Big Red Louie
Fansided

Louisville football: 5 most intriguing games on 2020 schedule

By Jacob Lane

LOUISVILLE, KY - OCTOBER 05: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets face off at the line of scrimmage against the Louisville Cardinals during the game at Cardinal Stadium on October 5, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. Georgia Tech won 66-31. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - OCTOBER 05: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets face off at the line of scrimmage against the Louisville Cardinals during the game at Cardinal Stadium on October 5, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. Georgia Tech won 66-31. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 02: Jawon Pass #4 of the Louisville Cardinals runs with the ball during a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Cardinal Stadium on September 2, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Notre Dame defeated Louisville 35-17. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 02: Jawon Pass #4 of the Louisville Cardinals runs with the ball during a game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Cardinal Stadium on September 2, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. Notre Dame defeated Louisville 35-17. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

No. 1 – at Notre Dame

Since the clock struck quadruple zero’s back in September following Louisville’s blowout loss to Notre Dame in the season opener, I’ve heard a ton of talk about how fans couldn’t wait for the return trip to South Bend in 2020. Especially with a team who would be further along (and they’re even further along then we thought they’d be) in year two under Scott Satterfield.

While the game against Notre Dame will still be on the road in South Bend, it’s unlikely that many (or any) fans will be able to make the trip, but still there’s a ton of excitement around the matchup. The Irish will be a full member of the ACC in 2020, and aside from Clemson, Louisville could be the biggest threat to keeping the Irish from making a run to the college football playoff or a big time bowl game.

The performance from the Cards was admirable, considering it was not only the first game of the new season but also the first game of the Satterfield era at Louisville. We’d hear from Satterfield later on in the season that even up until that game the coaching staff wasn’t sure what they had on a roster that produced a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,100 yard receiver, and a near 2,500 yard quarterback.

While both teams have lost a few key players from last year’s game, each side will return their star quarterback. For Notre Dame, Ian Book should once again be a top QB in the country and a Heisman hopeful. While Louisville will be looking for Micale Cunningham, who didn’t play against the Irish last season, to take the step Book took last season.

I thought the Cards would’ve potentially been even closer to pulling off an upset last year if the game would’ve been later in the season with Cunningham at quarterback, and to me, that’s what makes this game a potential upset.

Notre Dame struggled to contain the running of Jawon Pass last season (right?), so imagine what Cunningham could do with an offense hopefully clicking on all cylinders? ND will still have a dominant offensive line that will really challenge Louisville’s front seven, and if they can get some sort of consistent pass rush that could be the difference.

Next. 10 predictions for Louisville football in 2020. dark

I’m on the record predicting that Louisville will upset Notre Dame, if that even comes remotely close to being true, we could be talking about a special football team here in the Ville.

Home/Louisville Football