Opener observations

[BPGhost]

Leave moral victories for lesser programs but, lots to feel good about after game one of the CSS era.

Offense looked good early, excellent play calling and execution confused the domers and made them look slow. RBs - though undersized (a consistent thread) - ran well and hit the LOS hard. Satterfield will need to continue to work on Pass’ confidence when things don’t go as planned. Despite the adjustments made by nd, UofL really took points away from themselves with penalties and turnovers. Clean those up and this will be an effective unit.

Defensively - what a tremendous turnaround! DC Brown made really good adjustments and the defense played much bigger than the game program listed them as - particularly it the heart area. Would like to see a little more press coverage but there’s no doubt that they were guarding against the big play and, shortening the game by keeping everything in front of them.

Special teams were really solid - nice job by King not providing them with anything returnable.

Looking forward to the rest of the year and, years to come as the coaching staff is able to parlay results on the field into recruiting victories.

Go Cards!

 

[Louisvillian]

Leave moral victories for lesser programs but, lots to feel good about after game one of the CSS era.

Offense looked good early, excellent play calling and execution confused the domers and made them look slow. RBs - though undersized (a consistent thread) - ran well and hit the LOS hard. Satterfield will need to continue to work on Pass’ confidence when things don’t go as planned. Despite the adjustments made by nd, UofL really took points away from themselves with penalties and turnovers. Clean those up and this will be an effective unit.

Defensively - what a tremendous turnaround! DC Brown made really good adjustments and the defense played much bigger than the game program listed them as - particularly it the heart area. Would like to see a little more press coverage but there’s no doubt that they were guarding against the big play and, shortening the game by keeping everything in front of them.

Special teams were really solid - nice job by King not providing them with anything returnable.

Looking forward to the rest of the year and, years to come as the coaching staff is able to parlay results on the field into recruiting victories.

Go Cards!

We hired the right guy.

 

[LeFors4Ever]

My observations:

1. The effort and buy-in is there from the guys. They played with all of their hearts. They believed they could do it tonight and it showed. We looked competent and organized. There was a gameplan.

2. Satterfield now has the fanbase behind him. This is still going to be a tough year, but tonight gave us a glimpse of what he can do with time. Even a skeptic like me is now 100% on board.

3. Jawon Pass is not very good. It's not going to happen. Similar to last year, Cunningham is the guy we need behind center. Combining him with the speed of our back will make us a bigger threat. Honestly, Bobby's reluctance to go all in on Malik last year and trying to stubbornly stick with Puma was part of the downfall. Get healthy Malik!

4. Don't jump and raise expectations to unreasonable levels. We still have some issues. Our lines are small and the depth will catch up with us down the road. Every game won't be a blackout with a hyped crowd. Our guys won't be this jacked every game. This is still a process, but don't jump off the train even if we go 3-9 or 4-8. Progress takes time.


When teams rebuild, there are only a few games a year where we can put this kind of effort into. Syracuse, BC, and Wake Forrest are the big games. I'd like to see us win 2 out of those 3. Also, Virginia at home is one we can have some fun. I'm now leaning closer to 4-8 as our record.

I'm now ready to see where we go from here. There's film on us to dissect now. How will we react to adversity? What will happen when we have a big injury? Thats where you see the true character of a team.

 

[CommodoreCard]

Night and day, last year, this year. I like what I’m seeing.

Bobby Petrino should be sack punched, and often.

 

[BooneCo_Card]

Night and day, last year, this year. I like what I’m seeing.

Bobby Petrino should be sack punched, and often.

Petrino quit on last year's team b4 they quit on him. Grandson talked to a few players after Syracuse game and most said it was tough to play well when the man at the top did not want to be there. He then took the university for a ride financially with his Golden Parachute of a buyout. Highway robbery, plain and simple.

My main takeaway from tonight is that the players care again. Undersized and not exceptionally talented, but the effort is there. They appear to be buying into what CSS and staff are selling. It is going to be interesting going forward. We made the right hire.

 

[Thecycle27]

The main take away for me was the Oline. They were physical. That will help the defense down the road. I can’t stress enough how big of a deal this is. It is safe to say Ledford is legit.

 

[Cue Card]

Petrino is a vile POS for how he treated his own team last year. That is just unforgivable. I don't wish him any bad luck in life, but I won't shed a tear if something bad were to happen to him.

I am thankful for coach Satterfied because he won't quit on these kids even if he decides he wants to go somewhere else. He has character. Bobby Petrino just turned out to be a character.

 

[Morgantown Card]

Question: I don't follow transfers etc in the offseason that closely so I apologize for my ignorance. Louisville's classes have all ranked very good (30-40) over the last several years, yet I keep reading we don't have depth. How many players left the program for reasons other than graduating?

 

[Cue Card]

Question: I don't follow transfers etc in the offseason that closely so I apologize for my ignorance. Louisville's classes have all ranked very good (30-40) over the last several years, yet I keep reading we don't have depth. How many players left the program for reasons other than graduating?

We lost some to transfer. Greenard comes to mind. Sure would have been nice to keep him. We had others leave too. I just can't remember their names right now.

EDIT: Defensive linemen Allen Love, Michael Boykin, wide receiver’s Corey Reed, Marcus Riley, and Jatavious Harris, and offensive lineman Wyatt Smock all have left the team. Backup QB Jordan Travis, RB Trey Smith, and defensive lineman Kam Jones left. Add Colin Wilson too.

 

[ULGrad09]

Question: I don't follow transfers etc in the offseason that closely so I apologize for my ignorance. Louisville's classes have all ranked very good (30-40) over the last several years, yet I keep reading we don't have depth. How many players left the program for reasons other than graduating?

In addition to the transfers that Cue listed - the recruits were HEAVILY weighted in the skill positions, so left little to no depth in non-skill positions.

 

[Morgantown Card]

Thanks guys. That summarized it nicely.

 

[earsky]

Leave moral victories
for lesser programs

I'm with you Ghost, except for when there are extenuating circumstances.
I think this is maybe that one time in my life I let everyone have one.
We weren't quite in rubbles as a program...just felt like it.
I think we all need this pass.

 

[Mike'sMarbles]

I'm not changing my expectations for the season, but I am sold on this coaching staff now. I always like to wait and see before judging, but I saw enough in that game to know we have made a great hire at head coach and have a strong coaching staff. The future is bright.

On recruiting, this year's class ranked at the bottom of P5 schools, even behind Kansas. So the depth may get worse before it gets better. The first recruiting class of this new staff is tremendous so far, given the situation.

 

[BPGhost]

I'm with you Ghost, except for when there are extenuating circumstances.
I think this is maybe that one time in my life I let everyone have one.
We weren't quite in rubbles as a program...just felt like it.
I think we all need this pass.

I hear you but...

No moral victories.

Ever.

Let’s leave those for those types of programs that go Ofer against another program for three decades.

 

[teamcanada]

The only thing that had me scratching my head was the play calling at the end of the 1st half. Two minutes left and you run 3 times then when you get the ball back with 23 seconds left you try to run another play. Why didnt they just take a knee at that piunt and go into halftime tied and receiving the ball first in the 2nd half

 

[BPGhost]

The only thing that had me scratching my head was the play calling at the end of the 1st half. Two minutes left and you run 3 times then when you get the ball back with 23 seconds left you try to run another play. Why didnt they just take a knee at that piunt and go into halftime tied and receiving the ball first in the 2nd half

They got the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and nd had at least 2 if not all 3 TOs as I recall. They would have needed to get a first down to run the clock out to the half - I was pretty amazed that after stopping Hall on the initial run, nd didn’t call timeout. You can’t take knee with 3 minutes left - terrible look - and I feel certain that had they taken a knee at that point, nd would have certainly called timeout and forced them to punt.

Bottom line is, it wasn’t the play calling, it’s the fumbling. Twice...

 

[nccardfan]

They got the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and nd had at least 2 if not all 3 TOs as I recall. They would have needed to get a first down to run the clock out to the half - I was pretty amazed that after stopping Hall on the initial run, nd didn’t call timeout. You can’t take knee with 3 minutes left - terrible look - and I feel certain that had they taken a knee at that point, nd would have certainly called timeout and forced them to punt.

Bottom line is, it wasn’t the play calling, it’s the fumbling. Twice...

Play calling definitely got conservative after fumbles at start of 4th quarter. Incomplete pass followed by 12 men on the field penalty and then 2 rushes up the middle for about 4 yards when it was 3rd and 13. Settled for FG when we 2 TD’s down.

 

[teamcanada]

They got the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and nd had at least 2 if not all 3 TOs as I recall. They would have needed to get a first down to run the clock out to the half - I was pretty amazed that after stopping Hall on the initial run, nd didn’t call timeout. You can’t take knee with 3 minutes left - terrible look - and I feel certain that had they taken a knee at that point, nd would have certainly called timeout and forced them to punt.

Bottom line is, it wasn’t the play calling, it’s the fumbling. Twice...

I said take a knee with 23 seconds left after Notre Dame fumbled back to us. We then proceded to fumble the snap. ND recovered and scored to go up 21-14 at half.

 

[teamcanada]

They got the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and nd had at least 2 if not all 3 TOs as I recall. They would have needed to get a first down to run the clock out to the half - I was pretty amazed that after stopping Hall on the initial run, nd didn’t call timeout. You can’t take knee with 3 minutes left - terrible look - and I feel certain that had they taken a knee at that point, nd would have certainly called timeout and forced them to punt.

Bottom line is, it wasn’t the play calling, it’s the fumbling. Twice...

im talking about when they got the ball back with 27 seconds left right after ND fumbled it back