Louisville football: Can Cards go over 7 wins in 2020?
Why Louisville could have seven wins or less
Health concerns
The toughest thing for Louisville football to replicate in 2020 will be the overall health of the team. Entering the season, many saw the potential and the pieces in place for some form of success in 2019, but the issue that we always went back to was that the Cardinals had zero reliable depth.
The Cardinals did suffer some injuries in 2019, but it felt like they were in the only areas that they could afford them. Puma Pass goes out and Micale Cunningham has a breakout season. Evan Conley fills in for Cunningham and takes Louisville on game-winning drives. Khane Pass goes down and Jack Fagot steps in.
Louisville did a fantastic job of minimizing injuries in key areas last season, but that is going to be tough to replicate year over year. It feels like the Cards are one or two recruiting cycles away from having established two and three deeps at every position, which is a major key to continuing to take steps forward in power five football.
Winning in the trenches
Louisville football will also have to find answers on the offensive and defensive lines in 2020.
The Cards performed admirably on the line of scrimmage, but not at a level that can keep them winning 8 or more games each year. In games against Wake Forest, Boston College, and other similar conference foes, the Cards held their own on the line- Or at least enough to sneak by with wins. However, we saw the issues that can be caused when opposing offensive and defensive lineman are bigger, longer, stronger, and more physical than you. In games against Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami, and Kentucky, the Cardinals were simply outmanned on the line of scrimmage.
Can the Cardinals take another step forward this season? Certainly, but whether or not they can play at the level of a Clemson or Kentucky up front is completely different.
Defensive tackles Henry Bryant and Jared Goldwire, along with ends Ja’Darien Boykin and Yaya Diaby hope to take a step forward in 2020, and Renato Brown and Adonis Boone will try to plug some holes on offense. Still, both units will have to take major steps forward if they want to repeat 2019s success.
Too offensively reliant
Lastly, the Cards were too reliant on one side of the football to continue replicating success in the future.
Last season, Louisville took massive steps forward on the offensive end, going from the worst offense in college football to the second-best in the ACC. The Cards had the weapons leftover from what was intended to be a high-powered Bobby Petrino offense, and it paid massive dividends for Satterfield.
However, on the defensive side of the ball, Louisville continued to struggle. Obviously, 2019 was a vast improvement over the year prior, but after allowing over 50 points in every game in the back half of 2018, anything would have been better.
Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown had to implement a new system in 2019 that saw nearly every key contributor switch positions. Now that the Cards are gearing up for a very important year two.
If the offense sustains success from the previous season, any defensive improvement would theoretically serve to better the Cards, but when the going gets tough on offense or in special teams, that’s when we will see if the defense can keep games within reach.