Louisville football: Scott Satterfield and the Cards prepare for Goliath in week 8

Louisville football will go head-to-head against the defending National Champions looking to redeem themselves from last seasons trouncing.

The 2019 ACC Media Day coverage has come and gone, and we now have a better understanding of what to expected from Scott Satterfield and the Louisville football program.

Thus far we’ve previewed the first six games of the season (seven weeks) with the Cards actually having a winning record heading into their week eight matchup with Clemson.

Louisville fans, I’m not sure this is a game we need to have circled on our calendars.

(Normally, this is where I post the video recap of the previous meeting…I don’t know that anyone wants to see that, so I will just link that video below and instead link to this, which always brings a smile.)

The way these things usually happen is that when a team gets humiliated the way the Cardinals were last year, they would come into the next meeting with revenge on their minds.

I hope they do exactly that. I hope Louisville is fully prepared and expects to give Clemson all they want and I hope the Cards come out on top.

The keyword there is “hope.”

I also deal in reality and the reality is this:

The 2019 Clemson Tigers have the potential to be the best team in college football over the last five years.

The offense will be a juggernaut. We’ll get to them in a moment.

The defense has some pieces to replace from a year ago, but Dabo and his staff have plenty of stock in the cupboard.

Defense

The NFL claimed a number of Clemson defenders from last season’s brick wall front seven, but the heavy rotation that Brent Venables uses on his defense has prepared many players that will need to step into a bigger role this season with in-game experience.

But, let’s not pretend Clemson will be starting eleven freshmen.

The Tigers return 2018’s leading tackler, junior linebacker/nickelback Isaiah Simmons, as well as tackle-for-loss machine, sophomore rush end Xavier Thomas.

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The secondary returns intact, with Simmons, seniors K’Von Wallace and Tanner Muse, and junior corner A.J. Terrell all having contributed last season and appear to be in-line to start at the back of the defense this season.

While there may be some ‘growing pains’ for this unit, I fully expect that the quality of Venables’ coaching will help the transition of this group from young to stout in a very short time.

And if the offense even half as good as they are expected to be, the defense will have some margin for error.

Offense

Here is a taste of what is returning for Clemson on offense:

QB – Trevor Lawrence (65% completion percentage, 3,280 yards, 30 TDs 4 INTs, so talented that he ran off opening-day starter Kelly Bryant all the way to Missouri after replacing him early in the season)

RB – Travis Etienne (reigning ACC Player of the Year, 1,658 rushing yards, 24 TDs)

WR – Tee Higgins, Justyn Ross, Amari Rodgers (160 catches, 2,511 yards, 25 TDs)

They also return 67 combined starts across the line, which should feature four seniors and standout sophomore left tackle Jackson Carman.

The Tigers averaged 44 points per game in 2018. They could easily push 50 a game for 2019.

Outlook for Louisville vs. Clemson

Let’s be real – things don’t look good for Scott Satterfield and the Cards.

I think Louisville will be better than they were last season and will put up their best fight against the Tigers. The problem is that I think Clemson will be improved, as well.

As a fan, I want Louisville to win every game they play. For the most part, I rationalize in my head a way for them to pull off most games.

This isn’t one of those.

Prediction: Clemson 65, Louisville 17

I don’t think the score will be quite as bad as it was last season because I think Dabo has enough respect for Scott Satterfield that he won’t try to completely embarrass him like he did to Bobby Petrino last year.

This will put the Cards at 4-3 (2-2) on the season with a date with Virginia upcoming.

Can Louisville close the gap on Clemson? Possibly, but it is going to take time. We have to remember this thing isn’t going to turn around overnight.

I don’t want to think that the 2015 and 2016 losses are as close as we’ll get.

The Cards may be in the same conference as Clemson, but right now, they just aren’t in the same league.