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Louisville Football: Q&A with Chop Chat, FanSided's FSU Site-Experts
We were able to get together with the Site-Experts from “Chop Chat” (FanSided’s Florida State Blog) and asked them some questions about the upcoming game against the Louisville football team.
Louisville football is getting ready for one of their biggest games of the 2016 season. The Cardinals are set to face the second best team in the country next Saturday in the Florida State Seminoles. The implications of this game are huge, in terms of the 2016 season. While this isn’t the biggest game in program history, it is extremely important that Louisville wins.
ESPN’s College Gameday is set to roll into the Ville’ next weekend and the thought of being on a national stage is making fans lose sleep as we speak. Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson and company need to be prepared as this could be their toughest task of the 2016 season.
Louisville won a big game on the road against Syracuse to begin ACC play 62-28 last Friday. While they were able to come out with a victory, it was not the prettiest of wins. Style points are not what matter, but dropping passes and missing numerous tackles should make fans pump the brakes just a little bit.
At the same time, Lamar Jackson will present Florida State with one of their biggest challenges of 2016. They were able to knock off Ole Miss in the first game of the year and won big against Charleston Southern last weekend. This Seminole team is very confident and will not blink coming into Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium looking for a victory.
Jason Parker and Kelvin Hunt, the co-Site Experts over at Chop Chat, were nice enough to let us bounce a few questions off of them about this upcoming game. Be sure to check out the Q&A session on the next couple of pages.
Oct 30, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Louisville Cardinals at Papa John
Dalvin Cook has been a terror to the Louisville defense over the past two seasons. What does Louisville need to do in order to shut him down next Saturday?
JP: The thing that fans of both teams might forget is that in both of Cook’s games against the Cards, his numbers were inflated because of monster second half performances. In 2014, he had 110 yards total, with 78 of them coming on two touchdown runs while in 2015, he had just 28 first half yards before finishing with 163.
The offensive line has looked shaky at best in the first two games, so the Cardinals would be well served to keep five or six men attacking that line at all time and containing Cook inside the hash marks, preventing him from hitting that corner and getting that burst of speed he is known for.
KH: Dalvin hasn’t looked like Dalvin so far this season. He bulked up a bit in the off-season, and I’m not sure if that has zapped some of his burst/wiggle or what. Basically, the Louisville defense needs to set the edges and force Cook to run up the middle. Keep eight in the box.
The only problem is he has become a viable receiving threat this season. He torched Louisville on the ground and receiving last season too. So it’s still sort of pick your poison with him.
Oct 17, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville player Jamari Staples (2) makes a catch against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Beil-USA TODAY Sports
This is the third different quarterback that the Cardinals will have faced from Florida State over the last three seasons. What does Francois bring to the Seminoles that makes him so special?
KH: I’ve been really impressed with Francois thus far. He has shown the ability to read coverages, attack deep, attack underneath, basically take what the defense gives him. He’s a much better passer and runner than Everett Golson.
He’s not a one dimensional quarterback like Sean Maguire that will just stay in the pocket with absolutely no threat to run. However, he’s a pass first, run second type of QB. He seems to have great poise thus far. The only knock on him IMO is that he’s a tad late with throws at times when it comes to timing routes.
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JP: After his amazing second half against Ole Miss, the comparisons to Jameis Winston have gotten more and more intense for Francois. At the same time, anything is better than what Everett Golson brought to the table last year (who everyone can agree was a colossal flop for the ‘Noles).
Quite honestly, he brings that genuine playmaking ability that is sought out in the current state of college football. With no disrespect to Sean Maguire, who is a good player and would have no problem playing Saturday if needed, D12 can beat you with his arm and his legs which makes him valuable against a very good Cardinals defense.
He’s young and will make mistakes, but he doesn’t seem to get rattled by them and learns from them.
Oct 30, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Florida State Seminoles running back Dalvin Cook (4) runs the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium
This is going to be a huge game for the Louisville program. What is it going to take for the Cardinals to be able to pull of an upset on Saturday?
JP: Well, of course we don’t want you to win! But if Louisville is going to pull off the upset, it’s going to be for two reasons. First off, the Cardinals are going to have to keep the FSU defense on their toes. At the start of the Ole Miss game, the Rebels were throwing everything at the ‘Noles and we couldn’t stop a cold. When they put everything on Chad Kelly’s shoulders and he had to do it all, you saw what happened: game over. Lamar Jackson can’t be the only person the coaches rely on.
Second of all, forget the last two seasons and giving up halftime leads in both games. This is a Louisville team that, I feel, can hang with the Seminoles and win the game without question. If they are leading again into the third quarter, they can’t worry about a possible let down and keep their foot on the gas and finish the game, something that didn’t seem to take place the last two meetings.
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KH: I think Lamar Jackson is going to have to continue playing the way he’s been playing. Granted, he hasn’t been doing it against elite competition. Can he continue that on Saturday? I think he’ll play well, but we’ll find out if the hype is for real that’s for sure.
The Louisville defense will have to play lights out and probably force a couple of turnovers from the young quarterback. The Louisville offense will have to avoid turnovers themselves as they had two turnovers last year that the ‘Noles converted into TD’s. If Derwin James is out, they should look to attack that side of the field. FSU will have capable replacements, but they will not be Derwin James if that’s the case.
It should be a great game, it’ll be my birthday, and nothing would be better than a ‘Noles win over another top notch program like Louisville.
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