Ranking Louisville football’s 2020 schedule by match-up intrigue
4. at Clemson
September 12th
Looking at Louisville’s schedule and matching it up with the Cardinals’ opponents’ open dates, we knew there was a good chance that they would draw Clemson in one of the first two games of the season.
I feel like there is not a better time to catch the Tigers in 2020 than week two.
Louisville will have a chance to dive into 2020 against NC State at home and get their feet under them before running into the death star, and it just feels like finding the soft spot in their schedule.
Georgia Tech is going to be an ACC bottom feeder once again, and Clemson will take out all of its frustrations from its National Title game defeat on the Yellow Jackets.
Then, the Tigers return home to host Louisville. The Cardinals may have an opportunity, in a similar fashion to North Carolina last season, to catch Clemson before they truly hit their stride and make a game of it.
Remember, Louisville hung tough with the Tigers last season, even after some tough breaks early on. Now, in year two under the new regime, the Cardinals will have 9 days to prepare.
Will they come out victorious? It seems highly unlikely, but Satterfield and company have been there before and Louisville feels like a team that is built to test the Tigers.
3. Florida State
October 24th
Florida State feels like a game that Louisville will have circled on its calendar right away.
Though the Cardinals finished above the Seminoles in the ACC standings by season’s end, Louisville dropped back-to-back games against FSU in heartbreaking fashion.
In 2018, Louisville’s mind-boggling play-calling flipped a game that was in-hand to a last-second defeat, and ultimately torpedoed its entire season out of control.
2019 ended similarly with a confusing interception that led to another confusingly long last-minute touchdown after Louisville scored 24 unanswered points.
For Cardinals who were on both teams, Florida State is a team that they know they can beat, and will desperately want to in front of what should be a lively home crowd.
However, Louisville will have to do so against a squad led by a big name up-and-coming coach in Mike Norvell. The man responsible for turning around the Memphis program is now tasked with getting the Seminoles in order.
Don’t forget there is some bad blood in the recruiting waters already. Two Louisville commits, Chubba Purdy and Josh Griffis, both flipped to FSU on early signing day. The loss of Purdy was one that will sting for some time, as he was one of Louisville’s highest-rated commits ever and the quarterback of the future. AND Purdy will probably be vying for playing time against former Cardinal Jordan Travis.
There’s going to be no love lost all around between these two teams who will likely be battling for the second spot in the ACC Atlantic over the next few years in an attempt to eventually climb closer to conference superiority with Clemson.
Enough of the heart-breaking losses on and off the field. Louisville will be out for blood, and that’s why they rank as the third most interesting game.
2. Virginia Tech
October 31st
As it so happens, Louisville has drawn what could be the top two teams in the ACC Coastal Division this season.
Though the Cards haven’t faced the Hokies since 2006, many fans remember how contentious that ’06 Gator Bowl became. Two programs who have risen on a similar trajectory, backed by similar fan bases and two young budding coaches.
Tech’s Justin Fuente will lose long-time legendary defensive coordinator Bud Foster, but he will retain the entirety of what was a solid defense in 2019, as well as a deep offensive line and a budding young quarterback.
Hendon Hooker completed 61 percent of his passes a year ago and threw for 13 touchdowns to only two interceptions in the back half of the season.
Hooker and company will look to improve upon last season, and with the same pieces in place, the Hokies project as a top 15 team to start the year.
A Halloween night match-up of two likely top 25 squads is good enough reason to land Tech at No. 2.