Louisville football threw a party after record-setting performance

Louisville football threw a party in the locker room and everyone was invited following their 56 point performance on Senior Day against Syracuse, clinching second place in the Atlantic Division.

Louisville football entered Saturday looking to send 27 seniors out the right way in their final game at Cardinal Stadium against Syracuse. They did just that in an offensive explosion, locking up a second-place finish in the Coastal division in the ACC.

One of college football’s most impressive turnarounds, the Louisville Cardinals, have now won seven games with one remaining. Last year’s two-win season is truly a thing of the past and this year’s team has proven time and time again that they are the complete opposite.

Louisville has now beaten the fifth team that beat them by 18 or more in 2018. Last year, Syracuse beat UofL by 31. This year, Louisville beat them by 22, here’s how the Cardinals got done:

It was a cold rainy night in the Ville. Syracuse came into this game needing two wins in two nights to become bowl eligible.

Coming off of a week where Syracuse held their opponent, Duke, to just six points; they started Saturday’s game giving up seven to the Cardinals on their first drive in the way of Marshon Ford touchdown, which gave the Cardinals the lead. A lead that despite a lot happening within the sixty minutes of gameplay, would never be lost for the remainder of the contest.

Louisville’s next opportunity with the ball gave Seth Dawkins the chance to get in the end zone one more time at Cardinal Stadium, making it his ninth career touchdown as a Cardinal.

Micale Cunningham was phenomenal with his arm and his legs tonight. He finished the evening with 238 passing yards and a career-high five touchdowns. He also ran for sixty yards and a touchdown. His escapability and willingness to never let the play die was exemplified constantly tonight. But his 20-yard rushing touchdown was one of the better examples.

A lot contributed to this Cardinal scoring barrage against Syracuse. The offensive line was much improved in keeping the pocket clean, a lot of which can be credited to Mekhi Becton’s return. Cunningham had a ton of help through the air and the on the ground with the combination of Hassan Hall, Jordan Davis, and Seth Dawkins, but the big story tonight was what it has been all season – Tutu Atwell and Javian Hawkins.

These two guys have been nothing short of spectacular through 11 games. They’ve now both gone over 1,000 yards on the season, a record that has been standing since 1999.

Hawkins achieved that feat last week and showed no interest in slowing down. He ran for 233 yards and one touchdown, putting him at 1,278 rushing yards on the season. He’s now run for more yards in a season than any Louisville freshman ever.

After tonight, Tutu Atwell became Louisville’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Harry Douglas in 2007. Tutu leads the country in plays of 50 yards more and that rare explosiveness was on display again tonight.

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Tonight makes the sixth time Atwell has gone over the century mark receiving this season. He is just one away from tying a school record.

These two together have shown that they are one of the best and most dynamic RB-WR combinations in all of college football. They were at their absolute best this evening.

This was an all-around team effort tonight as it has been all season. The offense was electric all night, and even with a 233-yard night from Javian Hawkins, Hassan Hall had a 63-yard kick return, but also found his way to 71 yards and a touchdown.

The defensive side of the ball could’ve been better. But they faced an offense that was in form, scoring 49 last week on the road. The run defense struggled to finish drives and allowed far too many unnecessary big plays, especially from running back’s Moe Neal and Jowhar Jordan, in part to their missed tackles and silly penalties. Fatigue seemed to set in the second half, which is when most of the mistakes seemed to occur, which led to the Cuse 24 points, after allowing just 10 in the first half. But Dorian Etheridge and the Cardinal defense got key stops when they needed to get them, especially during a Syracuse drive right after Cunningham’s only interception.

The Orange had a chance to cut it one score with plenty of time remaining, but UofL was having none of it. With Hawkins in the mix, Louisville had no trouble putting this one on ice.

The final Cardinal drive was a perfect summation of the Cardinal offense this season. Javian Hawkins had a 47-yard run, one where he just wouldn’t go down. Tutu Atwell finished it off with a touchdown, as single coverage typically results in.

The game ultimately ended with the Cards pulling out the victory in rather convincing fashion, setting off their most entertaining party of the season, taking place on the field rather than in the locker room.

It’s hard to believe that the 2019 home season has come to an end, especially with Louisville sitting at 7-4 with one game remaining. Kudos to this team for rallying when things got tough, showing just how far they’ve come in such a short amount of team.

Speaking of which, BEAT UK!