Cards Excited for Saturday's ACC Finale Versus Wake Forest
November 08, 2016 | Football
Cards are 4-0 at home this season and have won eight-straight .
LOUISVILLE, Ky. Â - After nine gameswith wins in eight of them, the University of Louisville offense has carried the team to its best start since 2013.
As a matter of fact, it's been the best in football – leading the nation in total offense and scoring offense, averaging 50.2 points per game and 593.1 yards of total offense – all school marks.
The nation's best offense returns home Saturday to face Wake Forest at 7 p.m. – where they have been just as explosive – averaging 52.8 points per game in winning all four games.
The obvious reason for the eye-popping numbers has been the high-level play of sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who leads the nation with 45 touchdowns -- 19 rushing touchdowns and 26 through the air.
The Pompano Beach native surpassed the 1,000-yard mark last weekend – a first for a UofL quarterback and entering Saturday's game with 1,181 yards. He also passed for four touchdowns in the win over Boston College, and accounted for seven total touchdowns in the game.
And head coach Bobby Petrino continues to see improvement despite being the nation's top offensive player.
"He continues to get better on his accuracy and his timing, and I think as an offense that's something we are working on is our timing, our receivers being there, our backs and tight ends either catching the ball or influencing the underneath coverage," Petrino said.
"He is more disciplined with is footwork and he is doing a great job of going through his progressions and not forcing things and taking things that are there. He works hard at it in practice and gets better each week."Â
After the team's sub-par performance two weeks ago versus Virginia, the Cards were outstanding last week in the 52-7 win. They will have to be just as good this week against a sold Wake Forest team, which is 6-3 and 3-2 in the ACC, and are bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.
"Yeah, they have a really good defense. Their defensive front will be as active as anybody we have played this year. What I mean is that they really rush the passer, they play great technique on the run, their linebackers are fast and sprint to the football, and they have a very experienced secondary."
After the Virginia game, co-offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis issued a challenge to the offense, and the third-year coach thought his unit responded in a big way against Boston College – the nation's No. 7 defense.
"We challenged our whole group," Klenakis said. "I thought we responded well to the challenge. I thought guys took it too heart, and came out and played extremely well."
Coach challenged us," sophomore tackle Geron Christian said. "He asked us to pick it up. They challenged the whole team to play better, and I thought we did that last week."
The Cardinals return home for the first time in two weeks, and will have some new black uniforms to debut this weekend for Military Appreciation Day.
"I'm definitely excited," sophomore Lukayus McNeil said. "They look awesome. I saved them to my phone and I keep looking at them."
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As a matter of fact, it's been the best in football – leading the nation in total offense and scoring offense, averaging 50.2 points per game and 593.1 yards of total offense – all school marks.
The nation's best offense returns home Saturday to face Wake Forest at 7 p.m. – where they have been just as explosive – averaging 52.8 points per game in winning all four games.
The obvious reason for the eye-popping numbers has been the high-level play of sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who leads the nation with 45 touchdowns -- 19 rushing touchdowns and 26 through the air.
The Pompano Beach native surpassed the 1,000-yard mark last weekend – a first for a UofL quarterback and entering Saturday's game with 1,181 yards. He also passed for four touchdowns in the win over Boston College, and accounted for seven total touchdowns in the game.
And head coach Bobby Petrino continues to see improvement despite being the nation's top offensive player.
"He continues to get better on his accuracy and his timing, and I think as an offense that's something we are working on is our timing, our receivers being there, our backs and tight ends either catching the ball or influencing the underneath coverage," Petrino said.
"He is more disciplined with is footwork and he is doing a great job of going through his progressions and not forcing things and taking things that are there. He works hard at it in practice and gets better each week."Â
After the team's sub-par performance two weeks ago versus Virginia, the Cards were outstanding last week in the 52-7 win. They will have to be just as good this week against a sold Wake Forest team, which is 6-3 and 3-2 in the ACC, and are bowl eligible for the first time since 2011.
"Yeah, they have a really good defense. Their defensive front will be as active as anybody we have played this year. What I mean is that they really rush the passer, they play great technique on the run, their linebackers are fast and sprint to the football, and they have a very experienced secondary."
After the Virginia game, co-offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis issued a challenge to the offense, and the third-year coach thought his unit responded in a big way against Boston College – the nation's No. 7 defense.
"We challenged our whole group," Klenakis said. "I thought we responded well to the challenge. I thought guys took it too heart, and came out and played extremely well."
Coach challenged us," sophomore tackle Geron Christian said. "He asked us to pick it up. They challenged the whole team to play better, and I thought we did that last week."
The Cardinals return home for the first time in two weeks, and will have some new black uniforms to debut this weekend for Military Appreciation Day.
"I'm definitely excited," sophomore Lukayus McNeil said. "They look awesome. I saved them to my phone and I keep looking at them."
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