Louisville football: 5 players to watch against Boston College

Louisville football heads into a week six matchup against Boston College at 2-2. Who are the five players you should be watching for come Saturday?

Coming off of a bye, Louisville football will face another tough test on Saturday when they go head-to-head with a Boston College team who has had their way with the Cardinal defense the last seasons (who hasn’t though).

The first four weeks of the season came and went like you might have expected for a team playing for a new head coach. There were real highs, like their play against Notre Dame in the first half of the season opener as well as the 42 point shutout against EKU. But there have also been lows, including the 21-0 start against Florida State as well as the late-game interception that cost Louisville the chance at a big come from behind win.

A 2-2 start isn’t bad by any means, but if Louisville is going to have any chance at going bowling in Scott Satterfield’s first season a win on Saturday will be crucial. Matchups against three top 25 ranked teams over the next three weeks will put a strain on Louisville’s record midway through the season, but with a win against a good but not great Boston College team would be a notch on the belt for the program.

Louisville has become far too familar with the challenges of trying (and failing) to stop the strong Boston College running attack the last few seasons, led by AJ Dillon and David Bailey. Saturday will be no different. With the program celebrating Muhammad Ali, Louisville needs to come out and punch the running backs (figuratively obviously) in the mouth.

Bryan Brown’s defense has been much improved against stopping the run but the Golden Eagles offense will present a very unique challenge. Much like Louisville, Boston College will plan to establish their will in the running game in hopes to open up the field to redshirt junior Anthony Brown and expose any issues that the Cards may have in the secondary.

Will either Jawon Pass or Malik Cunningham be recovered enough from their respective injuries to lead the Cardinals offense? That’s one question we don’t know and won’t know the answer to until closer to Saturday. Pass has missed the last two games with a foot injury while Cunningham was injured on the last play of the game against Florida State. Both have had an extra week of recovery with the bye week but may not be close to full strength.

Either way, Louisville will have a big opportunity in the run game against Boston College and could potentially have their best day overall as an offense if they play like we know they are capable of.

In order to do that they’ll need playmakers on both sides of the ball to step up in a major way. Here are my five players that you should be watching come Saturday against Boston College.