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5 reasons the Louisville Cardinals can win the ACC Atlantic division
The Louisville Cardinals may have placed themselves in the driver’s seat in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
The Louisville Cardinals have answered just about every question that any football fan could ever think to ask. September 17th won’t be forgotten by any fan or supporter of this team for quite some time. Then again, it may never be forgotten again.
Head coach Bobby Petrino makes you think about a lot of things when you think about him, and most of them aren’t positive (ask any Arkansas Razorbacks or Atlanta Falcons fan), but what he has built and is continuing to build in Louisville is on the verge of putting not only the ACC on notice, but the entire country as well.
On a day where, arguably, Louisville’s most famous son, Muhammad Ali, was honored, the Cardinals dominated the second ranked team in the country. Maybe they were inspired. There’s a possibility that they just match up well against the Florida State Seminoles. Maybe they’re really just that good. Either way, here are five things we learned from the Cardinals’ most impressive victory in the history of their football program.
Buckle up, and enjoy. This is going to be good.
Sep 17, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Bobby Petrino greet fans during the Card March before facing the Florida State Seminoles at Papa John
5. Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium can be one the most hostile environments in the country.
When you have a moment, take a look at a replay of this one if you haven’t already. Truthfully, most of what college football fans know about this area of the country is more attributable to what Rick Pitino and the basketball program have been doing.
Kentucky, and this isn’t meant to be an insult, is mostly known for being a basketball state, but this is a fanbase that shows up every single Saturday. Against the Seminoles, they were loud. They made it difficult for Florida State’s offense to communicate, and they answered a question that many had before this one officially kicked off. The question was “can this team finish the deal”? They had come close in previous years, but on yesterday, they not only sealed the deal, they turned the entire ACC upside down.
Again, it wasn’t a basketball game. The atmosphere on yesterday rivaled anything that is being done at any elite program in the country. It was truly fun to watch, and it doesn’t appear that the enthusiasm is going to end any time soon.
Sep 17, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Jeremy Smith (34) runs the ball in for a touchdown against the Florida State Seminoles during the second quarter at Papa John
4. This team is more physical than we’ve been told.
When the Cardinals come up, you hear words like “tempo”. You hear phrases like “finesse offense”. You think about players like former Cardinals quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and you think about the explosiveness and dual-threat ability of current Cardinals standout quarterback Lamar Jackson. What many forgot to mention to us was the fact that this team is extremely physical.
What Louisville did, pretty much, all day was actually what we expected to see done to them by Florida State. This team didn’t look for ways to run around people. They looked for people to run over. They didn’t try to run out of bounds. Instead, they lowered their shoulders, turned up field and took defenders on head on. Yes, this team is talented on offense. Can Jackson can beat any program with his arm or his legs? Absolutely he can, but this team doesn’t try to choreograph their way to victory. They line up and they run downhill.
We haven’t even brought up the defense yet. They caused pressure, they made plays in coverage and they seemed to get to the quarterback at will. The only question is, after such a dominating performance, what do they do for an encore?
Sep 17, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Brandon Radcliff (23) breaks free from the tackle of Florida State Seminoles linebacker Jacob Pugh (16) to run the ball during the second half at Papa John
3. Louisville isn’t just a basketball school anymore.
You want a shootout? Louisville can hang with anybody on offense. You want to play a physical “smash mouth” style? They can do that too. Here’s a trivia question. When was the last time Louisville beat the number two team in the country in football? Look it up. The answer may surprise you.
This team came extremely close to beating the Seminoles in both 2014 and 2015. With the players they had returning and the experience they had on the field, the theory was this might be the year. The theory was accurate. Now following their 63-20 victory, the focus immediately shifts towards the other elite program in the ACC’s Atlantic division, the Clemson Tigers.
A lot has to happen before that game though. There’s never been a question about how hard this team will fight against the great teams. It’s about how they perform in those games they’re supposed to win. They seem to have righted the ship. They seem to be more focused. We’ll see in the next game.
Sep 17, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals running back Brandon Radcliff (23) fights through the tackle of Florida State Seminoles defensive back Trey Marshall (20) to score a touchdown during the second half at Papa John
2. This team may now be in the driver’s seat in the ACC’s Atlantic division.
The Florida State monster has been extinguished. There’s still a game to be played against Clemson.
Both share a similar style of play on offense. Both are talented at quarterback. The belief is now that the Cardinals may be approaching the “unstoppable” category on offense. If their defense can limit the Tigers on a series or two and stop them on a couple of others, they could be completely capable of walking out of their contest with Clemson with a win.
Their defense doesn’t have to be great. They just have to be good enough. Fortunately for them, that defense actually may be approaching the level of great. They held the Seminoles to two conversions on 13 third down attempts. They held to Deondre Francois to 113 yards on eight completions and picked him off once. What’s scary is the fact that they aren’t even in mid-season form yet.
The Miami Hurricanes are starting to look like the Hurricanes we once remembered, but the North Carolina Tar Heels may still be the favorite to come out of the Coastal division. If that happens and the Cardinals come out of the Atlantic, wouldn’t that make for an interesting ACC Championship game?
Sep 17, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) looks to pass against the Florida State Seminoles during the second half at Papa John
1. Lamar Jackson is a legitimate candidate for the Heisman Trophy.
Against the Seminoles, Jackson went for 216 yards on 13-20 passing and finished with a 95.2 quarterback rating. He also led the Cardinals in rushing as he finished with 47 yards and four touchdowns.
For the season, Jackson’s racked up 18 total touchdowns, thrown for 913 yards and run for an additional 464 yards on the ground. The Cardinals stand at a perfect 3-0 on the season and have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 195-62. What’s scarier is it doesn’t even appear that they’ve hit their stride yet.
The Heisman Trophy has been criticized for regional biases and for the fact that players from the south win the award far too often. Those detractors won’t like this one, but there are officially two quarterbacks from a southern football conference in the running. On October 1st, Louisville travels to “Death Valley” for what’s become a very interesting contest with Clemson. The result could go a long way in deciding not only who the superior team in the Atlantic division is but who’s in the driver’s seat for which team’s quarterback gets invited to New York when January rolls around.
It’s official. Louisville isn’t just a “basketball school” anymore.
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