Louisville football: Game-by-game predictions for 2020
By Jacob Lane
Week 8: at Virginia
Date: 11/7
After taking their first loss of the season, Louisville football will bounce back on the road against 2019’s ACC Coastal Division winner Virginia. Bronco Mendenhall’s team has gotten better each and every year since he took over in 2016 and last season they were argubably one of Louisville’s biggest wins as the Cavaliers would go on to the Orange Bowl and give Florida one hell of a game.
The Cavaliers will look a little different in 2020 as they’ll work to replace star quarterback Bryce Perkins and dynamic wide receiver/running back and returner, Joe Reed. Those two have been the lifeblood of an offense that has been able to put up points in a hurry each of the last two seasons and now Mendenhall will have to get a new quarterback going and a set of new weapons.
As always, Virginia will have a very challenging defense which should make this game interesting for Louisville. However, with a new found motivation the Cavaliers will have to stop a pissed off Louisville team that will be looking to put up points in a hurry and make up for their poor defensive performance from the week prior.
Offensively Louisville will have to keep powerful edge rusher Charles Snowden at bay while also manging how impactful Zane Zandier, Virginia’s leading tackler a year ago, is in the middle of the field at linebacker. Both of those players have the ability to swing games with their playmaking ability, so it will be up to the Cards to take care of the football and make the right play against a very smart defense.
Putting pressure on Brennan Armstrong, the sophomore quarterback who is expected to take over for Perkins, will be the biggest challenge for the defense as the more they can get after him and make things difficult the easier it should be to force turnovers and limit big plays. The run game should still be strong, but with Armstrong still growing accustomed to his new role this could be a game where Louisville’s defense puts on a show.
With Virginia’s style of play, I do expect Louisville to have to work harder for their points, which means they should be harder to come by. I still think Louisville dominates the ground, eats up time of possession and then does the little things to keep Virginia out of the end zone.
Score: Louisville 24, Virginia 13
Record: 7-1 (6-1)