Satterfield Previews Friday's Matchup at UCF

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The second game of a rare two-game road trip to open the season for the University of Louisville has the Cardinals, traveling to face UCF of the American Athletic Conference in a 7:30 p.m. game Friday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

This will be the third meeting between the two schools, with the Cards holding a 2-1 series advantage after a 42-35 win last season at Cardinal Stadium. The Cardinals are playing its first two games on the road for the first time since 2003, and but the task wasn't as big as it will be Friday night against an experienced UCF squad.

The Knights scored South Carolina State 56-10 last Thursday night, recording 600 yards of total offense, including 308 yards through the air.
""It's very challenging to slow them down," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He goes fast, he's got the up-tempo offense. You're having to defend all 11 when you have a quarterback like they have in John Rhys Plumlee, who can actually run and throw it. "

"Last week he threw for over 300 yards. So, you not only have to defend the wideouts who can really run and the running back, but the quarterback too. We have to do a great job of tackling in space because what they're going to try to do is spread you out, create that one-on-one matchup somewhere, and then they got athletes that can run. So we got to do a great job of tackling in space, with your one-on-one tackles, and we also need to try to keep them behind the sticks. I think that'll be critical."

The Cardinals were held to seven points, which tied a low for the Scott Satterfield era in the Dome last Saturday. UofL averaged 6.2 yards per play but penalties and turnovers plagued the Cardinals all evening, especially in the red zone. The obstacle will be larger Friday night against a UCF defense which is built on speed and quickness, which was on display last week. The Knights held South Carolina State to 91 yards of total offense, 35 coming on the ground.

"I think their defense is built on speed. They can run and a lot of the guys that played last year are back, especially in the secondary. They're not scared to go man to man. They'll come up in your face and play man to man defense on you. They get after it up front. And then they have a really good middle linebacker, #11 (Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste), that makes a lot of good plays. They have an experienced defense that is built on speed."

"The other thing is that we have to be able to win in space. When you think about these one-on-one matchups, you have to get opportunities, you have to be able to win those one-on-ones. We have to be good up front, we have to be able to block the guys up front and create holes when we do run the football. I thought last year against these guys, we were able to do a little bit of both - run and pass. We have to be able to do that. We have to be able to sustain drives and stay on the field, so third downs are going to be important this week for two reasons: to keep our drives going so we can get touchdowns but also to keep their offense off the field. They have an explosive offense and we want to try to limit their possessions because obviously when they have the ball, they're dangerous."

Louisville defeated the Knights 42-35 last season in dramatic fashion when Jaylin Alderman intercepted a pass and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown in the closing seconds. It was the Cards second-straight win and moved them to 2-1 on the season. UCF scored 35 points but the Cardinals were able to limit UCF's big play ability and slow down its offense for parts of the game. However, Satterfield understands the challenge his defense will face against UCF's up-tempo attack.

"It's very challenging to slow them down," Satterfield. "He goes fast, he's got the up-tempo offense. You're having to defend all 11 when you have a quarterback like they have in John Rhys Plumlee, who can actually run and throw it. Last week he threw for over 300 yards. So, you not only have to defend the wideouts who can really run and the running back, but the quarterback too. We have to do a great job of tackling in space because what they're going to try to do is spread you out, create that one-on-one matchup somewhere, and then they got athletes that can run. So we got to do a great job of tackling in space, with your one-on-one tackles, and we also need to try to keep them behind the sticks. I think that'll be critical. As long as they're staying on the sticks, they will be hard to defend."

"And it was, last year was a very physical game, I think they came out of that game and had several injured players after that, five injured players out of that game. We have to play physical in this game, we have to, on both sides of the ball. Every chance we get, we have to be physical because obviously, they're a speed team. They can run all over the place and so, we have to be able to use the physicality to try to equalize that."

After a summer full of expectations and excitement, some of the air was let out of the balloon after the 31-7 loss to Syracuse but Satterfield likes the way he team has responded after the difficult season-opening loss.

"We had that on Sunday when we got back here where the guys got together," Satterfield said of the player's response. "I think it happened offensively and defensively. What ends up happening too is everybody wants to figure out why. What happened? How can we get better with it?Coaches are doing that obviously, but when the players do it, it's a lot better when it's coming from them. I think the guys bounced back really well. They're disappointed and they realize, hey, what we've got to do, we've got to practice better, we've got to get a better plan in, and we've got to go execute that plan. And I think a lot of it's just mental, getting your mind made up to go do that and anything they can do to make themselves better."

There is little time to sulk because the Cardinals are back on the field just six days later after a conference loss to open the season. However, it wasn't a total downer, according to Satterfield.

"Again, there were some good bright spots out there, we've got to dwell on those, and we've got to continue to get better. But we've got to go out there and make plays. We've got to tackle better. Offensively, we've got to get in the end zone. And if you do those things, you're obviously going to give yourself a better chance to win."

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