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Louisville Football: ESPN Predicts If The 2017 Cards Are Contenders
We take a look at what ESPN had to say about the 2017 Louisville football team and their playoff chances for next college football season.
I don’t think I have to remind anyone that the 2016 Louisville football season ended with a thud. The Cardinals’ offensive line and turnover issues ultimately took them out of the college football playoff picture and sent them on a three-game losing streak to end the season.
With that being said, they have hired a new offensive line coach and they also have a full offseason to fix some of their discipline problems on the field. That includes everything from fumbling the football to penalties.
Therefore, can the 2017 Louisville Cardinals rise to a new level and make the big dance next season? Take a look at what ESPN had to say about the Cards and whether they are “contenders” or “pretenders”.
Here is the verdict from Jared Shanker in his article on ESPN:
“Pretender. The window likely closed at the end of last season. Bobby Petrino is a good enough coach that it’ll be open again, but just not in 2017. There isn’t enough reason to believe yet that Jackson will be hit less, and there are a lot of changes on defense. If Jackson remains for his senior season, this could be a playoff team in 2018. Sell the Cardinals this season, though.”
I may be a complete homer in my opinion of what Jared Shanker wrote, but to say that the 2017 Cardinals football team is a pretender, is just a tad bit premature.
When you have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner on your football team, the sky is the limit. I do understand that Lamar Jackson cannot do it all by himself, but this 2017 team has much more than just Jackson.
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However, I guess that would mean someone would have to do enough research to know that about Louisville for next season. The Cardinals may always be thought of as underdogs and that is just how we have always liked it. Game on people, game on.
