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Louisville Football: Virginia rushing attack could cause major issues for defense

By Jacob Lane

LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Bobby Petrino of the Louisville Cardinals calls a play from the sidelines during the second quarter of the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Cardinal Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Bobby Petrino of the Louisville Cardinals calls a play from the sidelines during the second quarter of the game against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Cardinal Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /
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It’s a concerning time for Louisville football, and if the opening line for the slate against Virginia is any indicator, many concerns could be validated this Saturday.

Louisville football has had the Virginia Cavaliers numbers since joining the ACC. Though there have been a few close games, for the most part the Cards have been able to easily handle the Hoos.

Since joining the ACC in 2014, Bobby Petrino and the Cards are 3-1 and have scored 30+ points in all victories. A lot of that can be attributed to former Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, who gained over 835 yards and scored 8 touchdowns himself in three matchups. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Lamar Jackson won’t be walking through the tunnel when Louisville takes the field on Saturday.

Through three games Louisville hasn’t shown much promise, which could be a huge reason why they head into Saturday’s ACC opener against Virginia as underdogs. The line currently sits at 3.5, favoring the Cavaliers, and some places even have Virginia as 6 to 7 point favorites.

We knew that Louisville may have some struggles this year as they had to replace Lamar Jackson, Jaire Alexander and countless other veterans, but I don’t think anyone thought it would look like this through the first three weeks.

A 51-14 blowout was rough, but partially expected against Alabama. A 31-7 victory over Indiana State in a tropical storm was acceptable, even with the Cards looking pretty awful. But the 20-17 victory of Western Kentucky, in which the team’s quarterback was benched after having 0 passing yards in the first quarter, was beyond concerning.

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Now Bobby Petrino who admitted his team is struggling will head out on the road for the first time, to play an average Virginia team. This is a very winnable game for the Cards, don’t get me wrong. Virginia comes into the matchup 2-1, with their wins coming against Ohio and Richmond and the loss being to Indiana.

The statistics all currently lean in the favor of Virginia, especially when it comes to running the football – an area Louisville’s defense has struggled mightily. The Cards currently have the 100th best rushing defense, allowing 188 yards per game, and 4.2 yards per attempt.

Virginia, led by senior running back Jordan Ellis, has the 34th best rushing offense in the country, averaging 220 yards per game. While that’s enough to strike fear in me, what makes it worse is new starting QB, Bryce Perkins, is a dual-threat passer that has put up 670 yards through the air for 7 TD, and 240 yards on the ground for another two scorers.

The Cards have currently given up 564 yards total this season on the ground, 222 of which came against Alabama. Indiana State and Western Kentucky, two teams with inferior talent both managed to rush for 150 yards against the starting defense of Louisville, which leads me to believe this team could be in serious trouble come Saturday afternoon.

Coming into this one Jordan Ellis ranks as the 10th best rusher in the country, totaling 380 total yards with 5 touchdowns – while averaging 7.5 yards per attempt. Now this has mostly come against bad teams (Richmond and Ohio) so there’s no way yet to tell how he’ll do against a team like Louisville. However, if the defense plays anywhere similar to the level of the Indiana State and Western Kentucky games, where the opposing backs looked like first round picks, it could get out of control fast.

While I do believe this defense is much better than what we’ve seen by far, especially considering they are still trying to figure out how to replace the production of Jonathan Greenard on the defensive line. But if Virginia is smart, which they are being led by Bronco Mendenhall, they will line up and run the ball down the throat of the Cardinal defense all damn game.

Guys like GG Robinson, Robert Hicks, and hopefully Dorian Etheridge will have to play closer to the line, stack the box, and get some penetration on an average Virginia offensive line.

We’ve got a lot of time between today and Saturday, but the line opening with Louisville being the underdog is something we never thought we’d see against Virginia.

dark. Next. View from the Villen’s vs Western Kentucky

The Cards take the field on Saturday 12:30 PM.

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