Louisville football: Three reasons why the Cards will defeat Wake Forest

Louisville will own the time of possession battle

One of the biggest areas where you can see instant improvement under Scott Satterfield’s leadership has been time of possession.

That’s an area of offense that Louisville has shown the ability to be able to dominate so far in the 2019 season. While it hasn’t been where it probably should be and eventually will be under  Satterfield, the Cards have been able to win that battle every week of the season despite being 3-2.

Behind strong running from Javian Hawkins, Hassan Hall, and even Micale Cunningham, the Cards have sustained long offensive drives that for the most part have ended in either a touchdown or a field goal.

Heading into Saturday’s game Louisville currently holds a 32:56 (19th) to 31:37 (33rd) advantage in time of possession over Wake Forest, which shows the quick improvement of not only the Louisville offense but particularly the offensive line and ability to get first downs.

The Cards will have the upper hand against the Wake Forest defensive line that has struggled to produce many sacks or tackles for loss (currently averaging 6.2 TFL per game – t-60th). If Javian Hawkins is able to produce the same five or six-yard carries on first down and allow Scott Satterfield more flexibility with play-calling on second and third down, there should be no issues with Louisville winning this battle.

I am not discounting Wake Forest’s offense to be able to control the game and take care of the football on long scoring drives. Wake has one of the most high powered offenses in the country led by Jamie Newman, who can do big things with both his arm and his legs. Cade Carney has shown the ability to run the football at a high level, as Wake Forest has also been fairly consistent with leading in time of possession.

But unlike Louisville, this will be the first real defensive threat of the season for Wake Forest. While there’s reason to be concerned about the issues of the secondary after giving up 563 total yards offense, the Cards passing defense (65th) ranks higher than any opponent of the Deacons thus far and it’s not even close.

The Wake Forest offense likely be able to have success through the air, but as long as Louisville stays disciplined in their “gap integrity” and is able to prevent the offense from having open passing lanes off missed assignments, they’ll “bend” but not “break.”

All season we’ve seen the defense (or offense even) bounce back after tough outings and I don’t expect anything different to change this weekend. The Louisville offense will come prepared to play after their biggest showing of the season but they’ll need the defense to do their part and show improvement if they are going to win the all-important time of possession statistic.