Louisville QB Malik Cunningham to Return for 2022 Season

The Cardinals' offensive heart and soul is returning for one final season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham has decided that he will be returning to the Cardinals for the 2022 season, announcing the decision Friday on social media.

"Card Nation don't worry I'm staying home," he tweeted.

Currently in his fifth year with the program, the redshirt junior has one year of eligibility remaining due to extra year provided by the NCAA in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the course of the 2021 regular season, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound dual threat signal caller was not only Louisville's heart and soul on offense, but one of the top quarterbacks in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Montgomery, Ala. native completed 62.0 percent of his passes for 2,734 yards and 18 touchdowns to only six interceptions, while also rushing for 968 yards and 19 touchdowns - which currently stands at fourth in the nation.

Cunningham's 308.4 yards of offense per game is not only fifth in the ACC, but ranks 14th in all of FBS, and his 222 points responsible for comes in at 9th. His 3,702 total yards of offense makes up for 68.5 percent of Louisville's overall offensive output for the season, and he has had a hand in 37 of their 49 touchdowns.

His best performance of the season came in Louisville's penultimate regular season game at Duke. Totaling 527 yards with seven total touchdowns, he became the second player in FBS history to pass for 300+ yards and rush for 200+ yards in a game, joining Washington's Marques Tuiasosopo vs. Stanford in 1999.

Cunningham will head into his final season with 10,445 career yards and 98 career touchdowns at Louisville. The yardage mark is good for fourth all-time in Cardinals history, while he is second all-time in touchdowns responsible for.

Bowl eligible, Louisville will find out their postseason draw on Sunday, Dec. 5 following the conclusion of conference championship weekend. The Cardinals finished the regular season at 6-6, and 4-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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