Louisville football: 3 not-so-crazy offensive predictions for 2020
By Jacob Lane
Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall rush for 1,000 yards
We knew that new Louisville football coach Scott Satterfield was bringing a high-octane rushing driven scheme to the program, but I don’t think anyone expected what ensued.
An injury to Hassan Hall in spring practice opened the door for redshirt freshman Javian Hawkins, who quickly caught the eye of the new staff and ultimately used a strong performance early on to grab ahold of the starting role.
We knew the talent was there with Hawkins, although he barely played in 2018 as a freshman, but most expected a drop-off from Satterfield’s vaunted rushing attack over the previous five years that he was a head coach.
That didn’t happen. Satt Daddy and offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford found a way to make things work, and once again a Satterfield-coached offense put up some incredible numbers on the ground.
Take a look at the last six years of rushing offenses under Satterfield:
2014
Marcus Cox – 255 carries, 1,415 yards, 5.5 YPA, 19 TD
Terrence Upshaw – 112 carries, 573 yards, 5.1 YPA, 4 TD
2015
Marcus Cox – 243 carries, 1,428 yards, 5.9 YPA, 9 TD
Jalin Moore – 99 carries, 731 yards, 7.4 YPA, 5 TD
2016
Jalin Moore – 237 carries, 1,4012 yards, 5.9 YPA, 10 TD
Marcus Cox – 158 carries, 1,015 yards, 6.4 YPA, 9 TD
2017
Jalin Moore – 183 carries, 1,037 yards, 5.7 YPA, 12 TD
Marcus Williams Jr. – 97 carries, 500 yards, 5.2 YPA, 2 TD
2018
Darrynton Evans – 179 carries, 1,187 yards, 6.6 YPA, 7 TD
Marcus Williams Jr. – 122 carries, 561 yards, 4.6 YPA, 4 TD
2019
Javian Hawkins — 264 carries, 1525 yards, 5.8 YPA, 9 TD
Hassan Hall — 108 carries, 501 yards, 4.6 YPA, 5 TD
So, what is the correlation when we look at these gaudy rushing numbers on the ground over the last six years? Simply that, regardless of weapons in his arsenal or difficulty of schedule, Satterfield is going to put the ball in the hands of his running backs a ton and he is going to get serious results.
When Satterfield transitioned to Louisville, Hawkins took off as an unexpected star. As a redshirt freshman, he set the school single-season running back rushing record. Now, as an encore, Hawkins has a chance to perhaps improve upon last season’s output in the second year in the new system.
The problem for Satterfield and Hawkins, and it’s a good one, is that Hassan Hall is a dynamic back in his own right. He was a second-team All-ACC selection as a multifaceted back who was third in the nation in kick-off return yardage.
Now that the Cardinals have Hawkins and Hall both healthy in 2020, this season might feature a more balanced rushing attack.
Satterfield has had two running backs go over 1,000 yards before in 2016 when Jalin Moore and Marcus Cox collectively rushed for more than 2,500 yards. That’s not out of the realm of possibility for Louisville’s stars in the backfield in 2020.
Much will depend, as well, on the legs of quarterback Micale Cunningham. The rising junior ate up 122 of Louisville’s rushing attempts in 2019 as he accounted for 482 yards on the ground himself. Either way, Cards fans should expect an even more lethal backfield this season.