Louisville football: 10 predictions for the Cards in 2020
5. Louisville football beats Notre Dame
Jacob Lane
Louisville football finishing 8-5 and winning a bowl game in 2019 was an incredible start to the Scott Satterfield era but in year two I’m looking for that signature win for the new look program. Last year Louisville showed much improvement in big games (for the most part when it came to competing at a high level for a certain period of time.
Against Notre Dame and Clemson, Louisville was more than competitive throughout the entirety of the first half – making some game-changing plays in the process (while leaving others on the field) that put them in a position to win.
This is the season where I think Louisville gets that big, program direction-changing win that they were looking for last season and it comes at a place that they had luck back in 2014; Notre Dame.
Sure, I may be crazy for thinking that the Cards will be able to beat a team that won 11 games in 2019 and is projected by ESPN’s FPI to win all but one game in 2020. Sure, I may be off my rocker thinking that a defense that gave up an average of 33.4 points per game last season can stop one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Ian Book who threw for nearly 200 yards last season against the Cards while running for another 85, scoring two touchdowns in the process.
If Louisville football wasn’t able to do it last season, falling 35-17, why would they be able to this year? The answer is simple; Micale Cunningham.
Puma Pass played admirably against the Irish in the season opener last year, completing 12 of 27 passes for 134 yards and two rushing touchdowns but he made several crucial mistakes that put the game out of reach. Throughout the first half, however, it was his play combined with the running attack of Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall that kept Notre Dame on their toes.
Now with the rest of his team having seen Notre Dame once and having the confidence in themselves to pull off the upset, Cunningham should be able to step onto the field and make enough impact to swing the game.
Last season the Irish defense was susceptible to the run, evident by Hawkins’ 19 carry, 122-yard performance, as they ranked 60th overall (giving up 153-plus yards per game). With Hawkins & Hall both returning, Louisville will ride their top ball carriers but will also have the ability to throw in even more designed runs with Cunningham, opening up the play-action game in a major way.
It won’t be easy stopping an offense that notoriously pumps out talented skill players and offensive linemen the size of minivans, but in their second season of playing for Bryan Brown I think it’s this game that becomes the one where they “figured it all out.”
That’s a big prediction and so is beating the Irish, but from what I’ve seen thus far from the players playing for Satterfield as well as the staff’s ability to game plan (especially against a team they’ve already seen), I think it’s the perfect recipe for a big upset win.
Bonus: Final score 27-23, Louisville