Louisville football faces the ultimate trap game as it hosts an upstart James Madison Dukes squad for the first time.
One of my best friends in college played football against James Madison every year.
It always stuck with me that he would say “if Louisville or Kentucky ever schedule James Madison, it’d be a huge mistake.”
Now, when JMU was an FCS program, it walloped the majority of its competition year in and year out. That’s why the Dukes find themselves a part of the Sun Belt Conference a year early.
The adjustment, however, has been seamless. JMU already beat App State fresh off its victory at Texas A&M. Now, it has its sights set on an upset victory in Cardinal Stadium.
It has the dogs (pun intended) to do so.
Let’s take a look at what JMU brings to the table.
Coin Flip: James Madison (the man) Facts
4th United States President
Considered the “Father” of the Constitution
Shortest U.S. President at 5’4″
Wrote the Federalist Essays
Washington Irving described him as “but a withered little apple-John” on his inauguration day
First Down: What to Know
Who: James Madison at Louisville
Where: Cardinal Stadium | Louisville, KY (Capacity: 62,500)
When: 7:30 PM ET | Saturday, November 5th, 2022
How to watch: ESPNU or Watch ESPN
Radio: WLCL 93.9 FM and WGTK 970 AM in Louisville (Paul Rogers, Jody Demling, Preston Brown)
Series: Louisville has never faced a school that begins with the letter “J”
Last Meeting: See above
Win Streak: Louisville has won 3 conference games for the first time under Satterfield
Weather Check: 55 and cloudy | 20% chance of rain at kickoff
Spread Check: Louisville -7.5
O/U: 52.5
Thread Check:
These bad boys are finally coming out!
Also notable: James Madison will wear purple on the road for the first time.
Confidence Level:
Second Down: Notable Stats/ Players
Of Note:
-JMU QB Todd Centeio is PFF’s No. 1 rated QB
-JMU DE Isaac Ukwa is Top 20 nationally in sacks accounted for
-JMU is 25th nationally in points allowed
3rd Down: What to Watch for
James Madison’s health
JMU’s offense is going to go as far as its star quarterback Todd Centeio goes.
Centeio was out two weeks ago against Marshall, and his backup, Billy Atkins, struggled in the final three quarters. JMU head coach Curt Cignetti was none too thrilled with Atkins’ play and performance in practice during the bye week.
Centeio’s right and left tackles are also questionable entering the game.
It appears that right tackle Tyshawn Wyatt should be good to go, but right tackle Nick Kidwell– perhaps JMU’s best player- was in a boot two weeks ago. Kidwell’s status is much more up in the air than that of Wyatt and Centeio, who I’d guess will give it a go on Saturday.
Cignetti has refused to answer questions about the health of his team this week in his three meetings with the media.
He even closed off Tuesday’s practice to the public- Something JMU apparently rarely does for its open practice sessions.
If Centeio plays, Louisville is going to have a hell of a challenge on his hands.
If it’s Atkins, there are no excuses for the Cards on Saturday.
Can Louisville keep the momentum going in an obvious trap game situation?
Who made this schedule?! I’d like to speak to the manager.
UofL sandwiched this game against a JMU team that was ranked in the top 25 three weeks ago between matchups with top 10 Wake Forest and top 5 Clemson.
Obviously, there’s no way of truly telling how good teams will be, but Wake and Clemson have been the best two teams in the ACC Atlantic for 3-4 years now.
Anyways, Louisville football is forced to prove that it can keep the momentum rolling coming off the best win of the Satterfield era.
No matter how great that was or what’s to come, the Cards must be locked in this week. It’s a true test.
Louisville’s red zone offense is important
So many times against Wake Forest, Louisville just stalled out on offense.
Despite unreal performances from the defense, Louisville had 2 drives in the first half end in field goals, and one ended in a missed field goal. All three drives saw the Cards enter the red zone.
In the second half, Louisville turned the ball over on downs on its first offensive possession instead of taking the field goal to go up two scores.
The offense seems to be taking shape, but the final move is to get the red zone offense moving.
UofL is 105th in the country in red zone touchdowns scored. Things must change in order for this team to continue its upward trajectory.
Fourth Down: Predictions
Jacob Lane
Louisville 38, JMU 21
Vince Lococo
Louisville 31, JMU 7
Pres Meyer
Louisville 42, JMU 28
