Notebook: Big plays return as Louisville offense explodes in rout of Florida State

Louisville's offense was the topic of conversation leading up to Saturday's Florida State game. 

What was wrong with it? Why did the Cardinals score just seven points against Notre Dame? Coach Scott Satterfield answered questions all week about it and against the Seminoles, he put a lot of the doubt to bed. 

The Cardinals defeated Florida State 48-16 and tallied 569 total yards, averaging 9.3 yards per play. It was the best offensive performance of the season and one week after its most disappointing one. 

"We need to continue to get better, we aren’t anywhere where we need to be but I can tell you when you go into the locker room after a win it’s a lot more fun than what’s been happening the last few weeks," Satterfield said. 

When the season began, Louisville was expected to have an explosive offense that carried it to a strong season. Until Saturday, that offense hadn't shown up consistently against an ACC opponent. 

Louisville scored 35 points on Western Kentucky and scored 28 of its 34 points in the second half against Miami, but Saturday was the first time it dictated pace from start to finish. 

More:Three things we learned from Louisville's win over Florida State

Satterfield, though, told his team in its Friday meeting that it had a chance to explode and make a statement. It did that from the start. 

The offense had been plagued by negative plays against Notre Dame and throughout the year. It started its first drive in a third-and-8, but quarterback Malik Cunningham converted it by finding wide receiver Tutu Atwell open across the middle after Florida State blitzed. 

Atwell turned the pass into a 66-yard play, down to the 9-yard line. Running back Javian Hawkins scored one play later. And that was just the beginning. 

"That gives everybody confidence," Satterfield said. "You can feel the sideline erupt in all phases because that’s what we are accustomed to seeing. It was a good throw by Malik. We’ve been missing that connection with the deep ball and that’s what we had to get back. " 

On its next drive, Louisville scored on a 75-yard Hawkins run to take a 14-7 lead. In five plays, Louisville had two touchdowns. It's hard to be more efficient than that. 

In total, Louisville had nine plays over 20 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass from Cunningham to Atwell. Those were crucial to the offense's success, but even when the big plays weren't there it was moving the ball well. 

Louisville allowed just five tackles for a loss on Saturday and showed much more variety in its early-down play calling. 

The Cardinals ran 31 first-down plays with 18 of those coming on the ground for 156 yards and completing 7-of-13 pass calls for 53 yards. Cunningham was efficient as well finishing 16-of-24 with 278 yards and two touchdowns. 

"It starts up front and Malik was consistent in the pass game," Satterfield said. "That keeps you on track. When you are able to stay on track like that, you can dial up the next play. It’s a lot harder to dial up second-and-12 and second-and-14." 

Game recap:Louisville football rolls over Florida State

And it cut down on the penalties, tallying just seven for 67 yards in the game with just one personal foul on offense, a chop block. 

"I told the offensive line all week 'No dumb penalties,' and today we didn’t have any unsportsmanlike penalties behind the ball," Cunningham said. "If you have no penalties or turnovers, you have a good chance to win." 

Return to Louisville not good for FSU quarterbacks

Florida State didn't travel without a fair share of Louisville connections on its roster. 

Starting quarterback Jordan Travis played for Louisville in 2018, his freshman year, before transferring to Florida State during that 2-10 season. Travis struggled against Louisville's secondary, which put together another strong game. 

Travis was just 14-of-32 for 141 yards, one touchdown and one interception from Jack Fagot. Louisville's defense had 12 pass breakups. Travis ran for 47 yards and a touchdown, but struggled to find any receivers open and convert. 

Backup quarterback Chubba Purdy had a worse time when he came in with the game already out of reach. Purdy, who was committed to Louisville in the 2020 class but flipped on signing day, was 0-of-9 on his passes and nearly threw an interception to freshman Lovie Jenkins. 

According to Louisville's statistician, Purdy's 0-of-9 performance set a record for a Louisville opponent for the most passes without a completion.  

Next up

Next for Louisville is No. 20 Virginia Tech at 4 p.m. Saturday at Cardinal Stadium. The Hokies are 3-1 and sport the second-highest scoring offense in the conference at 42 points per game. 

Cameron Teague Robinson CTeagueRob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.