South Florida (1-2, 0-0 AAC) hits the road for the second consecutive week when it returns to Louisville (1-2, 0-2 ACC) Saturday for the first time since 2012 when both programs were members of the Big East.
USF will be looking to end a 13-game road losing streak that dates back to an Oct. 28, 2019 victory at ECU.
With that in mind, BullsInsider.com went behind enemy lines and asked Ty Spalding, publisher of CardinalSports.com, about the matchup from the Cards perspective.
The Louisville offense has improved dramatically from game one to game three. What has changed to get things back on track?
Louisville's offense is predicated on the outside zone run, and during the first week, they struggled to get a push up front, and their yards per rush wasn't where it needed to be. In the last two weeks, Louisville's averaged over five yards per rushing attempt, which has given the offense more balance, and has given the passing attack more room to work.
Aside from Malik Cunningham who are the playmakers on this team offensively?
On offense, the playmakers aside from Malik Cunningham are mainly in the backfield. Tennessee transfer Tiyon Evans has been really, really solid. He missed the Florida State game due to injury, but should be back this week. Evans scored a touchdown in each of the first two games, and should pick up where he left off this week, as he's back to full strength. Jawhar Jordan is another transfer running back who runs incredibly hard, and is tough to bring down. Marshon Ford at tight end is one of Malik Cunningham's go-to targets, and was an All-ACC player in 2021.
Defensively the numbers are not great other than shutting down UCF a good bit, where is that unit at now and who are some key guys to watch on that side of the ball.
Louisville's defense has either been really good, or really bad. They forced 10 straight stops against UCF, but in the other two games, they had stretches where they looked dreadful. They've been prone to giving up big plays as they have given up the seventh-most plays of 20 yards or more in all of FBS. However, they have had some success creating havoc and getting pressure. Edge Yasir Abdullah is the guy to watch and he played his best game of the season thus far last week, totaling 8 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 2 TFLs, 1 PD, 1 QB hit, and 1 INT. Yasir Abdullah's 2 tackles for loss vs. Florida State give him 32.5 for his career, eighth most on the Louisville career list.
Is this a must-win type game for Scott Satterfield who appears to be on the hot seat with Louisville fans?
Yes. Put that in all caps, in bold, underline it. Scott Satterfield needs to start winning games in a hurry, or we are more than likely heading towards a coaching change at the end of the year.
How do you see this one playing out and a prediction would be great?
I think this one will be a little closer than what Vegas sees, and I wouldn't be shocked to see USF rack up yards and put up points in bunches. This one stays competitive through three quarters, and Louisville wins 35-24.
