Louisville football: 5 keys to defeating Florida State

The biggest game of the young Louisville football season is just a few days away against Florida State. Although it’s only week four, this could determine the fate of Louisville’s season.

After wins against Eastern Kentucky and Western Kentucky, Louisville football finds themselves at 2-1. But with a 2019 schedule that includes only 2018 bowl qualifiers, outside of WKU/EKU and this Florida State club, things aren’t going to get any easier for the Cards.

Last year was a nightmare, but perhaps the most disappointing moment, maybe even when the season turned, was a blown 17 point lead at home against FSU.

Louisville came into that matchup as a six-point underdog, fought extremely hard through the first half and late parts of the second and had the game all but won.

Some questionable play-calling down the stretch (from you know who) allowed the Seminoles to get the ball back late in the game with a chance to win it. They did just that, even with a win probability below one percent in the final four minutes of the game as Jawon Pass threw a critical interception on what would have likely been a game-clinching first down with a completion.

It made fans feel like it may be impossible to win again and it was. This, however, was the only game in 2018 that the Louisville Cardinals covered the spread, losing by four.

This weekend the Cardinals get their chance at revenge and they’ll do so against a Florida State whose season hasn’t started as planned.

They lost their season opener to Boise State, blowing a 24-6 and 31-13 lead in a game at home that actually wasn’t even supposed to be at home. The threat of a possible hurricane put the Boise State Broncos in a very tough spot and they still went into Tallahassee and left with a win, starting a true freshman at quarterback.

In week two, they hosted UL-Monroe at home, a game that they should’ve been able to win easily. They won 45-44 in overtime thanks to a missed extra point by the Monroe kicker.

Last week they went to Virginia as a seven-point underdog and put together a way more impressive performance, even in a loss. Virginia ended up winning by seven but the game was very back and forth, the Seminoles ended up having their final drive stopped short inside the 10 to fall to 1-2 after their matchup with the Cavaliers.

Now it’s time for the Cardinals, a game that most likely directly affects the immediate bowl fate of both of these programs. Here are the five keys to victory for UofL.