Louisville football: 3 players to watch for Wake Forest
Louisville football will be in for a tall task against these players for Wake Forest this weekend.
The Demon Deacons would have had even more talent this weekend in their matchup against Louisville football had it not been for the opt-outs within their program.
Regardless, the team has themselves a player on defense that will likely be picked very highly in the 2021 NFL Draft and a lot of other contributors that are some new and old faces compared to Wake Forest teams of the past few years.
The Deacs are 4-3 on the season and have won four of their last five games and the Cardinals will be looking to knock them off of their solid run that they have made in the middle of the season.
Meanwhile, Louisville has lost three of the last four and will now have to try to go toe-to-toe with one of the hotter teams in the ACC.
The Demon Deacons have not played in four weeks and are without Sage Surratt (who opted out in the preseason) and recent opt-out Kenneth Walker III who was one of the two dynamic ball carriers Wake was working with in their backfield this season.
With all of this being said, the Deacs still boast some high quality talent on their squad so let us get into the three players to watch for Wake Forest this weekend.
EDGE Carlos “Boogie” Basham Jr.
It would feel wrong to start it off with any other player here. “Boogie” Basham is a force to be reckoned with and Louisville is going to have issues attempting to block him. The 6’5″-275 pound Basham will be the scariest player on either side of the ball on Saturday.
The redshirt senior has put his stamp on the ACC with 19.5 sacks in 42 games played in his career including 10 in 2019 and five already this season in just six games of action.
Do not be fooled by Basham’s size profile. Pound-for-pound, his athleticism with a. 275-pound body is as impressive as it gets. Basham has a chiseled-up frame and carries his weight about as well as you could imagine.
He will be lining up on both ends of the line with his hand in the dirt where he can be turned loose as a pass rusher with a lot of moves at his disposal or a fantastic run defender who does very well with using his shear size to get off of his blocks.
One of Basham’s best qualities is effort. Many of his best plays throughout the course of his career have come because of the insanely high motor he possesses for the position.
In the last two meetings against Louisville, Basham has 4.5 tackles for loss and a scoop-and-score touchdown to his name. He has caused the Cardinals fits and he has only gotten better as a player in that span.
Recently, he received an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl. That is the highest honor for any senior looking to play football in at the next level.
https://twitter.com/seniorbowl/status/1328366837822869504?s=20
Renato Brown and Adonis Boone better buckle their chinstraps tight this weekend. Basham has something to prove as he looks to increase his draft stock with the regular season dwindling down.