It’s been an interesting week around the Louisville football program following Scott Satterfield’s name coming up in the coaching search at South Carolina, a report that was shot down by the man himself. The potential interview with USC, true or not, left a bad taste in the mouth of Louisville football fans heading into a road matchup with Boston College, one that the Cards desperately wanted following last week’s win over Syracuse.
The game started in a very positive way for the Cards, getting on the board first with a 44-yard field goal from James Turner followed up by a forced fumble on the 1-yard line by the defense in an incredible goal line stand. Just as we’ve seen countless times this season, all momentum went out the window following a fumble by Hassan Hall on the second drive for Louisville, which was followed up by another fumble from the usually sure-handed Tutu Atwell.
Even with two first half turnovers, Louisville’s defense fought hard and did all they could from letting the game get out of hand. Timely third down stops (at least the kind that weren’t on 3rd & 1) kept the offense to just one TD in the first half, while forcing two goal line field goals instead and allowed Louisville to stay in a game they probably had no business being in (stop me if you’ve heard that before).
Malik Cunningham was another major reason why Louisville football had any chance of winning, as it was his play in the second half that kept them in distance following BC scoring touchdowns on two of their first three second half possessions. Connecting on 19/31 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns and running for another 133 yards on 17 attempts, Cunningham did all he could (including taking care of the football), even risking his own health, to get the victory.
For the first time in quite some time (maybe ever in the Satterfield era) Dez Fitzpatrick was the go-to target for Cunningham, and it completely changed the dynamics of the Louisville football offense. Out of the 294 yards through the air, Fitzpatrick was responsible for 182 of them, including a 69-yard touchdown on a screen pass in the fourth quarter.
In a narrative that we’ve continued to see strengthened each week on the season, just when you thought Louisville had the momentum and were going to do what they needed to pull ahead – they allowed their bad to outweigh their good. Even without Jurkovec and Bailey, both of whom exited the game in the second half due to injuries, Boston College was able to score 21 second half points behind strong play from backup QB Dennis Grosel while taking advantage of the Cards mistakes.
In the end, Louisville’s impressive offensive showing (493 total yards) wasn’t enough to cover for their defensive struggles and mistakes – resulting in the seventh loss on the season and the end of any potential bowl game talk.
Reading between the lines
Coach Satterfield spoke with the media following the loss, here are my big takeaways:
- Turnovers were too much to overcome; Overall turnovers on the season have been costly & also fluky (Mentioned fumbles being the culprit)
- Proud of the overall effort & fight, did what was needed to be in it to the end
- Injuries up front (Jared Goldwire, Dez Tell, Monty Montgomery, Dorian Etheridge) was a big part of Boston College’s big rushing performance – Well balanced offense was tough to defend
- Looking to challenge team this offseason when it comes to turnovers; both offense & defense (Notes competition & naming winners and losers)
- Been in a three week layoff situation before at App State; Plans to treat it like bowl game; Give rest, 6-7 practices during bye weeks, have fun, work on fundamentals & work with young guys then push forward into preparing for week
- Wait and see when it comes to emphasizing playing young guys
- Above all else, want to win last game
Also worth noting here (as observed by Chris Hatfield) not a single media member asked Satterfield about the alleged interview with South Carolina or if there has been any contact. Really would’ve thought some one (Sim Tullivan) would’ve been all over it.
Statistical Leaders
Passing: Malik Cunningham – 294 yards, 2 touchdowns
Rushing: Malik Cunningham – 133 yards, 17 carries
Receiving: Dez Fitzpatrick – 188 yards, 1 touchdown
Three big takeaways from Louisville football’s loss to BC
Here are the big takeaways from Saturday’s loss.
Turnovers & penalties continue to stunt progress
There’s got to be nothing more frustrating as a football coach than watching from the sidelines as your team gives away opportunities time and time again via turnovers and penalties. Louisville entered Saturday’s matchup ranked 123rd (second to last) in turnovers lost and 2nd in total fumbles, and did nothing to change the narrative on their inability to take care of the football.
It was a take your pick kind of night for Louisville, as fumbles from running back Hasan Hall and receiver Tutu Atwell during promising drives in the first half cost the team two chances at scores and resulted in 10 points for BC. In the second half, it was a mixture of both that ultimately put the nail in Louisville’s coffin, but three personal foul penalties across two drives (2 on defense that led to a BC score, 1 on offense that brought back a big run) allowed Boston College to push the gap to a point that was too much for Louisville to overcome.
A coach will tell you they can live with getting beaten by a better team but won’t settle for losing to teams because of self inflicted wounds. Against a backup QB and backup RB, Louisville wasn’t able to take care of the little details and it cost them the game. It’s that simple.
Louisville’s defense let Boston College establish the run
Boston College has become synonymous over the last few seasons with being a hard-nosed, run-first type team. It’s easy to do that when you have an NFL caliber running back like the Golden Eagles had with AJ Dillon, but not as much when you’re working with a stable of mostly unproven backs.
In Jeff Hafley’s first season, Boston College has become a pass first team averaging 262 yards per game compared to just 104 yards on the ground. David Bailey has been a thorne in Louisville’s side for years, even with Dillon on the roster, and it was perfectly on brand for the defense to allow him to have arguably his best half of the season.
When Jurkovec went down with the knee injury, no one was expecting Grosel to be able to come in and start running in a way comparable to Tim Tebow, but here we are in 2020. Although it was only two carries, Grosel’s 44 yards combined with strong running from backups Pat Garwo III and Travis Levy (83 yards on 19 carries) allowed Hafley’s offense to keep the ball moving down the field and make the passing offense that much more dangerous.
What’s even more frustrating (as if you needed anything else) is the fact that a lot of the struggles Louisville faced in the run game defensively were caused by themselves. Again, penalties combined with a ton of missed tackles and broken ankles (sorry, Russ) allowed BC to have their way and control the game.
Louisville’s offense was impressive outside of turnovers
It came on a night where there were three costly turnovers, but if you take those away the Louisville offense was nearly unstoppable. Even without Maurice Burkley, the presumed starting running back following Javian Hawkins opt out, the Cardinals were able to run the ball effectively and connect on big plays through the air.
For the second time in three weeks it was Cunningham leading the charge on the ground, picking up 133 of Louisville’s 199 yards rushing. It was his ability to make guys miss that I thought led to the field opening up for the offense and for bigger passing plays down the field. Redshirt freshman Jalen Mitchell pitched in with 44 yards on 10 carries, including a nice goal line touchdown with backup Evan Conley on the field.
There was a lot of improvement in Cunningham’s accuracy and throwing selection, at least compared to what we had seen from in weeks prior. Last week against Syracuse especially, we saw a lot of forced pass attempts to covered receivers resulting in three interceptions and countless missed passes.
Against Boston College, Cunningham consistently attacked the middle of the field with Fitzpatrick and Atwell. When they weren’t open, Cunningham did a good job of taking the underneath play or deciding to keep it himself. You’d like to see him not take so many shots, something that apparent tonight, but overall Cunningham was solid.
Game ball: Dez Fitzpatrick
The matchup that Dez Fitzpatrick drew against Boston College was one that the coaching staff saw on tape this week as being clearly worth targeting. Whether it was slants over the middle, screens outside, or deep patterns down field, Cunningham and Fitzpatrick were on the same page throughout most of the night for Louisville.
He’ll go down as one of the most underrated Cardinals in history, and it’ll be because of how good he was at just about everything. No matter where Fitzpatrick has lined up he’s consistently made plays when given the chance and against BC he showed that with Devante Parker-like jump ball catches and big runs after catch & contact.
While his 182 yards and touchdown weren’t enough to get Louisville the win, there’s no doubt that Fitzpatrick was the best player on the field at all times throughout the night. I don’t want to praise the coaching staff too much for their play calling or scouting report that led to a heavy workload for Fitzpatrick because honestly it should’ve been happening consistently this season. Regardless, his big night was much needed and great to see as a fan.
As crazy as it is to believe, the next time that the Louisville football program takes the field, Fitzpatrick will do so for the very last time in his career. I will die on the hill that he’s one of the most underrated & undervalued receivers in program history and could’ve potentially been one of the greatest had his sophomore and junior seasons included more targets. His play and the way he’s carried himself on and off the field as a Cardinal have made him a fan favorite over the years, and games like this only further lead you to see how special of a talent he is.
The big performance against BC marked the 8th time he’s gone over 100-plus receiving yards in his career and moved him up to sixth over his former teammate Jaylen Smith in career receiving yards.
What’s next for Louisville football
Louisville football will now embark on back-to-back bye weeks thanks to quirks in the ACC scheduling following issues with COVID at Miami (FL) and Wake Forest. The Cards will do battle with the Demon Deacons on senior night at Cardinal Stadium on December 19th, marking the end of the 2020 season.
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