Louisville football: 3 things to watch vs. Western Kentucky
By Jacob Lane
Can Louisville football’s defense put the pieces together?
During his first press conference of the season, Scott Satterfield told the media that entering Saturday’s matchup with Western Kentucky that no players would be held out due to health.
Satterfield also talked in-depth about how his team has spent the last few months preparing for what will easily be the most unique season in college football history, including rotating enough at each position to be comfortable going 2-3 deep if needed.
When you combine those new revelations along with the experience that Louisville brings back (eight starters return on defense) as well as the injection of young players from the class of 2020 who should contribute at a very high level – we’re talking about the makings of something special happening on defense.
While the offseason may not have looked like it normally does, that hasn’t stopped Louisville’s defense from preparing to take the next step in growth under Bryan Brown. In year one, as Satterfield pointed during his media availability, the defense made an 11 point per game jump from where they had been in 2018. It may not sound like much, but that huge and it’s a major reason why they were able to win so many games they probably shouldn’t have in 2019.
Entering 2020, the defense has everything going for them including health, depth, experience, youth, and most importantly, continuity. That’s why players like Dorian Etheridge believe that the “sky is the limit” on what they could achieve.
As we talked about during our first preview of Western Kentucky, last year Louisville’s defense had one of their best overall performances of the entire season. That’s to be expected when playing a team that’s technically a step down in competition, but it set the ceiling high as to what Louisville could do when p laying at their best.
Constant improvement was made throughout the season in 2019, but a lot more is going to have to happen if Louisville is going to be able to meet the expectations that have been placed on them.
“We know it’s on us. We know what our offense can do. We know they’re their top 25 offense. We know what they can do, so it’s just on us right now. We take pride in that. We know that we can be the deciding factor of how our season goes.”
Next. Game-by-game predictions for 2020. dark
Limiting the run game and big play capability of Tyrrell Pigrome at quarterback and Gaej Walker at running back will be a tough week one test, especially when you add in Jahcour Pearson and Joshua Simon as pass-catching threats. Louisville has to be prepared to make a statement and that’s something I know they can do.