Louisville football report card: Grading Cards win over UVA

In front of a small(er) but ruckus crowd with less than ideal conditions, Louisville football pulled out another huge victory defeating Virginia 28-21 to move to 5-3 (3-2) on the season. Here are the Cardinals’ grades.

Louisville football is one win away from being bowl eligible with four games remaining on the 2019 schedule. If I’m being honest, that’s not a sentence I thought I’d find myself writing in Scott Satterfield’s first season as the head coach for the Cards.

That became reality on Saturday when Louisville football pulled out arguably their toughest win of the season against a gritty and well-coached Virginia team, 28-21. Now somehow in a season where the expectation was to be the doormat to the ACC in a rebuilding year behind Scott Satterfield, who ESPN labeled as being in “year zero,” Louisville finds themselves in the thick of things to make the 2020 Orange Bowl.

Yes, you read that right.

Saturday was the perfect summation of the 2019 season. There were times in the game where Louisville flat out looked like they weren’t ready to play. To the credit of Virginia, their defensive front seven at times looked like they were overpowering Louisville’s offensive line (especially in the second quarter) making every play more difficult than the last. While on offense, Virginia was able to take advantage of some weak points in the Louisville defense and looked ready to take the game and never look back.

But as we’ve come to expect, Louisville followed the game plan. They played hard, continued to run the football until Virginia couldn’t handle it, played sound, hard-mouth defense, and ultimately prevailed 28-21.

With the presence of mother nature, the lack of fan attendance, and the play of Virginia you wouldn’t have been shocked if Louisville dropped this game. While nothing UVA had done this season looked “sexy” they were the top team in the ACC Coastal Division for a reason. They play hard, they don’t make mistakes, and typically they force their opponent into submission with small plays that eventually turn into big plays.

It didn’t matter, however, as Louisville’s speed and aggression were too much for the Cavaliers and now the Cards sit in the driver’s seat to make a run at a big bowl game – something no one thought they’d do.

Before we officially jump into Louisville’s bye week and the beginning of Louisville basketball, let’s take a look at the report card from Virginia and how each position group faired in the win.