Louisville Wanting To Fine-Tune Offense Ahead of Pitt Matchup
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - By all means, Louisville's offense was relatively productive in their 47-34 loss to the Miami last Saturday. The Cardinals put up 516 total yards of offense against the Hurricanes, led primarily by strong efforts from running back Javian Hawkins and quarterback Malik Cunningham.
But Louisville's offense was far from perfect under the bright lights of Cardinal Stadium. They failed to produce a touchdown in the first half, only the fourth time that Louisville did not find the end zone in a half under head coach Scott Satterfield, and went 4-14 on third down in the game including 0-6 in the first half.
"It was disappointing in the first half with our third downs conversations on offense and not picking up some of those first downs," Satterfield said Monday in his weekly press conference "We feel that if we picked those first downs, then we get at least three more downs and we have enough playmakers that we think we can go score."
Even Cunningham did not have as sharp of a night as it seems, despite completing 26 of his 36 pass attempts and throwing for three touchdowns. He also accounted for three turnovers, one interception and two fumbles, and made some uncharacteristic throws.
During one of Louisville's early failed third down conversions, tight end Ean Pfeifer was wide open in the corner of the end zone, except Cunningham missed him just short - forcing Louisville to settle for the field goal. On his lone interception of the night, wide receiver Dez Fitzpatrick was wide open in the flats for an easy gain, but Cunningham didn't see him - instead scrambling and throwing a pick to cornerback Al Blades.
"He knows he's got to make the plays. We expect him to make every play," Satterfield said. "We have high expectations at the quarterback position and if you just look on the surface at the stats, you're like 'oh the quarterback had a solid game.' But he missed several plays out there."
Of course, Satterfield had plenty of good things to say about his offense too. He was proud of the effort from Hawkins after eating 27 carries and turning that into 164 yards & a touchdown, and thinks the offensive line has done a "really good job" through the first two weeks of the season.
As far as the minutiae of their offense goes, the No. 24 Cardinals (1-1, 0-1 ACC) are going to have to clean it up a touch. Louisville has arguably one of their biggest tests of the season coming up this weekend when they travel to face Pittsburgh.
The No. 21 Panthers (2-0, 1-0 ACC) are off to a hot start to the season, entering their matchup with Louisville with a 55-0 win over Austin Peay and a 21-10 victory against Syracuse under their belt.
Guided by head coach Pat Narduzzi, Pitt boasts one of the best defenses in the ACC. The Panthers feature a pair of preseason All-ACC defenders in safety Paris Ford & defensive end Patrick Jones II. On top of those two, defensive end Rashad Weaver was named the Defensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Sunday - the first Pitt player to earn the honor since Aaron Donald in 2013.
"The defense has good pass rushers, the corners can cover man to man and the other guys can handle the run," Satterfield said. "It's not complicated, but they are good, they are very good at what they do. You have to earn everything, there will not be any freebies, it is a very solid defense."
Kickoff against the Pitt Panthers is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26 at 12:00 p.m. on ABC.
(Photo of Zach McCloud, Malik Cunningham: Atlantic Coast Conference)
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