Let's kick off a new series looking at the best and worst case scenarios for each ACC Football team.
Best / Worse Case Record for :
Virginia | Miami | Duke | Georgia Tech | Boston College | Pittsburgh | Florida State | Virginia Tech | NC State | Clemson |Syracuse | North Carolina | Wake Forest
Louisville
Last year the Louisville spent the first two months of the season looking like a playoff team. Led by by the athletically gifted Lamar Jackson at QB, the Cardinals put up video game like numbers, and then it all fell apart. The Cardinals lost their final 3 games as the offensive line and defense collapsed down the stretch. Generally regarded as a fine coach, Bobby Petrino lost his team late in the season losing badly to a decent Houston team and getting beat by an average Kentucky squad at home and then looking basically looking un-competitive in a bowl game loss to LSU. The ACC went 10-4 against the SEC last season. Louisville accounted for half of those losses.
The highlight of year was 63-20 dismantling of a talented Florida State team early in the season. Another huge highlight was Lamar Jackson winning the Heisman Trophy. So who is the real Louisville team?
Will Go 12-0 (8-0) if:
The offensive line can significantly improve. As athletic as Lamar Jackson is, he can’t out-run entire defenses chasing him. That’s what it seemed like late in the year for Louisville as the Cards went from playoff contender to a middle of the pack ACC team. That said we know what we saw for the first 2 months of the year, as Louisville destroyed FSU and nearly won at Clemson. The defensive is line a question mark too, but the schedule is very manageable.
Do you see any games where Louisville will be the underdog other than Florida State, Clemson, and maybe NC State? Louisville blew out FSU and NC State last year. There’s no fear of any of those 3 teams. The Cards can beat most of the teams on their schedule with out their best effort, and it’s not out of the question they beat both FSU and Clemson. Bobby Petrino is too good a coach to let the Cards have another collapse.
Will Go 8-4 (5-3) if:
That offensive line plays at the level it did late last year. Teams are on to how to defend Lamar Jackson, and Louisville isn’t beating Clemson and Florida State if they get end of the season line of scrimmage play. That includes the defensive line that didn’t play well either late in the year. NC State also has a very good defensive line, and that game is on the road. A game at Kentucky is no gimme either.
Whether Louisville has an OK or great season will depend on how they play at the line of scrimmage.
