Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Florida State

Mistakes on both sides of the ball spelled doom for the Cardinals against the visiting Seminoles.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing at Cardinal Stadium for the first time of the 2022 season, Louisville was unable to get the job done thanks to a multitude of missed opportunities and mistakes, falling to Florida State in the process.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the matchup vs. USF, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game:

• First of all, this game seems to encapsulate everything that had ever gone wrong in the Scott Satterfield era at Louisville. Costly mistakes in the form of drive-killing penalties and untimely turnovers. An offense that couldn't seem to find any groove for a large chunk of the game. At times poor tackling and effort on the defense, despite being dominant during the middle portion of the game. Another contest that, despite the amount of times they shot themselves in the foot, could have been won in the fourth quarter only for the opportunity to slip away. Not to mention that they played an entire second half where the opposition's three best players were unavailable due to injury, and they still couldn't cash in. There have been some truly soul-crushing losses under Satterfield, but this one might be one that takes the cake because of the amount of opportunities that Louisville had to pull away from Florida State, and just couldn't do it.
• Before we go any further, we have to talk about offensive coordinator Lance Taylor's role on this team. While the defense has been an absolute roller coaster, you can at least see new co-defensive coordinator Wesley McGriff's fingerprints on the scheme, for better and for worse. We are now three games into the season, and I really can't tell you where Taylor has had *any* input on how the offense operates. Taylor is someone who, in his relatively short career compared to other coaches, has an extensive amount of experience and success. But I can't point out how this offense looks any difference from a schematic standpoint that it did last season. Taylor was brought in to help Louisville improve from a situational standpoint, and it almost seems like he is being cast aside and is merely a figurehead. The only time it seemed like his input on the game plan was apparent was on the red zone screen pass to Cooley, and some tempo in the first and early second quarter, but that was really it. 
• Let's start with the offense first, particularly Malik Cunningham. This was actually the best game that he has had so far this season, and it's not really close. He looked a lot more decisive with his passes, and was able to make a few really impressive throws in the first half. That back shoulder throw to Tyler Hudson in the first quarter was amazing. Not to mention that he looked as electric as he has ever been when it comes to running the ball, and had a couple runs where he put on display an incredible cutback to juke multiple defenders. However, he did have some moments where he just keyed onto Hudson like he did against Syracuse, and he made two really bad throws at the end of the game.
• However, something alarming started to occur in the second and third quarters: the wide receivers could not get hardly any separation from the FSU secondary. This was a major point of concern over the offseason, and it started to materialize in this game, especially after Dee Wiggins had to leave the game before halftime. This led to Cunningham having to hold onto the ball for way too long, and stalling out drives. 
• Jawhar Jordan stepped up in a big way with Tiyon Evans and Jalen Mitchell being out, though I'm not sure he's ready to be the feature back yet after his midfield fumble (although it looked like forward progress was stopped to me). Evans and Mitchell are two very good backs, but it should not require both of them being out for Trevion Cooley to see the field. He's far too electric to be as limited as he is right now.
• Considering the amount of times the offense shot themselves in the foot, it's surprising that they were able to put up 31 points. The fumble in the red zone on a botched read option handoff. Jordan's midfield fumble. The offsides call on 4th and 1 in the third quarter. Blowing not one, but two final opportunities to try and come back, including Cunningham's interception that sealed the game and his fourth down throw on the second-to-last drive that was way behind Hudson. All of this while FSU's Jared Verse and Tatum Bethune, their two best defensive players, were out of the game in the second half. Louisville could have very easily put up close to 50 in this game if they hadn't blown so many opportunities.
• The offense weren't the only ones who blew multiple opportunities. The defense went full-blown Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in this game. They were superb in the second and third quarters, but absolutely abysmal in the first and fourth. There were multiple missed tackles and at times horrendous coverage. Not to mention they had penalties that were just as costly. The 3rd and 14 offsides in the third quarter that helped continue the drive and lead to an FSU touchdown. The pass interference and facemask calls on the drive that led to FSU go-ahead fourth quarter touchdown.
• I'm not one who likes to overly criticize college players, but I'm going to make an exception for two players. Jarvis Brownlee and Kenderick Duncan had AWFUL games. Brownlee himself said that he circled this game on the calendar considering he was playing his former team, and he got torched all night long. The cherry on top was giving up both fourth quarter touchdowns. As for Duncan? Inexcusable effort, especially late in the game. FSU RB Treshaun Ward's big run late in the fourth quarter could have been a near-TFL if he made any effort to try and tackle or run after ward. Those two deserve to get chewed out in the film room this week.
• Moving on... the coverage in general was good, until it wasn't. They were able to make backup QB Tate Rodemaker look precisely like a backup, but then he proceed to just dice up the secondary in the fourth quarter. Even Kei'Trel Clark struggled in this game, and he hasn't been all that great this season so far.
• A huge part of the late lapses in coverage, in my opinion, was that Quincy Riley was nowhere to be found. He's not hurt, and wasn't being disciplined to my knowledge, so why did only see 14 snaps for the game? Satterfield himself said he has the best ball skills of anyone on the team, and nearly had two picks against UCF. With Brownlee playing the role of burnt toast, why was Riley not seeing his reps?
• The front seven was, actually, mostly positive. It was a mix of guys who were playing incredibly well, and some guys who couldn't get much going. Yasir Abdullah finally had an impact game, snagging an interception, tipping a crucial 3rd down pass in the third quarter, and notching two TFLs. Rance Conner got a pick, YaYa Diaby was impactful again, Ben Perry was playing all over the field, Dez Tell got a sack. Collectively, they did a modest job of getting pressure in the backfield, but did struggle to contain Treshaun Ward and had a couple untimely plays where Rodemaker broke an easy contain. Their performance was mostly overshadowed by the terrible job from the secondary.
• Then there was Monty Montgomery, who did a terrible job with wrapping up and pursuing the ball carrier. It's early, but it's starting to seem like his injury from last season is having a greater impact than he anticipated. If this continues, it might be time to hand the starting job to Dorian Jones, who has looked good as his backup and has been an excellent tackler and thumper.
• Sometime to monitor moving forward are the amount of players that were injured in this game, and who might have to miss some time. Wiggins had to be carted off the sideline; Evans and Mitchell had to miss this game entirely; Caleb Chandler had to exit the game in the second quarter; Diaby, Huggins-Bruce and Abdullah all got banged up as well, but returned.
• I'll close with this thought: This is the kind of game that almost seems like the tipping point for a lot of Louisville fans. Despite the multiple chances to establish complete control over an undefeated opponent, in a league game, the Cardinals couldn't do it. There's still a lot of time left in the season, and Satterfield and Louisville could very well rebound to have a semi-successful season. But barring things completely turning around, a lot of fans seem to finally be out on Satterfield. It's on him to get his program back on track.

(Photo of Trevion Cooley: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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