WKU Football: UofL Q&A with Card Chronicle’s CardinalStrong
We’re just two days away from WKU’s season opener against in-state rival Louisville. With the opportunity for a statement win and the rivalry aspect of the game, we thought that we’d get a Louisville perspective on the game. Luckily for us, we got John “CardinalStrong” Powell from Card Chronicle to give us his thoughts on the Louisville program, the rivalry, the game, and his predictions. Without further adieu, here is our conversation with CardinalStrong.
TTR: How is everyone in Louisville feeling entering year two of the Scott Satterfield era?
CS: It’s a bit weird honestly as most fans were on a such a high after 2019, I figured we’d be floating into 2020 like the little dude in the cloud from Mario Brothers, dropping spiked up turtles on all the haters. Instead, 2020 happened and basically all the outside non-football stuff kind of put a damper on the enthusiasm. Almost everyone is still amped up, but in a “we can’t go to the games and tailgating is cancelled, and we may only get to play two games before they call the season” kind of way.
How was he able to turn around the program so quickly after inheriting Petrino’s mess?
Believe it or not, Satterfield had some really good players on this team at key positions when he took over, but they were either not being utilized correctly or not at all in some circumstances. Also, it’s been discussed quite a bit but his roster management was atrocious. Louisville could not field a solid two deep on the offensive line but had 14 scholarship wideouts. Petrino went after the highlight players but often ignored the trenches and role players. The new staff worked their butts off to try and fix things with JUCO/transfers but even in 2020 are still fighting to balance things out and stack up bodies where they need them most.
Louisville lucked out with their schedule avoiding Clemson, where do you see them finishing in the ACC?
Adding Notre Dame to the conference mixes it up a bit, but I think Louisville is still a Top 3–4 team in conference. I can see a UNC or Virginia Tech sneak up into the third spot based upon their friendly schedules but behind those two, there really shouldn’t be a team that Louisville doesn’t finish ahead of.
This is the last game of a three-game series between WKU & Louisville, With the state of both programs would you like to see the Cards keep the Hilltoppers on the schedule down the road?
Absolutely. Western should always play an in-state Power 5 program each season, and since the ‘Cayuts’ are on a two game losing skid to WKU and dropped them from their schedule for seven years in a row, Louisville should be happy to take their place. Helton has this team moving in the right direction and I’d much rather play the Toppers than a mid-tier MAC school (we all know Bowling Green, KY is far superior to Bowling Green, OH).
Onto the game….
Micale Cunningham really came on late and took ahold of the starting job finishing second in the nation in passer rating. What’s the expectations for him heading into year two as the starter?
Heisman or bust. Not really, but it’s fun to talk about our starting QB actually getting Heisman odds before the season starts. We’ve had to wait four long years since that’s happened (#QBU). In reality, a second season in the same offense that will now be “less vanilla” via Co-OC Dwayne Ledford with weapons returning in Tutu Atwell, Dez Fitzpatrick, and Marshon Ford to name a few, I’d anticipate similar numbers to what we saw in 2019 with fewer games and one less non-conference opponent. When you’re talking best ACC QB in 2020…he’s Top 2 in my opinion. Maybe Howell out of UNC is a better pro-prospect, but I wouldn’t trade him this year.
Tutu Atwell & Javian Hawkins are All-American candidates, who do you see having a bigger season in 2020 and during Saturday’s game?
Tutu kinda sorta sliced WKU to pieces last year. If I remember correctly, I believe he had 3 touchdowns down in Nashville and around 150 yards receiving. Cards on the table, the young man is difficult to cover for even the most experienced corners in college due to his speed and athleticism so the slightly slower, slightly smaller corners at WKU may be in for another challenge in 2020. While it was only game three I think WKU held down Hawkins fairly well, keeping him under 100 yards (split carries w/ Hall) and only one touchdown. WKU has some dudes in the front seven which may limit Hawkins at times. I think both end up doing well, looking to put up some crooked numbers Week 1, but Tutu notches a slightly bigger stat line.
Besides Hawkins and Atwell who could give WKU’s stout defense problems on Saturday?
If they key on Tutu, redshirt Senior Dez Fitzpatrick could eat on the outside or on the other side of the field a new starter at wideout, Justin Marshall could introduce himself to the world. Both have good size and speed. Also, another newcomer I like is Braden Smith. He’s another Tutu-type wideout with speed who will play predominantly out of the slot but can go outside in various formations. From a 100% biased point of view, I hope it’s H-back Marshon Ford. He’s a great blocker and decoy but when they got him involved in the offense last year it seemed to always result in something big. I’m wanting to see him become a larger piece of the gameplan.
Louisville lost both starting tackles from 2019 including first round pick Mekhi Becton, is that the offenses biggest question mark heading into the season?
If you had to point to something that worries me on that side of the ball, that would be it, but I’m not super concerned…right now. Adonis Boone is the likely replacement for Becton, and while you don’t expect him to immediately replace the production of a Top 15 NFL draft pick, you can expect him as an upperclassman to perform at a high level. Becton missed a couple games last season, including the bowl game, and Boone played well in his absence. At 6–5/310 it’s incredible to think he is downsizing from what you previously had in that spot, but he can certainly fill the void. On the other side (typically right tackle) it appears Renato Brown is going to get the nod. A redshirt Freshman who got some reps last season is also not small (6–4/330) but will have a learning curve getting his first start of his young career. Thankfully the inside of the line has played together for nearly three seasons so there should be some “cohesiveness” in the middle to aid the new guys on the edges.
Last season Louisville’s defense wasn’t very good finishing 100th in SP+, will their defense be better in 2020?
While I 100% agree that 2019 was not good, it was actually better than 2018, and 2017 before it. It’s an upward trend that I believe will continue as the returning players will get to keep the same DC for the first time since they’ve been in the program. For four straight seasons the DC at UofL was replaced, and the Cards had to start from scratch on that side of the ball every single time, which did not turn out well. Add that to what I mentioned above about roster management and you’re looking at some ugly performances the last few years. Co-DC Bryan Brown has the buy-in from the players now and we saw flashes in 2019 of what this defensive philosophy can do when you have the right parts and pieces. I’ve been touting improvement all summer in my countdown to kickoff series and I honestly believe they have the players and the continuity to become a Top 4–5 defense in conference.
Which Cardinal defenders do you see having an impact on Saturday’s game?
Personally, I’m not really sold on “Piggy T” being able to air it out Week 1. Will he have some success like Duncan did last year, yes, but I think early on Helton will try to establish the run and shorten the game a bit. Middle linebackers CJ Avery and Dorian Etheridge are vets who I think WKU will avoid if possible and that will force players like Rodjay Burns (OLB), Yasir Abdullah (OLB), and Tabarius Peterson (DE) to make plays on the outside. If the Cards get up a couple scores, I anticipate Helton wanting to test newcomer Kei’Trel Clark and Marlon Character at corner with 4 wide sets. The thing to keep an eye on will be Jared Goldwire taking over at nose tackle on the line. While getting some reps last year a lot of the problems up front in seasons past stimmed from not having a true nose to play the middle. How he performs could be a tell for the rest of the Cards season.
I want to thank John for taking the time to do this q&a with us. You can read his work on Card Chronicle and follow his twitter account @CardinaIStrong for fun analysis and reaction to Saturday’s in-state matchup.
