate in 2018.
As much as Satterfield did last year to start the rebuild at Louisville, Saturday proved the Cardinals are still quite a ways off from being ready for prime-time. A loss next week to a capable Pitt team, could sink the Cardinals season to a point where even a winning record could be in doubt.
Yep that’s how bad Louisville looked tonight. The game next week could set the tone for the rest of the year.
Make you follow the All Sports Discussion Twitter account at @AllSportsDACC and please like our Facebook Page
Leave a Reply