Top 5 Louisville football games of 2016: No. 5
By Derek Snyder
Which Louisville football game lands at number five on Big Red Louie’s top-5 games of the 2016 season?
The Louisville football team has a tough first month of the season. The Cards will face Florida State and Clemson before October 1st, not to mention, they play both teams within a couple weeks of each other. However, there is a team that Louisville plays in between the Seminoles and Tigers: Marshall University.
Marshall is a team that has many fans on-edge as the season is getting ready to begin. The Cardinals always seem to lose a game to a lesser opponent, but could that team be the Thundering Herd?
"Athlon Sports noted that, “A tough non-conference schedule looms, but the Herd should be in position for their fourth straight 10-win season and a run at another Conference USA title”."
Staring at four straight, ten-win seasons is impressive for any program in college football.
Why Marshall could beat Louisville:
This could definitely be a trap game for the Cardinals if they are not careful. This 8:00pm game in West Virginia comes in week 4, right between the Florida State and Clemson games. The talk all offseason long has been if Louisville will finally be able to knock off the top dogs in the ACC in the Tigers and Seminoles.
If Louisville knocks of FSU the week before, Louisville is going to have to fight the urge to look over Marshall. Week five against Clemson will come soon enough, but night games on the road against fired-up teams can be a recipe for a major upset.
The Thundering Herd are led by quarterback Chase Litton. According to Sports Reference, Litton threw for 2,608 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2015. He returns to a team that is looking to win the Conference USA title and they won’t let any team in their path stop them, including Louisville.
Athlon Sports noted that, “Litton lost his top two 2015 targets, Davonte Allen and Deandre Reaves, but outside receiver Deon-Tay McManus returns, along with Justin Hunt and Michael Clark, a 6’7″ deep threat. Tight ends Ryan Yurachek and Emanuel Byrd also will be bigger factors.
Marshall will play two ACC teams in-a-row with Louisville and Pittsburgh. Other than Conference rival Western Kentucky, Louisville could be their biggest home game of the season.
It will not be an easy environment for the Cardinals to play in on September 24th.
Why Louisville will beat Marshall:
The leadership on the Louisville football team is one of the biggest strengths of the 2016 squad. It’s not like this current coaching staff hasn’t experienced excruciating losses to teams that they should have beaten before.
Lamar Jackson has been developing his game nicely over this offseason and the Cardinals expectations for the 2016 season have risen because of it. Few teams on Louisville’s schedule will be able to contain Jackson and Marshall simply is not one of them.
"Marshall has to replace the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in linebacker Evan McKelvey, and D.J. Hunter is also gone from the middle of the defense, according to Athlon Sports.”"
This is a huge blow to the 2016 Thundering Herd. McKelvey was a force on the Herd’s defense in 2015 and he will surely be missed in the game with the Cardinals. Teams have to have linebackers that can force Jackson to stay in the pocket and make bad decisions. If they cannot, Jackson will have a field day, picking apart the defense with his legs and improving passing ability.
On top of all that, Louisville’s defense is going to be the key in this one. Only losing three starters from last season, the Cards are set to dominate offenses all season.
Road games can produce upsets if the other team turns the football over and if the team’s defense is suspect. It’s always possible that Jackson and company could turn the football over, but it would be a surprise to everyone if Louisville’s defense doesn’t come to play in a night-game on the road.
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This game against Marshall is going to be a fun one. Louisville will, more than likely, come out on top, but probably not before Marshall gives cardinal fans a little bit of a scare on the road.