Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics
Takeaways from Scott Satterfield's Press Conference
November 23, 2020 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville plays its final road game of the season when the Cardinals face Boston College at Alumni Stadium on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the ACC Network.
The Cardinals snapped their two-game losing streak with a 30-0 win over Syracuse last Saturday at Cardinal Stadium — the first shutout over a Power 5 team since a 34-0 win over North Carolina in 2004.
The Cardinals allowed just 137 yards of total offense on the night, the lowest total by an opponent since giving up just 80 to Murray State in 2017, and the lowest by an FBS opponent since Boston College had 79 yards in 2015.
The Cardinals amassed 413 yards of total offense in the victory. Louisville has reached at least 400 yards in all but two games this season.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham finished the night 19-of-28 for 219 yards and a touchdown, along with a touchdown on the ground. Cunningham has been responsible for multiple touchdowns in four consecutive games. The rushing touchdown was his sixth of the season, tying his career high from last season. The six rushing scores are tied for fifth-most in a season by a quarterback at Louisville.
Placekicker James Turner connected on a career-best three field goal attempts in the win over Syracuse, including a career-long 50-yard field goal in the first quarter. It was the 15th field goal in Louisville history of 50 yards or more. Turner is the first Louisville kicker to make three field goals in a game since Blanton Creque did so against Kentucky in 2017.
The Cardinals are looking for their first ACC win on the road this season, having lost four in a row away from home. Louisville is attempting to garner its first ACC win on the road since a 34-20 victory at NC State on Nov. 16, 2019.
Head coach Scott Satterfield addressed the media on Monday afternoon. Here are a few takeaways from his press conference.
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The Cardinals had their scheduled changed once again over the weekend, which was the second major change in recent weeks. UofL was slated to host Wake Forest, but will now travel to Boston College.
"Yeah, it's not ideal. We changed the schedule three times last week I think, from playing on Friday night at Boston College, to playing Wake Forest on Saturday, and now playing Boston College on a Saturday, and Wake gets kicked all the way back to December 19th. It is certainly not ideal to have a three-week layoff. I don't really fully understand how and why we got to this point, but obviously I had no control over that, so it is what it is. We will make the most out of it. This week we are focused on Boston College and playing those guys. It is Thanksgiving this week, so the schedule is a little bit different, but it is good thing that we are here now for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Like I said, it is what it is, there are things that we can't control and can't worry about. All we can do is control what we do every single day, and this week is getting ready to play Boston College."
UofL will close out the regular season on Saturday, Dec. 19, which is nearly three weeks after the Cardinals play at Boston College.
"We will obviously address that after this week once we go play Boston College, but yeah there is a three-week time turnaround time, as we sit here today, we will approach that as if we are getting ready for a bowl game because that's basically about the time that you would have for that. You have to have a good balance between practicing and giving some guys time off, so we will do that. We won't practice every day, obviously, we are looking at it now, probably practicing three or four times those two weeks. The game week will be a normal game week as we lead up to the game, but the two weeks prior to the game week will probably be maybe a three-practice week and giving them a few days off. They also have exams that that first week in December as well to finish up the semester strong with."
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Boston College is typically known for an aggressive style of defense, and despite the new coaching staff, the Eagles are playing the same brand of football.
"When you first turn the film on, very aggressive defense. They play hard, they play fast. 55 and 14 are two linebackers I think that make the most plays in their defense. Their defensive line is active, not overly huge up front but they make a lot of movement, they really utilize their hands well, and their speed and their quickness. They free up those two linebackers 55 and 14, and I think this year compared to last year, they play a lot more man in the back end. They're trying to lock up guys, putting pressure on quarterbacks, getting the ball out of his hands quickly. And it's really shown. You go back to last year, we had a pretty good day offensively against them. On defense, I think it's a completely different defense this year. A lot of the same players, but the scheme and the way they're approaching it is a lot different. I think that's why they've had a huge improvement this year."
The Cardinals played four different running backs in the win over Syracuse on Friday night
"I do think it's situational, a bit. It also has to do with how we practice throughout the week. I mentioned this last week, I thought we'd see all those guys carrying the football, and we did. We got to see everybody do that. They all different strengths in how they go about things. I do think it's an advantage in the sense that they can stay fresh. We can rotate guys and keep them fresh in the game. They had 11, 10 and nine carries, the three main (running backs). (Jalen) Mitchell had a couple really nice catches on third down. They got first downs. One of them was an outstanding catch. It was great to see him making catches out of the backfield but also run really hard along with (Maurice) Burkley."
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"Then, Hassan Hall is a change-of-pace guy. He really hasn't played very much, but he's kind of getting back in the swing of things. He had a couple cuts where he lost his balance. Once he gets his legs back under him he's going to be a lot better, but he did have some explosive runs. He can catch the ball in the backfield as well. I do think with all those guys, it does give you something that defenses have to work on that's a little bit different with each back."
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The Cardinals snapped their two-game losing streak with a 30-0 win over Syracuse last Saturday at Cardinal Stadium — the first shutout over a Power 5 team since a 34-0 win over North Carolina in 2004.
The Cardinals allowed just 137 yards of total offense on the night, the lowest total by an opponent since giving up just 80 to Murray State in 2017, and the lowest by an FBS opponent since Boston College had 79 yards in 2015.
The Cardinals amassed 413 yards of total offense in the victory. Louisville has reached at least 400 yards in all but two games this season.
Quarterback Malik Cunningham finished the night 19-of-28 for 219 yards and a touchdown, along with a touchdown on the ground. Cunningham has been responsible for multiple touchdowns in four consecutive games. The rushing touchdown was his sixth of the season, tying his career high from last season. The six rushing scores are tied for fifth-most in a season by a quarterback at Louisville.
Placekicker James Turner connected on a career-best three field goal attempts in the win over Syracuse, including a career-long 50-yard field goal in the first quarter. It was the 15th field goal in Louisville history of 50 yards or more. Turner is the first Louisville kicker to make three field goals in a game since Blanton Creque did so against Kentucky in 2017.
The Cardinals are looking for their first ACC win on the road this season, having lost four in a row away from home. Louisville is attempting to garner its first ACC win on the road since a 34-20 victory at NC State on Nov. 16, 2019.
Head coach Scott Satterfield addressed the media on Monday afternoon. Here are a few takeaways from his press conference.
Â
The Cardinals had their scheduled changed once again over the weekend, which was the second major change in recent weeks. UofL was slated to host Wake Forest, but will now travel to Boston College.
"Yeah, it's not ideal. We changed the schedule three times last week I think, from playing on Friday night at Boston College, to playing Wake Forest on Saturday, and now playing Boston College on a Saturday, and Wake gets kicked all the way back to December 19th. It is certainly not ideal to have a three-week layoff. I don't really fully understand how and why we got to this point, but obviously I had no control over that, so it is what it is. We will make the most out of it. This week we are focused on Boston College and playing those guys. It is Thanksgiving this week, so the schedule is a little bit different, but it is good thing that we are here now for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Like I said, it is what it is, there are things that we can't control and can't worry about. All we can do is control what we do every single day, and this week is getting ready to play Boston College."
UofL will close out the regular season on Saturday, Dec. 19, which is nearly three weeks after the Cardinals play at Boston College.
"We will obviously address that after this week once we go play Boston College, but yeah there is a three-week time turnaround time, as we sit here today, we will approach that as if we are getting ready for a bowl game because that's basically about the time that you would have for that. You have to have a good balance between practicing and giving some guys time off, so we will do that. We won't practice every day, obviously, we are looking at it now, probably practicing three or four times those two weeks. The game week will be a normal game week as we lead up to the game, but the two weeks prior to the game week will probably be maybe a three-practice week and giving them a few days off. They also have exams that that first week in December as well to finish up the semester strong with."
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Boston College is typically known for an aggressive style of defense, and despite the new coaching staff, the Eagles are playing the same brand of football.
"When you first turn the film on, very aggressive defense. They play hard, they play fast. 55 and 14 are two linebackers I think that make the most plays in their defense. Their defensive line is active, not overly huge up front but they make a lot of movement, they really utilize their hands well, and their speed and their quickness. They free up those two linebackers 55 and 14, and I think this year compared to last year, they play a lot more man in the back end. They're trying to lock up guys, putting pressure on quarterbacks, getting the ball out of his hands quickly. And it's really shown. You go back to last year, we had a pretty good day offensively against them. On defense, I think it's a completely different defense this year. A lot of the same players, but the scheme and the way they're approaching it is a lot different. I think that's why they've had a huge improvement this year."
The Cardinals played four different running backs in the win over Syracuse on Friday night
"I do think it's situational, a bit. It also has to do with how we practice throughout the week. I mentioned this last week, I thought we'd see all those guys carrying the football, and we did. We got to see everybody do that. They all different strengths in how they go about things. I do think it's an advantage in the sense that they can stay fresh. We can rotate guys and keep them fresh in the game. They had 11, 10 and nine carries, the three main (running backs). (Jalen) Mitchell had a couple really nice catches on third down. They got first downs. One of them was an outstanding catch. It was great to see him making catches out of the backfield but also run really hard along with (Maurice) Burkley."
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"Then, Hassan Hall is a change-of-pace guy. He really hasn't played very much, but he's kind of getting back in the swing of things. He had a couple cuts where he lost his balance. Once he gets his legs back under him he's going to be a lot better, but he did have some explosive runs. He can catch the ball in the backfield as well. I do think with all those guys, it does give you something that defenses have to work on that's a little bit different with each back."
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