Louisville football game balls: Offense stars in win over Boston College
By Jacob Lane
Dez Fitzpatrick
Stats: 5 receptions, 108 yards, 1 touchdown
For the second week in a row Louisville football’s star receiver Dez Fitz(Six)Patrick went for over 100 yards receiving, doing so for the first time since 2017 when hehad134 yards against North Carolina State and 127 the following week against Boston College.
It helped Fitzpatrick that both quarterbacks who played for Louisville on Saturday looked his way over and over again, combining to target him seven times. Whether it was catching short, intermediate, or long passes Fitzpatrick was money looking like the guy we all knew he was dating back to this freshman season.
What also helped Fitzpatrick was the overall success of the Louisville receiving core, who had three players go for 100-plus yards receiving. Boston College couldn’t dedicate all their resources to double-teaming Fitzpatrick, and it resulted in Seth Dawkins having a career-best day and another big performance from Tutu Atwell.
After the game, Louisville quarterback Micale (the quarterback formerly known as Malik) Cunningham emphasized from the QB position how Frank Ponce helped this week identify the weak points in the Boston College secondary and how to take advantage of him.
Early on it looked like it paid off in a huge way, as Cunningham connected with Dawkins, Atwell, and Fitzpatrick over and over again for big plays down the field – something we hadn’t seen yet in the new offense under Scott Satterfield.
The offensive line provided a ton of time for guys like Fitzpatrick to get open, making it even easier for Cunningham who showed much-improved accuracy.
When he got the ball in his hands, Fitzpatrick proved to be money for the Louisville offense and it was a huge reason why the Cards picked up a much-needed win against Boston College.
Through just five games for Louisville, Fitzpatrick is more than half-way to surpassing last seasons receiving totals. After Boston College, the redshirt junior has totaled 16 receptions for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
Louisville will need him to continue his hot streak next week as they’ll face off against no. 19 Wake Forest who has been mediocre against the pass this season.