Louisville Preview

 Program:

They are one of those programs that is always punching to be a top program and usually end up being a pretty good program. They had top 10 success under Bobby Petrino (twice), and since he left, they have struggled to develop ranked teams.

Jeff Brohm is a good coach.  Played in the NFL, so we have an NFL-NFL coaching matchup.  When a WKU, he delivered a 59-31 smackdown in Dino's first game here.

He's 21-8 at Louisville.

The series.

Louisville is 19-12 vs. the MAC.  They lost to Miami and Marshall in the GMAC Bowl days and also to Marshall in the Motor City Bowl.

BG has never played them.

This year

They are 2-0 coming off a bye week.  They beat EKU and James Madison--a game in which the Cardinals rallied to beat the Dukes, who were picked to win their conference.

Expectations:

According to Phil Steele, they are the #7 most experienced team.  They were picked #6 in the ACC.

Preseason All ACC:

1st team:

Isaac Brown, RB

Caulin Lacy, WR

2nd team:

Stanquan Clark. LB--not expected to play Saturday

Offense:

Steele Position rankings:

QB: 5

RB: 1

REC:2

OL:3

Louisville has been primarily driven by their defense this year.

Having said that, they have a true stud at RB. Isaac Brown is averaging 12.8 yards per carry, which would lead the nation if he had 2 more carries.  He's scored 3 times, has a long of 78 yards.  He was ACC Rookie of the Year last year.  Falcons have to keep their eyes on this guy.

Their QB is #72 in passing efficiency to date. He had 63% completion, which is good.  He has 12.5 per completion, which is also good.  He had 2 TD over 2 INT, neither of which is good.

They have 4 receivers with catches of over 30 yards.

You can see where this goes....keep your eyes on Brown, and they go right over the top.

They are #34 in scoring offense and #32 in yards per play.

Defense:

Steele Position rankings:

DL: 5

LB: 3

DB: 8

Based on those rankings, the Cards are over-achieving on defense based on early returns.

They are #1 in sacks, #8 in total defense, #15 in passing efficiency defense, #8 in first downs allowed, #7 in passing yards allowed and #35 in rushing defense.

Cleve Lubin leads the nation in sacks per game.

Special Teams

They are good.

They are #10 in KO returns.

#8 in punt returns, with one to the house.

Their kicker is 3-3, all under 40.

Their punter, however, is the worst in the country.

Final Thoughts:

I think Louisville is better than Cincy.

Louisville is a 25.5 point favorite.