Big Red Louie
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Louisville football: Awarding game balls to the Cards biggest performers

By Jacob Lane

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 05: Head coach Scott Satterfield of the Louisville football program on the sidelines in the game against the Boston College Eagles during the fourth quarter at Cardinal Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - OCTOBER 05: Head coach Scott Satterfield of the Louisville football program on the sidelines in the game against the Boston College Eagles during the fourth quarter at Cardinal Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 09: Hassan Hall #19 of the Louisville Cardinals carries the ball for a touchdown during the third quarter against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 9, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 09: Hassan Hall #19 of the Louisville Cardinals carries the ball for a touchdown during the third quarter against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 9, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Hassan Hall – RB/KR

Stats: 11 carries, 30 yards, 5 kickoff returns, 220 yards, 1 touchdown

There are exactly 258 reasons why sophomore running back and star kick returner Hassan Hall deserves his first game ball of the season after the Louisville win against Wake Forest.

To start – there probably wouldn’t be a win over a ranked opponent on the road if it wasn’t for Hall’s play on Saturday night.

220 reasons came from his performance in the kicking game. Louisville had no special teams touchdowns on the season heading into the game with Wake, but that all changed on Saturday evening in Winston-Salem when Hall took a kickoff return 100 yards to the house in a play that absolutely changed the trajectory of the game for the Cards.

He followed that up with an 83-yard return to start the second half, which he nearly housed again, putting Louisville in prime scoring position quickly. They capitalized on the big play, needing just one play to Dez Fitzpatrick to score and put the game at 38-21.

It wasn’t just the kicking game either. Much like what we’ve come to expect, Hall played a huge part in the run game, carrying the ball 11 times for 30 yards and his third touchdown on the season, tying his mark in 2018.

While Javian Hawkins has stared at the running back position, there’s no way the Cards would be able to be as successful as they have been without the power and change of pace of Hall. Don’t get me wrong, Hall is a burner and we saw that on full display on his two huge kick returns. But he brings a certain element of running through the middle of a defense that Hawkins has, but in smaller doses.

It sounds cliche but without Hall’s big night, Louisville doesn’t win that game. His returns set up the offense to score points, which they needed 62 of to pull out the W, and they capitalized.

Scott Satterfield said all offseason long that winning in all three phases, offense, defense, and special teams, was of the utmost importance and on Saturday night behind Hassan Hall, the Cards proved that to be true.

Well done, Hassan.

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