Louisville football: The road map to beating Georgia Tech

Get Malik Cunningham back on track

The Pittsburgh defense flexed their muscles as one of the best defenses in the ACC against Louisville before dropping a game in an upset to NC State last weekend. Malik Cunningham was hurt and stretchered off the field following the last offensive play of the game for the Cardinals.

It appears Cunningham will be back after a week of rest after dodging major injury. Cunningham was reported as practicing as early as last week.

Before the injury occurred, Cunningham was running for his life after the Pittsburgh’s monstrous defensive line simply overpowered Louisville. Cunningham was sacked a whopping seven times. That is simply unacceptable for success.

However, despite Cunningham’s inability to have a clean pocket, he was also not accurate himself. He finished the game 9 for 21 and 107 yards through the air; he had one touchdown and three interceptions. Certainly, Cunningham will be looking to rebound from such a poor performance.

To me, Cunningham was proving his worth as a draft prospect before that game against Pittsburgh that may have set him back some. If he can bounce back in a big way against Georgia Tech, he will place himself right back on the NFL Draft map.

He will need to stand in even with pressure in his face on Friday night and recognize there is a chance he could be on the ground a lot over the next seven-plus games. If Cunningham is pressured in this game, he needs to find ways to use his legs to get out of it or stand in and deliver passes under pressure. Too many times against Pittsburgh Cunningham missed open targets while he was under pressure.