Why Louisville football’s Micale Cunningham is 2020 Heisman sleeper

From backup to potential 2020 darkhorse Heisman Trophy candidate; How Louisville football’s Micale Cunningham’s breakout season has him primed for a monster junior campaign.

It seems like forever ago, but throughout the majority of the offseason leading up to Scott Satterfield’s first fall camp as the Louisville football head coach talk centered Jawon Pass as the Cardinals quarterback for the 2019 season.

Malik Cunningham, or Micale as we know him now, brought a ton of upside to the new look Cardinal offense considering Satterfield’s desire to play a heavy run, pass, option scheme needed a dynamic dual-threat quarterback.

Cunningham was a dynamic athlete who had the potential to make incredible plays like what we saw at the conclusion of the 2018 season against Kentucky. But Pass was the more reliable passer.

The former 4-star All-American high school recruit struggled as the starter (whenever he wasn’t being pulled) in 2018, being relived by Cunningham on a multitude of occasions, but he had the big name and recruiting background to make you believe the talent was there. A new staff just needed to get their hands on him and mold him into “their guy” starting with rebuilding his confidence. Pass went into the camp as the leader to be the starter, but Cunningham had caught the eye of the staff and was going to challenge.

We knew what Cunningham brought, or at least so we thought. Speed; a dynamic greatly valued in the scheme. But the passing thing was going to be an issue. As a redshirt freshman, Cunningham went 40 for 67 (59.7 percent completion rating) for 473 yards but accounted for just one touchdown and one interception.

Under Satterfield though, perhaps he could be molded into the passer that many thought he could be coming out of high school. Maybe the inaccuracy and inability to move the ball downfield or anything remotely close was more on the inefficiencies of the broken offense in 2018 and not a true indicator of his true arm talent.

Getting the best out of Micale

Satterfield and new quarterbacks coach Frank Ponce clearly saw something in Cunningham early as they praised his ability to make plays and be a true factor when on the field. Cunningham seemed rejuvenated and ready to win a quarterback battle – which is what he went into fall camp hoping to do.

Then came the knee injury. A “freak play” that outsiders didn’t get to see until the night before the Notre Dame game during a one hour ACC Network special, forced Cunningham out of camp essentially gifting the job to Pass. The injury was thought to be minor but would keep the redshirt sophomore out of action for at least a few weeks.

As the official starter for Louisville, Pass was serviceable against Notre Dame in the Cards’ season opener, looking much improved from the year prior. Against Eastern Kentucky the following week Louisville’s offense flowed well with Pass in as quarterback once again, getting out to a big lead fairly early.

It was Cunningham, however, who caught the eye of the fan base that evening following his 77-yard touchdown run on his second drive.

From that point on, Cunningham had the starting job and never relinquished it. Following the EKU win, Pass set out of practice with a foot injury, leaving Cunningham to take all of the starting reps. In his first start of the season, Cunningham was 9-for-14 for 123 yards and two touchdowns- A solid, but not great, performance- before leaving the game banged up in the third quarter.

The first half of Florida State was much like what we saw against Western Kentucky the week before for Cunningham. The throws down the field weren’t there, and after a quick glance to his first-read he’d take off, oftentimes running backward and forcing Louisville into big losses.

Cunningham’s indecisiveness led to a quick 21-0 advantage for FSU in a situation that many thought would be where the wheels might fall off for the season.

“Call me Micale”

Then something changed.

One is left to wonder what it was at halftime that either Frank Ponce or Scott Satterfield did or said to change things so drastically.

The two games prior to FSU, when Cunningham was in, the offense was rather conservative. Louisville relied on shorter passes to make plays rather than the deep bomb. Even if they wanted to throw deep it wasn’t there. Star receivers Dez Fitzpatrick and Seth Dawkins both struggled to get open against opposing defenses and it forced Cunningham into underneath throws to Atwell and rising star halfback, Marshon Ford.

The Cardinals went on a 24-0 run from the end of the second quarter through the beginning of the fourth quarter, fueled by deep passes from Cunningham to Fitzpatrick and Atwell, sparking one of the best offensive outputs against a conference foe in over a year.

Louisville would go on to lose that game, one they looked to have wrapped up in every possible, but it jump-started a new-look offense and the rise of a star quarterback who, crazy enough, was really good at throwing the deep ball.

Against Boston College, we not only saw the name change from Malik to Micale, but fans got to see plays of 77 yards (touchdown to Seth Dawkins) and 41 yards through the air. That continued to Wake Forest where Cunningham went 5-for- 6 to start the game for two touchdowns before leaving with an injury. Against UVA there was another 77-yarder, this time to Tutu Atwell. All three games finishing in wins.

Miami, NC State, and Syracuse featured seven plays of more than 35- yards including a 90 and 80 yarder. Before we knew it Cunningham had blossomed into one of the nation’s top down-field passers, climbing nearly every major statistical category. There were clunkers along the way, including games against Clemson and Kentucky where Louisville’s offense was shut down in just about every way possible, leading to rather poor outcomes for Cunningham.

Regardless, through 12 regular-season games, he proved he could be a top-shelf ACC quarterback, something nobody outside of the Louisville locker room thought was possible. Cunningham finished the season ranked atop several key statistical categories that showed his incredible improvement, including leading the nation in touchdown passes over 50, 60, 70, and 80 yards on the season and helping Tutu Atwell become the single-season leader in receiving yards, passing Harry Douglas along the way.

https://twitter.com/UofLFootball/status/1199840326828998656

Nothing short of miraculous.

Louisville then goes back to Nashville, where the season truly started for Cunningham against Western Kentucky, to play a team that would present an opportunity to put a stamp on the season. As we highlighted ad nauseam up to the game, the Bulldogs defense would be without a few key players but had the size and speed necessary to dominate if given the chance.

Cunningham balled.

16-for-23 for 279 yards and two touchdowns and he did it the way we’ve become accustomed to seeing all season long; by way of the big play. Five of the six Louisville players who caught passes against the Bulldogs secondary were able to not only get a first down but produce a play of upwards of 20-plus yards, leading the Cards to the 312 to 221 advantage in passing yards on the evening.

Looking forward to the future

So what’s that mean for the future?

Well, as I said a few weeks ago on the Big  Red Louie Podcast (shameless plug, you should listen) I don’t think it’s crazy to talk about Micale Cunningham being a darkhorse candidate in 2020.

Here’s why.

One pass was the difference in the overall narrative behind Cunningham finishing up the 2019 season and heading into 2020.

Cunningham is going to be one of the most effective and accurate passers in the country entering 2020, and that should not go overlooked.

Louisville returns its two best weapons at receiver in Fitzpatrick and Atwell. The Cards return their top tight end in Ford. They bring back both of their star running backs Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall, and they will bolster their offensive line, backfield, and receiving core with much-needed depth in 2020.

Cunningham was one of the best quarterbacks in the country in 2019 and he only started 11 games, and exited four early due to injury or illness.

Additionally, Louisville’s coaching staff has emphasized that the offensive play-calling was very “vanilla,” this season. If the Cards haven’t even opened up half of their playbook due to experience and depth issues, there could be a lot more excitement in store in 2020.

Louisville will have a lot of stars in 2020, but Micale Cunningham may quietly be the most promising up-and-coming player in the ACC.