Louisville football: 3 things to watch vs. North Carolina State

How quickly and how often Louisville scores

It felt like Louisville was overmatched in Coral Gables this past Saturday. But the fact of the matter is, Louisville’s offense hung with the Hurricanes. They finished with more yards than the Canes despite a 25 point loss. That performance along with eight others has UofL ranked at 28th in total offense in the nation.

Penalties and turnovers plagued the Cardinals Saturday. But the offense still had success, which they’ve had all year. Louisville’s scored a total of 36 touchdowns through nine games this season. NC State, they’ve scored 22 through nine games. The Wolfpack offense is ranked 85th overall, which is shockingly the best offense that remains on Louisville’s schedule. Syracuse has the 90th ranked offense and Kentucky comes in at 104. So Louisville has a major advantage in that category not just this week, but every week that remains this season.

NC State has played four teams so far that will be playing in a bowl game this season. In those games, they’ve scored: 13, 24, 10 and 10, losing all four. If Louisville is going to make the jump from a two-win season to a bowl-bound season, this is a game they should win.

Louisville has played eight probable bowl teams in nine games so far in 2019. Outside of Clemson, they haven’t scored below 24 since September at Florida State.

These offenses don’t even compare to each other. If Louisville can come out and play the type of game offensively that they have been all season, this should be a W for the Cardinals.