Louisville Football: 5 Cardinal players to watch vs. Indiana State
By Jacob Lane
We’re just two days away from the Louisville football program’s home opener against the Indiana State Sycamores. Here are five players to watch this weekend at Cardinal Stadium.
After one of the more brutal season openers in Louisville football history, the Cardinals will look to rebound in their home opener inside of the new look Cardinal Stadium. The Cards will square off with Indiana State of the FCS, who come into the game 1-0 after going 0-11 last season.
When Louisville football head coach Bobby Petrino met with the local media on Monday, he previewed Indiana State a bit, and talked about how crucial this week of practice was for his team. Losing to Alabama wasn’t unexpected, but there were a lot of “concerning” things that we saw on the field, including the lack of a run game, multiple penalties, and the inability to cover deep. Petrino told the media:
"“I’m looking forward to this week. I’m looking forward to opening up the stadium. I’m hoping we have a big crowd, and everybody has a lot of fun. We do have to have a great week of practice. This is an important week of practice for us. We need to focus and concentrate and get better technically and scheme wise, and not make the mistakes that we made.”"
Specifically when talking about Indiana State Bobby Petrino mentioned their coaching, being led by Curt Mallory, and their use of mixed blitzes that could prove to be confusing for this Louisville offensive line. This game really shouldn’t be much of a challenge for the Cards, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be important things that each unit can work on.
This week will be a “try-out” of sorts at the running back position as Bobby Petrino said “we’ve got to find out who out who our running back really is,” after combining for just 16 yards against the stout Alabama defense.
There will also be another battle to watch, coming at the expense of the Jonathan Greenard injury, which will “reportedly” keep him out for the season. Finding a replacement, or multiple replacements, to fill the production at the defensive end position will likely be the most important thing to watch this weekend.
Let’s take a look at five key players for the Louisville Cardinals against the Sycamores.