I was proven wrong. No, Louisville didn't win the ACC tonight. No, Louisville wasn't perfect. But they got off the mat and went on the road into a place where it's not easy to win, and won.
There were even multiple instances in this game where this team could have packed it in. The missed field goal, the Tiyon Evans fumble. Nope. This team kept fighting.
Give credit to the staff, coaches, and players.
My quick thoughts:
- Scott Satterfield electing to receive sent a message out of the gate. I loved that decision, and it gave Louisville momentum right away. That was only the third time in Satterfield's tenure at Louisville where Louisville took the ball after winning the toss.
- The energy on the sidelines and on the field was night and day different than last week. That translates to wins. It just does. Satterfield was animated with the refs, he showed fire and his team took after that attitude and just flat out flew around.
- Bryan Brown and the defense came up huge. They put together 10 straight stops. Only one drive had more than 5 plays. A few guys that stood out: Jarvis Brownlee, Quincy Riley, YaYa Diaby, Kenderick Duncan, Dorian Jones, Josh Minkins. Brown mixed in pressure, showed different looks to Plumlee. Great game plan all the way around. Jared Dawson is going to play a lot with Lole out, and he did more than hold his own tonight. Ben Perry has been solid at the CARD spot, Minkins and Duncan have been reliable at safety. Diaby looked like he put it all together tonight. The corners with Brownlee and Riley were awesome. Clark was back to his old ways, too.
- Yes, the offense struggled, but they still amassed 226 yards on the ground. Braden Smith got involved, Marshon Ford got targets, Malik Cunningham was used in a way that put him in positions to be successful.
- Special teams was much improved. Mark Vassett averaged 48 yards per punt, and had a 55 yarder. James Turner missed one early, but rebounded nicely.
There were even multiple instances in this game where this team could have packed it in. The missed field goal, the Tiyon Evans fumble. Nope. This team kept fighting.
Give credit to the staff, coaches, and players.
My quick thoughts:
- Scott Satterfield electing to receive sent a message out of the gate. I loved that decision, and it gave Louisville momentum right away. That was only the third time in Satterfield's tenure at Louisville where Louisville took the ball after winning the toss.
- The energy on the sidelines and on the field was night and day different than last week. That translates to wins. It just does. Satterfield was animated with the refs, he showed fire and his team took after that attitude and just flat out flew around.
- Bryan Brown and the defense came up huge. They put together 10 straight stops. Only one drive had more than 5 plays. A few guys that stood out: Jarvis Brownlee, Quincy Riley, YaYa Diaby, Kenderick Duncan, Dorian Jones, Josh Minkins. Brown mixed in pressure, showed different looks to Plumlee. Great game plan all the way around. Jared Dawson is going to play a lot with Lole out, and he did more than hold his own tonight. Ben Perry has been solid at the CARD spot, Minkins and Duncan have been reliable at safety. Diaby looked like he put it all together tonight. The corners with Brownlee and Riley were awesome. Clark was back to his old ways, too.
- Yes, the offense struggled, but they still amassed 226 yards on the ground. Braden Smith got involved, Marshon Ford got targets, Malik Cunningham was used in a way that put him in positions to be successful.
- Special teams was much improved. Mark Vassett averaged 48 yards per punt, and had a 55 yarder. James Turner missed one early, but rebounded nicely.
