Card Chronicle joined the Big Red Louie Podcast to discuss Louisville football.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Louisville football has been the main storyline through the 2020 calendar year amongst Card Nation. After an impressive first season as head coach, Scott Satterfield has the program in a prime place to push even further in ACC contention with the majority of an eight-win team remaining – and it doesn’t look like it’ll slow down.
With as much talk as there’s been about the potential offensive production in 2020 with Micale Cunningham, Javian Hawkins, and Tutu Atwell all returning following breakout season there’s been even more about recruiting in the class of 2021 following a slew of big-time pickups this summer.
Read more: Cards land dynamic linebacker with high upside in class of 2021
Satterfield and the Louisville football staff have done just everything right through the first year and a half that they’ve been on the job, and now they have the program set to compete for a top 25 ranking and potentially as many as 10 wins.
Are you buying the hype around Louisville football?
Several college football analysts and writers have expressed their belief in Louisville being one of the most improved teams in the country (again) in 2020, while others have allowed the defensive woes to shield their eyes from the dynamic offense that could be one of the best in college football. Even the football index loves Louisville, as earlier this spring when the FPI was released it projected the Cards to go 10-2, pushing the level of expectations and hype a step further.
So are you buying the hype?
That’s what we asked our good friends Keith Wynne and Mike Rutherford from Card Chronicle during the most recent Big Red Louie Podcast.
Both Mike and Keith believe that what we saw in 2019 was just the tip of the iceberg for the program, and what we’ll see in 2020 should build off of that momentum. The measurables continue to trickle in for the incoming class, and as Keith talked about it’s a fairly important part of things this season as the team will look to end the depth woes they had a year ago. Speed has been prioritized across all positions and much like we saw last season the staff will unapologetically be themselves in their playcalling trusting their guys to make the right plays at the right time.
Could some of the doubters be right?
Could the defensive continue to hover in the bottom third of nearly every major statistical category? Will the offensive take a step back without Mekhi Becton, limiting the impact of the skill position players? Will the rest of the ACC catch on to the play calling and scheme of Satterfield and begin to slow things down enough to make Louisville’s defense have to carry them?
All of those are real questions that we’ll need answers to, but as we all agreed, there’s no chance this team takes a big enough step backward to not still feel good about the future of the program. It’s obvious that the Clemson’s and Notre Dame’s of the world will likely lead to losses, although don’t be shocked if an upset is had, but the other 10 games on the schedule are all winnable.
It’s going to be a very weird season for all programs and challenges will be all over that make winning as many games, or more, extremely difficult. This team and the coaching staff trust already that the culture that’s been established will help them move through the ongoing pandemic and keep their eyes on the prize ahead; getting to the top of the ACC.
What a ride we’re in for. Hope you’re ready, folks.
Also, Mike can’t not make Meet at the Paw jokes. Come for the football, stay for the laughs.