The 2021 Louisville football schedule is out. A few (extremely)early predictions.
It feels like just yesterday we were worried about if there would even be a 2020 college football season. Yet, here we are already looking ahead to the 2021 calendar for Louisville football.
We’ve known the bulk of the Cards’ schedule for quite some time now. It includes a season opener against Ole Miss in Atlanta. A clash with Central Florida in the non-conference. Tough interconference ACC battles with Clemson & NC State. As well as matchups with Duke and Virginia from the Coastal division. The only details missing were official game dates.
We got those early on Thursday when the 2021 Louisville football schedule was officially released.
There’s no better way to ring in the schedule than by making baseless predictions grounded in nothing but the logic in my brain.
Here are my quick and way-too-early predictions for the Cards’ slate in 2021.
Also trending: Options for the open offensive coordinator position for Louisville football
Louisville football starts season with a loss
I think there is going to be fans who automatically assume the Cards are going to win this game. I’m not one of them.
Louisville has faced a few SEC programs during the Scott Satterfield tenure and for the most part it’s not gone well. We joke about the “SEC difference” a lot, which obviously is for good reason. But when you put an SEC team on the field, typically you’re playing against talent that is considered “cream of the crop.”
Ole Miss is still working their way back to being the team that competed at the top of the SEC during the early and mid-2000s, doing so with Lane Kiffin as head coach. There’s been a lot of reason to believe they are still an average SEC school. But again, they have a roster made up of former four and five-star players. Louisville can’t say the same.
Louisville’s defense is going to have their hands full already. Add in an offense that will replace their top running back and receivers and it’s a recipe for defeat when battling against an offense like Kiffin’s.
The big question mark will surround the offense and the ability to gel quickly. Malik Cunningham will bring the veteran leadership and ability to win. Can his weapons rise to the occasion that quickly? That is what concerns me currently and it will be a major talking point leading up to the game.
We’ll break this down much closer as the season approaches. But I’m not changing my mind on the outcome.
Louisville will go on two winning/losing streaks
Cards may catch fire early in the season
It’s going to be hard to predict just how good Louisville football can be after losing so much on offense and having to replace multiple defensive starters. The start to the season could be tough, considering you have two non-conference challenges. I see the start to the season as the biggest blessing, however.
After an opener with Ole Miss, a game that I do think Louisville will be competitive in, you get EKU at home. That’s a win.
Next, you get Central Florida, the 2017 National Champs.
As challenging as UCF has been over the years, they aren’t anywhere the headline team we thought we’d be getting when the game was scheduled back in 2017. Dillon McCray is still really good and it will be a tough game, but I think the Cards win.
Then that leads into ACC play. Louisville should be able to take care of FSU, although the Seminoles will be better in 2021. Wake Forest was average in 2020 and there’s no reason to believe they’ll be anything but that again, even with a few nice pieces. I like the chances of a win there.
Things could go the wrong direction in a hurry
After that, things start to go downhill faster than our respect for Robinhood when it cut off $gme shares.
Louisville goes head-to-head with Virginia, a game they lost last season. Because of that, I’ll give the edge to Virginia.
This starts a stretch of three games whose records were a combined 20-8 last year.
BC comes to town the following week and that’s a game I have little to no confidence in. Louisville struggled with BC this year, and that’s a team who will 100% get better in 2021. In fact, they could be a darkhorse team to finish in second behind Clemson. UofL is 1-3 against BC over the last four years and the odds of going 1-4 are climbing.
Those two potential L’s are followed up with the “teams you didn’t have to face last season” special.
The Cards will travel first to Raleigh, to take on an improving NC State team. By no means is this game unwinnable for Louisville, but it will be tougher than years past. Considering the jump made last year, combined with what they have back, the pendulum swings in favor of NC State.
That’s followed by a return to Death Valley to battle against DJ Uiagalelei (get used to saying that). He’ll lead a Clemson team who will be entering a new era without Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, amongst others.
Louisville’s not ready to win this game yet, even in a year when Clemson is down. Chalk this up as an L, and what do you know, there’s a chance for four straight losses.
Yikes. After starting 4-1, Louisville hypothetically will be sitting at 4-5 with three weeks left to go. If this is the scenario, you can bet fans will be getting a little antsy.
Cards walk away with no signature wins
What’s the biggest win of Scott Satterfield’s tenure as head coach of the Louisville football program?
Mississippi State? Wake Forest?
Either way, I don’t think we’re at a point yet where you can say that Satterfield has picked up a “signature win.” He has a couple of really solid wins, including both mentioned. But overall, we’re talking about a 1-5 record against ranked teams in two seasons. Not great, but understandable.
However, it makes the “big” games extremely important in year three.
Well unfortunately for Satterfield and Cardinal fans, I don’t see a “signature” win this season. Clemson and NC State should be ranked when they take on the Cards, while Ole Miss and Kentucky won’t be far off.
As you can tell by my predictions, I’m not too bullish on Louisville winning games against Clemson, NC State, or Ole Miss. That leaves the season finale against Kentucky for the chance to secure the big win needed to keep fans engaged and excited about the future.
Cards will be a home underdog against Kentucky
Unfortunately, I don’t see that game going Louisville’s way. At least from where I sit right now.
The SEC thing I talked about earlier applies to them as well, just as we saw when Lynn Bowden and the Cats rushed for 517 yards and six touchdowns. While Kentucky showed a lot of flaws in 2019, they are continuing to build a solid foundation and a roster of talented pieces. They may not be at the top of the SEC East yet, but they are ahead of Louisville when it comes to winning in the trenches.
Louisville will have to prove to me they can block at an elite level and rush the passer much better than they did a year ago before I pick them to beat Kentucky. There’s plenty of time for that to change, but for now, that leaves Louisville without a signature win.
That’s BAD news for Satterfield. Especially considering all that took place after the 2020 season. I’m still on board the Louisville football train but I do think we’ll see more struggles in 2020 – at least compared to where I imagine expectations will be.
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