Louisville football: 2019 game-by-game predictions

Kentucky

DJ:  Kentucky is a rivalry game so the records go out the window. Louisville lost to UK when they were the superior team in 2016. Shocker alert, I’m picking Louisville to pull off the upset and finish the season 4-8 which will be a successful season in doubling the win total from 2018.

Louisville 27, Kentucky 21 (4-8)

Will: Kentucky football took a major step forward last season as Louisville did the opposite. That fact was exemplified in the final game of the season in 2018, a 56-10 loss at Cardinal Stadium to our arch-rival. Their season got even better after that, winning the Citrus Bowl over a very talented Penn State team. UK should be solid again in 2019. After going through the gauntlet of conference play in the SEC, I see them being more than ready to break our hearts again, unfortunately.

Louisville 16, Kentucky 35 (4-8)

Alan: The annual in-state rivalry lives up to the hype in this heated sparring match. In the end, Louisville’s defense stands up to the challenge in the waning moments, stealing one on the road.

Louisville 26, Kentucky 24 (5-7)

Presley: Kentucky is going to take a step back this season after winning 10 games for the first time in four decades. However, they supplement their losses with a nucleus of excellent young talent. The Cats have been recruiting very well, but now the coaching staff will have to prove that they can continue to develop players or their bowl appearance streak may be in jeopardy.

The difference between a win and a loss in this game is dependant on the development of UK quarterback Terry Wilson. If he is playing to his potential, the Cats could run away with this one. Otherwise, this is a 50-50 game in my opinion. The away team has won the last four games, and the Cards make it five to just sneak into a bowl game.

Louisville 34, Kentucky 26 (6-6)

Ethan: As much as I’d love to predict a win, I just don’t see it happening this year. UK is coming off their best season in school history, and we’re coming off of one of our worst seasons in school history, not to mention it’s also at Kroger Field. Benny Snell and Josh Allen are gone, so you can expect UK to fall off, but Stoops has recruited pretty well there and they still bring back some solid pieces. Louisville shows improvement again but falls short.

Louisville 16, Kentucky 26 (5-7)

The Final Tally

When it’s all said and done, our contributors agree that the ceiling is pretty low for this year’s team. However, the way the final record shakes out is going to depend on how quickly the new staff can implement their system and how well this team responds in pressure situations.

Having half of the games on your schedule be against teams who are ranked inside the top 30 of Athlon Sports’s pre-season rankings makes for a unique challenge. The response to that challenge will ultimately decide Louisville football’s win total in 2019 and Louisville football’s success during the Scott Satterfield era.

DJ Bien-Aime: 4-8 (1-7)

Alan Thomas: 5-7 (2-6)

Presley Meyer: 6-6 (3-5)

Ethan Sprowles: 5-7 (3-5)