Satterfield Ready for the Challenge Wake Forest Presents
September 27, 2021 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - University of Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield knows what to expect from a Wake Forest team that is 4-0 after a 37-17 win on the road at Virginia.Â
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 "I think every year Wake Forest is one of the most well coached teams that we play. Coach Clawson and his staff do a great job; I have been battling against Coach Clawson for many years, all the way back when he was at Richmond and he came to Appalachian State and played us in the playoffs, then he was a Bowling Green while I was at Toledo.
"I have a lot of respect for him and what he does with his program. He always gets a lot out of his players, and they are playing at a high level right now in all three phases. They have a veteran team with a lot of players that have been around the program for a while. It is a lot of the same faces that we have seen over the last two or three years, but I think one of the things that they have done well again this year is the turnover margin. I feel like every year they do a great job with that aspect of the game; they are very efficient on offense and take care of the football."
The Cardinals will take on one of the most complete teams in the Demon Deacons, who are solid on both sides of the football, but are led by one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country in Sam Hartman, who is completing 66.1 percent of his throws and has passed for nine touchdowns and tossed one interception.
"(Sam) Hartman is playing at a high level right now operating their offense, and defensively they are very aggressive and getting after it. They are playing some man and the linebackers and defensive line are getting after it, they are playing hard, and they are very efficient in special teams. There is a lot of momentum down there, they are undefeated and ranked this week in the top-25. It is similar to what happened two years ago when went down there, they were ranked team and it was a great football game. We played this team in our last game last year so there is a lot of familiarity because it is a lot of the same players from game that are contributing now. It should be a great matchup; we are looking forward to heading down there and playing in a good environment at 12:30.
The Cardinals have won three games in a row and are looking for their first 4-1 start since 2016. However, the Cards fielded some bad news as Satterfield announced that wide receiver Braden Smith would miss the rest of the season with an injury.
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 "Unfortunately, Braden (Smith) tore some ligaments in his knee and will be out for the rest of the year. That is two great players in back-to-back weeks for us, key contributors, one on offense one on defense, and I hate it, that's the awful part of this game that we have to deal with on a week in week out basis. We see it across the country, Clemson had a talented defensive lineman (Bryan Bresee) that went out with a very similar injury and is now out for the year."
"It is one thing that you do not want to see for anybody on any team, and I hate it for how hard these guys work and then you know the season gets taken away, but Braden (Smith) is in good spirits, and we know that he will bounce back and come get back even stronger. What this means is that other players will have to step up in the receiving room and punt return game. Braden (Smith) does a lot of things for us and we asked him to do for this team, so there's got to be other players to step up. I was proud of (JJ) Josh Johnson for doing that against Florida State, catching punts, and so we need some more guys to step up and fill in the gap that Braden (Smith) left."
With Smith out, the Cardinals saw big plays from Jordan Watkins, Josh Johnson and Marshon Ford in the passing game. Ford caught six passes for 52 yards and Watkins caught five passes for 61 yards and his first touchdown.
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"We have a lot of confidence in our guys. The way that we prepare our guys and way they get out and play. We talk to them all the time how they are one play away from being in game and they have to prepare and be ready to go at every position because you never know what position is going to happen at. As coaches we try to create depth, that's why we bring certain players in and sometimes there is a player that is down in the depth chart but all of a sudden after an injury or two he has to be ready to go, so you never know when your time is going to come and our guys has done a really good job of that, preparing and getting ready to go when it is their time, so we have a lot of confidence that all of our guys will step up and make plays."
On defense, Yasir Abdullah is playing at a high level with four sacks after recording two in the win over Florida State last Saturday.
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"I think he's (Yasir) been playing at a high level all year. We saw that in camp from him. He put on some extra weight, he's got a little bit more confidence and his endurance level is much better this year. In the past he would go from full to empty in a hurry he would have to come off to the sideline and now, he gets tired but he's playing at a high level. It was great to see him pass rush the other day against Florida State and then we saw Ashton (Gillotte) you know who was outstanding and YaYa (Diaby) put back-to-back weeks together. Those three guys provide great pressure to put on quarterbacks. I just think Yasir (Abdullah) has continued to get better. He's continuing to develop and become a great player and I think he'll continue to get better and better."
The Cardinals and Demon Deacons kickoff Saturday afternoon at 12:30 on the ACC Network RSN.
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 "I think every year Wake Forest is one of the most well coached teams that we play. Coach Clawson and his staff do a great job; I have been battling against Coach Clawson for many years, all the way back when he was at Richmond and he came to Appalachian State and played us in the playoffs, then he was a Bowling Green while I was at Toledo.
"I have a lot of respect for him and what he does with his program. He always gets a lot out of his players, and they are playing at a high level right now in all three phases. They have a veteran team with a lot of players that have been around the program for a while. It is a lot of the same faces that we have seen over the last two or three years, but I think one of the things that they have done well again this year is the turnover margin. I feel like every year they do a great job with that aspect of the game; they are very efficient on offense and take care of the football."
The Cardinals will take on one of the most complete teams in the Demon Deacons, who are solid on both sides of the football, but are led by one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country in Sam Hartman, who is completing 66.1 percent of his throws and has passed for nine touchdowns and tossed one interception.
"(Sam) Hartman is playing at a high level right now operating their offense, and defensively they are very aggressive and getting after it. They are playing some man and the linebackers and defensive line are getting after it, they are playing hard, and they are very efficient in special teams. There is a lot of momentum down there, they are undefeated and ranked this week in the top-25. It is similar to what happened two years ago when went down there, they were ranked team and it was a great football game. We played this team in our last game last year so there is a lot of familiarity because it is a lot of the same players from game that are contributing now. It should be a great matchup; we are looking forward to heading down there and playing in a good environment at 12:30.
The Cardinals have won three games in a row and are looking for their first 4-1 start since 2016. However, the Cards fielded some bad news as Satterfield announced that wide receiver Braden Smith would miss the rest of the season with an injury.
Â
 "Unfortunately, Braden (Smith) tore some ligaments in his knee and will be out for the rest of the year. That is two great players in back-to-back weeks for us, key contributors, one on offense one on defense, and I hate it, that's the awful part of this game that we have to deal with on a week in week out basis. We see it across the country, Clemson had a talented defensive lineman (Bryan Bresee) that went out with a very similar injury and is now out for the year."
"It is one thing that you do not want to see for anybody on any team, and I hate it for how hard these guys work and then you know the season gets taken away, but Braden (Smith) is in good spirits, and we know that he will bounce back and come get back even stronger. What this means is that other players will have to step up in the receiving room and punt return game. Braden (Smith) does a lot of things for us and we asked him to do for this team, so there's got to be other players to step up. I was proud of (JJ) Josh Johnson for doing that against Florida State, catching punts, and so we need some more guys to step up and fill in the gap that Braden (Smith) left."
With Smith out, the Cardinals saw big plays from Jordan Watkins, Josh Johnson and Marshon Ford in the passing game. Ford caught six passes for 52 yards and Watkins caught five passes for 61 yards and his first touchdown.
Â
"We have a lot of confidence in our guys. The way that we prepare our guys and way they get out and play. We talk to them all the time how they are one play away from being in game and they have to prepare and be ready to go at every position because you never know what position is going to happen at. As coaches we try to create depth, that's why we bring certain players in and sometimes there is a player that is down in the depth chart but all of a sudden after an injury or two he has to be ready to go, so you never know when your time is going to come and our guys has done a really good job of that, preparing and getting ready to go when it is their time, so we have a lot of confidence that all of our guys will step up and make plays."
On defense, Yasir Abdullah is playing at a high level with four sacks after recording two in the win over Florida State last Saturday.
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"I think he's (Yasir) been playing at a high level all year. We saw that in camp from him. He put on some extra weight, he's got a little bit more confidence and his endurance level is much better this year. In the past he would go from full to empty in a hurry he would have to come off to the sideline and now, he gets tired but he's playing at a high level. It was great to see him pass rush the other day against Florida State and then we saw Ashton (Gillotte) you know who was outstanding and YaYa (Diaby) put back-to-back weeks together. Those three guys provide great pressure to put on quarterbacks. I just think Yasir (Abdullah) has continued to get better. He's continuing to develop and become a great player and I think he'll continue to get better and better."
The Cardinals and Demon Deacons kickoff Saturday afternoon at 12:30 on the ACC Network RSN.
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