Seven things to know about the Louisville Cardinals

Governor’s Cup week has finally arrived as the Bluegrass State’s two power five football programs both enter Thanksgiving weekend with identical 7-4 records. This will be the 30th meeting all-time between the two programs and Kentucky currently owns a slim 15-14 lead. Since the series was relaunched in 1994, Louisville is on a 14-9 run.

Many years we’ve seen the winner going on to the postseason while the loser would tend to be home come bowl season. That is not the case this season as both teams will be headed to a respectable bowl game come December. For the sixth straight season, UofL enters as the favorite and we’ll see if Kentucky can make it back-to-back upsets.

As always here at Cats Illustrated, here is your official scouting report of the upcoming opponent. We should be looking at an exciting football game come Saturday afternoon.

Try Cats Illustrated FREE for 30 days with this limited time trial offer

Lamar Jackson...Have you heard of him?

After lighting the college football world on fire last season, the south Florida native is back to his old tricks this fall. Jackson is putting up 297.5 passing yards and 117 rushing yards per game. The junior has accounted for 40 touchdowns a season after collecting 51. He’s again been one of the most productive players in college football and he’s the best one to ever put on the jersey at Louisville.

Jackson still has some accuracy issues as he’s still only completing under 60% of his passes. However, he makes up for some of those flaws with big plays as he’s averaging just under nine yards per attempt. On the ground, Jackson has improved his yards per attempt average as he’s now putting up 6.8 yards per carry.

For the season, Jackson has posted four straight 100-yard rushing efforts and eight on the season. Jackson also has six 300-yard passing outings. The junior is quickly headed for the NFL draft and has had one of the best careers in college football. He’s dynamite on the football field.

Front Seven Havoc

Louisville has had their obvious defensive struggles this season but one thing this group has done all year is produce negative plays. For the season, the Cards have come away with 69 tackles for loss as they are collecting 6.3 per game. The lion’s share of this production comes from the edge.

Jon Greenard, James Hearns, and Trevon Young each play the defensive end/outside linebacker spot in Peter Sirmon’s multiple scheme. The trio have come away with 35 of UofL’s tackles for loss. That’s right over 50% as these three are the most important part of the Louisville defense. It doesn’t stop there as the trio has come away with 15.5 of the team’s 22 sacks. Oh, they’ve also combined to force five turnovers.

Kentucky must account for this group on every play.

Running Back Carousel

Entering 2017, there was a big running back competition as UofL looked to replace the production left by Brandon Radcliff. Seven different players were going to be in the mix, but it was expected that senior Jeremy Smith and true freshman Colin Wilson would win the job. But due to injuries, these two only logged 11 carries on the season.

So it’s been a wide open competition all season and Louisville has had to turn former quarterback/wide receiver Reggie Bonnafon into the primary tailback. The senior has been very reliable his entire career and he’s posted 383 rushing yards on 77 carries with five touchdowns. He also has served as a punt returner and has chipped in 155 receiving yards on 20 receptions.

The best player in this group has been somewhat of a surprise and that is senior Malik Williams. The junior college transfer barely contributed last season but he’s easily been Louisville best running back this fall. The North Carolina native has recorded 509 rushing yards on on 60 carries with four touchdowns. The 221-pound back is averaging 8.5 yards per carry and just gives this offense a different dimension when he is in the lineup.

As a team, Louisville is rushing for 241.2 yards per game on a 6.4 yards per carry average with 29 touchdowns. In four of the last five games, the Cards have ran for at least 290 yards and their re-commitment to the run has them playing their best football of the season. UK’s defense has given up over 200 rushing yards four times this year and that happens again on Saturday.

Takeaways are a must for this defense

It’s been a long season for first-year defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon as his unit is giving up

28 points per game and 5.7 yards per play. Three opponents have scored over 40 points against the Cards as this group has struggled to consistently get stops. Therefore, turnovers have become vital.

On the season, UofL has forced 20 takeaways (eight fumbles, 12 interceptions). With a solid end to the season, it will match the 25 turnovers this group forced last season. This defense is usually pretty good when they get multiple takeaways as opponents are only averaging 17.3 points per game in these instances. But in the seven games where Louisville has only come away with one turnover or less, foes are putting up 34.1 points per game with each 40-plus point game happening in these instances.

Ball security will be a big deal on Saturday. Senior corner Trumaine Washington leads the team with four interceptions while outside linebacker James Hearns and safety Chucky Williams have combined for seven forced fumbles. This group feasts off of takeaways.

Improved Offensive Line

Last year the entire country had a lot of fun making of Louisville’s offensive line as they allowed 47 sacks and 83 tackles for loss. This unit was a big reason why the 2016 Louisville team ended the season with three consecutive losses and it was obvious changes need to be made.

Petrino hired Mike Summers this offseason and he’s done a wonderful job with this group. Summers worked with Petrino in his first stint at Louisville as well as working at three SEC programs in the last decade. He’s done a wonderful job and it has started with a handful of freshmen.

Redshirt freshman Robbie Bell has started at center and the Georgia native has stabilized that position. True freshman Mekhi Becton was the best recruit from the 2017 class and the rookie has been very good at tackle as he looks like a future star. Cole Bentley has provided solid depth at guard and will be a very good player down the road. You combine these solid freshmen contributions with juniors Geron Christian and Lukayus McNeil who have been starting since they were freshmen and then you have a great nucleus.

For the season, Louisville has only given up 54 tackles for loss and 27 sacks. This is a huge jump from last year and the future is bright for this offensive line who will return everyone in 2018.

Solid Kicking Game

Blanton Creque has been a very good kicker for UofL as the junior has hit 12 of 14 field goals after knocking in 16 of 19 last fall. Mason King is a very good punter who is averaging over 44 yards per attempt. These two are a very good tandem.

Where this unit struggles is in the return game. Louisville has not been able to find answers in the return department as three returners have been used in both punt return and kickoff return. Both Jaire Alexander and Traveon Samuel have return touchdowns in their career, but running lanes just have not been there this year. In these situations, hidden yardage could be picked up by Kentucky.

Turnovers will be the difference

For the first time in quite awhile, the talent on these two rosters is very similar. Outside of Lamar Jackson, you’d be hard pressed to find a significant gap between the two squads at any position. So anytime you have this matchup with teams this close, turnovers could be a key.

In this series, the last three years has seen both squads be careless with the football. Since Petrino arrived in 2014, Louisville has had 11 turnovers and has committed at least three in each game. Kentucky hasn’t been great, either, as they’ve coughed up the rock twice in each of the last three seasons. I have a feeling this will be the difference on Saturday.