Louisville football looking to pull off another flip of elite 2020 recruit

When Louisville football goes head-to-head with Syracuse in the final home game of the season, they’ll have a dynamic four-star running back on campus for an official visit.

Scott Satterfield and the entire Louisville football staff have not only won big this season on the field, but also off the field with recruiting.

With just a few weeks until the Early Signing Period begins, Louisville currently holds 24 total commitments in what is ranked as the 30th best class in the nation, according to 247 Sports.

On Saturday Louisville will play in their final home game of the 2019 slate against Syracuse, one in which they’ll host several big-time visitors who could end up rounding out the class of 2020 for Satterfield and company. Probably none bigger than four-star running back and current Mississippi State commit, Jo’Quavaious Marks.

For many of you who keep up with college football recruiting probably are familar with the name, as Marks was a top target at the position for the Louisville staff earlier this year. Marks visited campus just days before his commitment date, and while things looked really good for Louisville at the time, he ultimately ended up pulling the trigger on Mississippi State and looked to be out of the picture.

Now according to 247 Sports, Marks will make a return visit to Louisville amidst their improbable 6-4 run and will do so on an official visit when the Cards take on Syracuse at Cardinal Stadium.

The running back position is one we knew we’d see elevated under Scott Satterfield due to his high-octane running offense, and the success of redshirt freshman, Javian Hawkins, has apparently been enough to cause Marks to at least do more due diligence on the Cardinals when it comes to his recruitment.

When Marks was a top target for Louisville earlier this year there were no results or any indicators that Scott Satterfield would be able to get things turned around as quickly as he has. Recruits still flocked to the Ville to see what Satterfield was up too and many pulled the trigger before even seeing a game.

Now with 10 games under his belt, including six big wins, players have seen the fruit on the field from Satterfield’s coaching and it makes sense why they’d want to play for him and the Louisville program.

For Marks, in particular, it makes a ton of sense.

Louisville currently ranks as the nation’s 34th best rushing attack, averaging nearly 200 yards per game on the ground, while rushing the ball a total of 433 times this season which is tied with Kentucky at 21st.

Javian Hawkins has been the beneficiary of the majority of those carries, running the ball 196 times through 10 games totaling 1,045 yards and six touchdowns. Even with Hawkins’ success, Louisville has also relied on the quarterback to be able to run the football as he has with backup running back Hassan Hall, who has nearly 400 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Following his official visit to Florida, Marks will make a return trip to Louisville after visiting campus earlier this year. Marks talked to Rivals.com about the decision to return, saying:

"“I visited Louisville over the summer, and that is my only time there so far, so I am ready to get back up there,” said Marks. “I have been in contact with a lot of the coaches there, so they have made me feel pretty important to them.“I like their offense, how they feature the running back in their scheme and that is what stands out most about them so far. I have been talking a lot to Hasaan Hall who plays there and he has told me a lot of good things too.”"

Why wouldn’t a running back want to come to Louisville?

That’s the question that apparently has sparked the flame again with Marks and his interest in Louisville and with a good visit on Saturday he could become the first member of the class of 2020 at the running back position.

With Hawkins entering his redshirt sophomore season next year and Hassan Hall being a junior, depth will be needed at running back, although at this point it’s a luxury in the class of 2020. Even with other needs on the roster more pressing, adding a player like Marks would only further solidify the belief that Scott Satterfield will be able to land top-notch talent.

So what makes Marks a can’t miss prospect for Satterfield and his staff?

First off the obvious answer is speed.

Marks is an electric athlete who has doubled as a star running back as well as a track star for Carver High School in Atlanta. This season Marks has been one of the top players in the entire state of Georgia, which makes sense considering his ranking as the 17th best player in the class of 2020 in Georgia and 15th best running back nationally. In nine games, Marks has totaled 1,961 yards rushing on 168 carries (averaging nearly 12 yards per carry) and has scored 23 touchdowns.

Secondly, Marks fits what Satterfield likes to be able to do with his running backs which is combine elite speed with power and tackle-breaking ability. Marks has a real instinct for finding open holes in the offensive line and using his absolutely devastating homerun speed to break off big plays. Even at 5’10, 190 pounds, Marks has great power and ability to shake loose from opposing tacklers while showing great elusiveness to get out to the edge.

At this point, Marks is still committed to Mississippi State and could be doing nothing more than examining all of his options. He has no other visits scheduled at this point,

However, with Mississippi State having a down year and rumors swirling of head coach Joe Moorhead looking elsewhere this offseason Louisville can’t be thrown away as an unrealistic option.

Considering how much success Hawkins and Hall have had this season in just the first season playing for Satterfield, it’s only a matter of time before Louisville is consistently able to land running back’s of the highest level. That could all start with Jo’Quavious Marks if his visit to Louisville goes well this weekend.