Louisville football: 5 things to take from Notre Dame into EKU
The runnings back should dominate once again
These Louisville running backs are something to be fired up about every week going forward. UofL has always been a team with a decent to solid running back it feels like, but perhaps no all-around star since Michael Bush. These two guys showed their potential to reach that status at their quickest opportunity possible against Notre Dame on Monday night. Redshirt freshman Javian Hawkins and sophomore Hassan Hall had highly successful opening nights.
Hawkins became the first Louisville freshman running back to rush for 100+ yards in a game vs. an FBS opponent this decade. That’s crazy to think about, considering how many great teams we’ve had come and go from our university during that time.
Also again considering, this wasn’t just any opponent, it was team that won every possible regular season contest the year before. Notre Dame allowed on average last season, 139.5 yards rushing per game. Louisville as a team on Monday night ran for 249 yards, 122 of those coming from Hawkins.
Louisville freshmen with 100-yard rushing games since 1951:
— Kelly Dickey (@RealCardGame) September 4, 2019
Javian Hawkins
Malik Cunningham (2 games)
Lamar Jackson (5)
L.J. Scott
Darius Ashley
Victor Anderson (5)
George Stripling (2)
Michael Bush (2)
Otis Floyd
Frank Moreau
Ralph Dawkins
Greg Hickman (2)
Bill Layne
69 more came from Hassan Hall, who averaged a beyond respectable 6.3 yards per carry in the contest. He also added 59 return yards, showing off his versatility without as many touches as some of us expected he would have.
These two guys are extremely talented and are ready to compete at this level week to week. If there are two players you should be excited to see back in uniform on Saturday evening against EKU, it’s Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall.