Louisville football: Stock report post Florida State
Stock up: Louisville’s intestinal fortitude
As bad as dropping a game in the fashion that they did hurts, Louisville football fans should be extremely pleased with the fight that the Cards showed in the second and third quarters of this game.
After going down 21-0 in the first quarter, the Cards were facing a team that had more talent, depth, and athleticism than theirs, backed by a crowd hungry for a conference win and a coaching staff desperate to make it happen in order to save their jobs.
That’s the ultimate back-against-the-wall scenario.
Louisville scored 24 straight points.
Regardless of the way the game ended, the biggest take-away is this: Louisville knows how to claw their way back into a game. Louisville knows how to play from behind. Louisville is not going to quit on their coach.
In 2018, this game is a 60-6 FSU victory. Instead, it was the ‘Noles who found themselves trailing midway through the fouth quarter after a hot start.
That speaks volumes towards the progress that the new coaching staff has made.
Stock down: Cards’ running game with Malik Cunningham at QB
Just across the board, I’m not sure what happened to Louisville’s potent running attack against a squad that was giving up tons of big rushing plays earlier in the season.
It wasn’t for lack of effort. In the second half, in particular, both Hassan Hall and Javian Hawkins were hitting holes HARD and falling forward every play.
Part of Louisville’s struggles, too, was the lack of running back touches in general. After all, 28 touches for 109 yards combined between Hawkins and Hall still averages out to 3.9 yards per carry.
To me, the lack of movement in the ground game falls squarely on Malik Cunningham’s decision-making and the Louisville offensive line’s inability to create holes for their backs.
Cunningham finished the game with 17 rushes for only five yards, taking six sacks and a couple more tackles for loss as he was forced down behind the line of scrimmage on a rush attempt.
As impressive as Cunningham looked in the second half throwing the ball, Louisville cannot waste another game away with their two stud backs getting 17 and 11 carries and their electric quarterback being contained to only five yards rushing.