Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Florida State
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After getting back on the right track with a bounce-back win over UCF, Louisville (1-1, 0-1 ACC) is now set to play their first home game of the 2022 season, welcoming Florida State (2-0, 0-0 ACC) to Cardinal Stadium.
Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Friday's game:
Louisville Aiming to Play 'Cleaner' Football Moving Forward
Even with the various improvements that Louisville made in their win at UCF, they were far from perfect. In fact, one could make the argument that they won in spite of themselves, and played a borderline sloppy and undisciplined style of football.
"We have to play a lot cleaner football," head coach Scott Satterfield said Tuesday. "Whenever you get in these close games, you don’t want to beat yourself. It very easily could have happened last game and certainly happened in the first game with turning the ball over and penalties.
Louisville's 9.5 penalties per game ranks 12th in the ACC and 118th in FBS, while their 73.0 penalty yards per game is dead last in the league and 107th nationally.
Penalties have played a large role in some early season struggles on third down and in the red zone - particularly on offense - but it hasn't been the sole reason. Louisville's third down conversion rate of 36.0 percent is just 80th nationally, while their red zone conversion rate of just 60.0 percent (three scores in five tries) is 123rd.
"There were some positives, but still a lot to clean up," offensive coordinator Lance Taylor said. "Right now, we're not great on third down. We're not great at converting touchdowns in the red zone. We had multiple opportunities at the end of the game to close it out with us on the field, not putting our defense out on the field, and we didn't do that."
Offensive Staff Working to Find Ideal Run/Pass Balance for QB Malik Cunningham
Through the first two games of the season, Louisville is still trying to find the perfect balance of passing plays and designed run calls for quarterback Malik Cunningham. However, in order to do that, Cunningham has to perform better through the air than what he has shown early in the season.
So far, Cunningham is 30-of-51 with 347 yards and two picks through two games. If Louisville is going to find a better balance of passing and running plays for their marquee player, he'll have to do a better job when it comes to both his decisions as a passer, and the passes themselves.
“Well, he’s got to throw the ball better. There’s no question," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He had some plays the other night we could have hit and extended some drives. He was excellent in the run game, did a great job with that and had some big plays. ... Malik has to continue to work and hopefully it will happen this week that we’ll be able to open it up and get the pass game going.”
That being said, as much as Louisville wants Cunningham to continue to progress the passing game, they aren't going to blatantly ignore the success that he has had with his legs in the past, and what he continues to do with them now.
"He's a playmaker, and we didn't do that enough in the first game," Taylor said. "We came back, and that was one of the adjustments that we made. He wanted to make that adjustment. He reached out to me and said that."
Multiple Louisville, Florida State Players Looking Forward to Matchup Against Former Team
Out of the several impact transfers that Louisville landed out of the transfer portal this past offseason, one of them came to the Cardinals by way of Florida State in the form of cornerback Jarvis Brownlee. He has a lot of respect for his former teammates, but isn't afraid to admit that he has been looking forward to this matchup for a while.
"I think this week is going to be great. I circled this one on the calendar," Brownlee said. "But I have love for a lot of those guys over there on the offensive side of the ball. They're a great team, and I'm just looking forward to battling, man. It's going to be a fight. Competition is going to be there. I know they're going to come in and target me a couple of times.
Of course, Florida State has their fair share of former Cardinals on their roster. In fact, they have three: quarterback Jordan Travis, cornerback Greedy Vance and defensive tackle Jarrett Jackson. Like Brownlee, the upcoming game against Louisville does mean a little bit more to them.
"A little bit," Travis said. "I'm not going to sit here and say it's not on my mind, it's definitely on my mind a little bit, but it's just another game for me. It's another game for this football team. We're just going to go out there, get a win, give everything we have, give 100 percent and keep getting better every single day."
Movement in Running Back Room Anticipated Against FSU
Over the offseason, Louisville expected to share the running back reps relatively equally for the 2022 season. But through the first couple games of the year, Tiyon Evans has been the ball-dominant running back. While that still will likely be the case, a couple of the backs behind him are expected to get more run against Florida State.
“I think we'll probably see (Trevion) Cooley this week,' Satterfield said. "I think he'll be back, and he’s practiced well yesterday, practice hard. I think he'll be there. I think you'll see probably more (Jawhar) Jordan as well. I think he maybe had three carries last week. We’re trying to get him a few more carries as well. So, I do think Cooley will get an opportunity, which he hadn't really in the first couple of games so I do think he will be back out.”
Jordan saw limited reps against Syracuse and UCF, while Cooley hasn't seen the field at all. They will likely see more reps against the Noles due to the fact that Jalen Mitchell, who was the primary running back for the Cards last season, is a "question mark" to go due to a lower leg injury.
FSU Offensive Skill Players Could Be Handful for Louisville
When looking at the talent that Florida State has on the offensive side of the ball, the Noles have a plethora of playmakers that can impact the game in a variety of ways. Jordan Travis has had a good start to his 2022 season and has come a long way since his days at Louisville, completing 64.6 percent of his passes for 467 yards and a pair of touchdowns against Duquesne and LSU. He also has 42 yards and a score on the ground.
"I think Jordan has done a great job in the first couple of games," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. "You can tell he's grown a lot. He's matured a bit to where he's keeping his eyes downfield, making plays with his legs.
Travis also has an excellent supporting cast around him. Each of their three top running backs - Treshaun Ward, Trey Benson and Lawrance Toafili - all have over 100 yards on the season through two games. His top two receiving targets in Ontaria "Pokey" Wilson and Johnny Wilson have also had hot starts to the year. Johnny is a mismatch nightmare at 6-foot-7 and has already tallied 111 yards, whereas Ontaria is coming off of a 102-yard performance against LSU.
"They have some excellent running backs. Offensive line seems to be better this year, they’re a year older," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "They got some transfer wide receivers, big wide receivers. ... Even their slot receiver is kind of a muscle-bound slot receiver. They’ve got physical players out there."
Noles' Front Seven to Challenge Louisville's Offensive Line
Through the first two games of the season, Louisville's offensive line hasn't been as dominant as they have been expected to be. While they haven't been bad, they haven't been elite, either. They'll have to be on their A-game when Florida State takes the field.
In the front seven, two players in particular have had fast starts to the year. Albany transfer defensive end Jared Verse already has 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks, while UCF transfer linebacker Tatum Bethune has notched 3.0 TFL's, a sack and a pass deflection.
They helped hold Duquesne to just 164 yards and LSU to 348 yards. Their total defense average of 256.0 yards per game ranks 19th in FBS.
"They're a talented defense," offensive coordinator Lance Taylor said. "They have playmakers on all three levels. Their D-line is big, the front will be the biggest front that we played this year. They're really physical up front, the linebackers are fast and mobile, and they tackle well."
(Photo via Melina Myers - USA TODAY Sports)
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