Louisville football: Five realistic predictions for the 2020 season

Micale Cunningham pushes Trevor Lawrence in ACC POY race

Winning the ACC Player of the Year is not going to be an easy task when Heisman front-runner Trevor Lawrence plays in your division. However, for Louisville quarterback Micale Cunningham, his trajectory could place him in the upper echelon of college quarterbacks in 2020.

As far fetched as it may sound to those without a close eye on the situation, Cunningham quietly became one of the best quarterbacks in the country in his first season under Scott Satterfield.

Pegged as a run-first quarterback who, as recently as the fourth game of 2019, lacked pocket presence and was unable to throw a consistent deep ball, things changed in a hurry as Cunningham became Louisville’s starter mid-season.

Entering the season, he and Puma Pass were neck and neck in the quarterback race, but Cunningham suffered a setback weeks before the Cards’ opener against Notre Dame when he injured his knee on a “freak play.”

It wasn’t until Pass left the second game of the season (which we later would find out was his last game of the year) that Cunningham was able to get some playing time again. Still, he was hobbled with injuries in Louisville’s subsequent games against Western Kentucky and Florida State.

Finally, in game five when the Cards returned home to face Boston College, Cunningham had the breakout game that would change the trajectory of the season for the Cards.

Though he left the game at some point due to injury or illness against FSU, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Kentucky, Cunningham was still electric in his time on the field.

By season’s end, Cunningham’s big-play ability was turning heads across the national landscape. In Louisville’s offense, he was never asked to throw a lot but when he did, it often resulted in big-time plays.

Cunningham finished the season completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,061 yards and 22 touchdowns. The most incredible part of this was that he averaged less than 15 pass attempts per game, yet still led the nation in passing completions of 70-plus, 80-plus, and 90-plus yards. That’s what makes him a potential dark-horse candidate for the Cards in 2020.

In 2020, Cunningham will look to continue to improve his downfield accuracy while harnessing his running ability. Perhaps due to injury, Cunningham was almost conservative to a fault in the running game in 2019. Though he ran the ball ten times a game for 482 yards and six scores, his electric running ability could serve to keep defenses on their heels even more next season.

Beating out Lawrence for ACC Player of the Year might be unrealistic due to the hype and circumstances surrounding Clemson, but don’t be surprised if Cunningham is in the conversation.