Get to Know the Louisville Football Opponent: Indiana State

Louisville football’s home opener, in newly renovated Cardinal Stadium, will come against Indiana State on September 8th.

Coming into week 2 against the Indiana State Sycamores will be one of the most interesting weeks of the season. Why you ask? Well, Louisville will have already taken the field against the defending National Champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and will have either played the game close, gotten blown out, or shocked the world and taken down the Tide in what would be the biggest upset in Louisville football history.

Emotions will be high regardless of the outcome as the Cardinals will officially get their home season underway, with thousands of Cardinal fans desperate to crack open a couple cold ones in the parking lot hours before the 7:00 PM tailgate, after months of no football.

Oh yeah, not to mention, 5,000+ seats, two new video boards, and a brand new facility will be on display for the first time since beginning construction what seems like a decade ago.

Myself, I’ll be taking in the game in style, with seats in the fourth row of the new end zone.

Let’s take an early look at the Cards second opponent of the 2018-19 season, the Indiana State Sycamores.

2017 Recap

There’s not much to recap for Indiana State from the 2017 season as they went 0-11 under second year coach Curt Mallory, who has his hands full in rebuilding one of the worst programs at the FCS level. Indiana State was outscored 494 to 158 through 11 games, which is likely (I’m not doing the research for this claim, go head if you’d like) one of the worst margins throughout college football. The Sycamores were flat out bad, and unfortunately they lost quite a bit of talent from last year’s team. The good news is, when you’re 0-11, you don’t have anywhere to go but up.

Who did they lose?

As mentioned Indiana State lost several talented players from the 2017-18 campaign on both sides of the ball. Gone are leading rusher, LeMonte Booker, who ran for 945 yards and 5 touchdowns during his senior season. Bob Pugh, the team’s leading receiver who finished with 722 yards and 3 touchdowns, as well as top tight end Jacquet McClendon. The Sycamores also lost QB Isaac Harker, who played in 9 games, throwing for three touchdowns and six INT’s.

Who do they return?

Though the Sycamores lost the majority of their leading skill players, the good news is there are a few players with experience who return for the 2018-19 season. Starting QB Cade Sparks, who threw for 1,2227 yards and six touchdowns as a redshirt freshman, is back for his second season and should see improvement. They also get back their second and third leading rushers, Jaquan Keys and Titus McCoy, who ran for around 300 yards and 2 touchdowns combined.

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The Syracamores should improve significantly is on the defensive side of the ball, where they return several key players from last season including LB Jonas Griffith, who was second team All-MVFC, LB Katrell Moss, who was second on the team in tackles, and CB Rondell Green, who had two interceptions in 2017-18 along with 66 tackles and 3.5 TFL.

Why should Louisville be worried?

Coming off of a big game in Alabama, in which most assume they will likely be blown out (I’m not ready to say that, nor will I ever be), rebounding and getting up for an opponent like Indiana State may prove tricky. If the Cards come out flat and uninspired, you just never know what may happen.

Why should Indiana State be worried?

They won one game last season, and are playing Louisville in their newly named, and renovated stadium, not to mention the games at night. Indiana State has no shot at winning this game, and will do themselves a favor if they keep it within 28 points.

Key Player for Indiana State

Two names that I’ll be watching on September 8th are Jonas Griffith, the team’s leading tackler and starting linebacker, who could prove to be dangerous in the run game. The Cards will need to establish dominance early on in order to get up and put the game away as early as possible.

A second name I’ll be watching is Cade Sparks, who looks to be the starting QB in 2018-19. The Cards shouldn’t have any issues, but we have no idea what the defense will look like and if last season tells us anything, the Cards could give up big numbers in the air if the secondary’s issues aren’t fixed.

If I’m being honest, previewing a team like Indiana State is difficult seeing as how they were and should be again, one of the worst team’s in FCS. The Cards should have no problem putting the Sycamores away, especially with the game being in the newly renovated stadium, with a likely sell out (or close, I would hope) crowd, who are desperate for football.

This is a game where the Cards will hopefully get up big early on, and the coaches/fans will spend the rest of the game getting a look at some of the backups who will desperately need in-game experience.

Early Prediction: Louisville 56 – Indiana State 6

Next: Three Takeaways From Media Day

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