3 things Louisville football must do to beat Pittsburgh

Establish an efficient run game

The Pittsburgh defense has allowed 52 yards rushing on 56 rushing attempts. Need we say more?

Javian Hawkins is one of the best running backs in the nation and he will have to keep on proving that this weekend. The Pitt defense is not just great at rushing the passer and forcing turnovers. They have stymied the run as well as anyone in the country so far this year.

A healthy balance of run and pass has been successful this year for the Cards and that is certainly the plan moving forward. If Louisville gets one dimensional with very little to show on the ground, the Panthers could play less men in the box to force Malik Cunningham and the receivers to get a little bit more creative.

The Cardinals rushed 49 times last week for 209 yards (including the sacks of Cunningham). That is good for 4.3 yards per carry. Clearly Scott Satterfield and the offense are committed to running the ball at a high level. It will be very important to see if the Cardinals can continue to do so at an efficient clip against the Pittsburgh defense.

Nobody is asking Louisville to be world beaters here considering how good Pittsburgh’s defense has been so far. But they do need to be efficient to establish balance on offense. If the Cardinals can average 4.0 yards per carry, I will predict this game is at the wire within a touchdown score and Louisville having a chance to win the ball game.