Louisville football starts fast, survives FSU comeback to defeat the Seminoles 31-23. Quick takeaways and game balls are given out.
Louisville football got out to an unbelievable start, leading Florida State 17-0 and 31-7. However, the Cards had to fend off a furious rally to defeat the Seminoles 31-23 on Saturday.
Let’s get right to it. Here are a few takeaways from the important but, ultimately, unsatisfying victory.
“I’ll take 3-1. Ole Miss is a really good football team,” Scott Satterfield said in the postgame. “There’s a lot of parity in college football… If you show up with a good game plan, you have a chance to win against anybody.”
Louisville playcalling was great, until it wasn’t
There’s a lot to process but everything in this game goes back to Louisville’s conservative play-calling.
Florida State played with a sense of desperation offensively. The Louisville football defense was gassed after having to come on the field over and over again.
Louisville will be without linebacker Monty Montgomery for the rest of the season. Yassir Abdullah was banged up during the game. Yaya Diaby went out of the game late. Louisville’s defense was doing everything it could, but everything simply came back to the offense. It was the offense that made this a one-possession game and caused any issues that UofL ran into late.
Execution at crucial times was great, until it wasn’t
The early narrative of the game became Louisville’s ability to make things happen on third down.
Louisville was 8/10 on third down in the first half, and that led to the Cards scoring four touchdowns and a field goal in their first five drives.
The Cardinals finished 9/18 on third down, going 1 for its next 9 attempts on 3rd down.
Just vomit-enducing.
Louisville’s play in the trenches won the game
Part of what has enabled an offensive breakthrough for Louisville football is its play in the trenches.
While not perfect by any means, Louisville gave Cunningham ample time more often than not, creating pockets that allowed him to create down the field.
Early in the season, UofL’s lack of push on the offensive front was concerning. However, things have turned significantly since the Central Florida matchup. UofL has been great on all facets in the trenches.
The FSU defensive front averaged 8.3 tackles for loss per game coming in. The Noles struggled to get pressure against the Cards.
On the other end, Louisville football created all kinds of havoc on the defensive front. UofL finished with 6 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and one impressive game overall.
Malik Cunningham: Heisman Candidate in the first half, WTH in the second
Midway through the first half of his fourth game, Malik Cunningham took the lead for total rushing touchdowns among all players in NCAA D-1.
Cunningham was dynamic in the first half. He started the game with a 59-yard dime to Tyler Harrell. He reeled off multiple massive runs. Cunningham finished with four total touchdowns and 320 total yards.
Cunningham was unbelievable in the pocket. He was dynamic in the open field.
HOWEVER, Cunningham was hampered by a lot of outside factors in the second half. He suffered from conservative play-calling. He had two plays called back, including a 72-yard jaunt to the endzone, that really made things interesting.
Cunningham is an unreal playmaker. Still, it feels like the Louisville football staff doesn’t feel confident enough letting him take over games with a lead. Louisville scored 3 points in the second half against EKU and now 0 against FSU. It’s time to unleash Malik and let him be the player he is capable of being.
Game Balls
Malik Cunningham- Louisville football should be celebrating a massive victory. The Cardinals jumped out to a 24-point lead on the road against a team ready to lay down. Most of that was due to the play of Cunningham.
Louisville has to let Cunningham continue to ball out at the helm of this offense. If they do, he is one of the best players in the ACC.
That official eating skittles- I feel you so hard, bro.
Mark Vassett- There are many dangerous animals that hail from Australia and Mark Vassett is one of them.
Mark Golic Jr.- What is it going to take to get this man on more Louisville football broadcasts? Charismatic and incredibly knowledgeable.
Jack Fagot- Should Fagot have been playing the CARD linebacker all along? After struggling at safety at times for two years, the former walk-on has been unreal at the hybrid linebacker position. He lead the Cards with 10 tackles and had two tackles for loss.
Yassir Abdullah- He was injured late in the game but Abdullah was a menace on defense in the absence of Montgomery. 8 tackles, 2 sacks, and 3.5 tackles for loss.
We have more this week, but for now, let’s kick some Wake Forest ass.
Also Read: Breaking down Louisville’s commitment from Kaleb Glenn
You aced it
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You go forgot to mention Yassir came back in later. And HOW about the freshman Glitter with two sacks