Louisville football: 5 burning questions for Cards vs. Mississippi State

In the midst of the Early Signing Period, we take a deeper look at questions concerning Louisville football’s upcoming bowl matchup against Mississippi State.

Wednesday, December 18th was a big day for the future of the Louisville football program. After just a year on campus as the head coach of the Cardinals, Scott Satterfield and his program were able to put together a top 35 class, signing 25 players on the first day of the early signing period.

While the Cards did lose out on two big recruits in four-star quarterback Chubba Purdy, the highest-rated player in the class of 2020 for Louisville, as well as defensive end Josh Griffis, both of whom flipped to Florida State in the 12th hour, there is still a ton to be excited about (for a few of those reasons read my A-Z guide for National Signing Day).

Now with the class of 25 signed and the majority of the recruiting work done for 2020, Scott Satterfield and his coaching staff can begin to dig into the bowl game. As expected, the matchup for Louisville will be challenging to say the least as they prepare to go head-to-head with Mississippi State in the Music City bowl, matching up with the Bulldogs for the second time in three years.

Things didn’t go so well the last time Louisville took the field for a game against an SEC opponent, and quite frankly things haven’t been pretty for several years against the conference that just means more.

To get to a bowl game is a huge accomplishment for this year’s Louisville team considering what last season looked like. 7-5 is a great record and finishing second in the ACC Atlantic is a huge accomplishment, but my hope is this team is still hungry.

The Cards will have had a month to prepare for their bowl matchup on December 30th and a lot will need to change if there’s any chance of walking away from Nashville a second time with a victory.

You need no reminding of the shellacking that occurred at Kroger Field in November, and the players certainly won’t either. Finishing strong is a message that’s been hammered home all season long by Satt and company, and my guess is that’s what will be the message to the team this month.

With just 11 days until the big matchup, we take a look at the biggest questions facing the Cardinals against Mississippi State.