Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield on Wake Forest
Coming off a big 24-10 win over Pitt, the 4-3 Louisville Cardinals are now faced with the biggest test of their season so far — No. 10 Wake Forest. Head coach Scott Satterfield will need all hands on deck to beat the Demon Deacons — that includes the fans.
“I think about home field advantage,” Satterfield said in his midweek press conference. “I think about when we went to Syracuse, what kind of advantage [they] had playing in that environment. We need to have that home field advantage here. We need to have the people come out and yell and be loud and crazy, because it affects offenses. I really need you to come out to this game. This is college football at its best right here.”
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In their past six matchups, Wake Forest and Louisville have split the series 3-3. There’s a lot of respect between both programs and what they’ve accomplished.
“We have a lot of respect for Wake Forest. Coach [Dave] Clawson has done an unbelievable job there,” Satterfield said. “I feel like they’ve had Sam Hartman for five or six years, and I think he's still got a year left. He's a great player, runs that offense to a T.”
“They have outstanding receivers with length that can catch the football,” Satterfield continued. “They make a lot of contested catches, it’s incredible. They have faith in each other, I think they're really confident in that.”
Offensively, Wake Forest’s one-of-a-kind system is a tall task to prepare for.
“It’s hard to contain it, you don't want to get out of your gaps” Satterfield noted. “If you get out of your gaps, [Hartman] hands the ball off and the running back finds the open holes. It’s very unique. I don't know many teams in the country that are running this type of offense. Sam does such a great job of knowing when to hand [the ball off] and when to pull it. It just keeps the pressure on.”
On defense, Wake Forest has improved by learning to bend but not break. When the team is pinned in their own red zone, they often become an even better unit.
“They’re doing a really good job on defense keeping guys out of the end zone,” Satterfield said. “I think that is probably the biggest thing I've seen on film this year for the Wake team. We have to find ways to get into the end zone.”
According to Satterfield, the Deacs’ ability to limit mistakes has been a key part of their success this season.
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“Coach Clawson’s teams don’t beat themselves,” he added. “They don’t turn the football over. I think they’re number one in the conference in lack of penalties. They only get penalized for maybe 30 yards a game. That’s kind of a mark of a Clawson team — make teams have to play great football in order to beat [them].”
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Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.