PREVIEW: Louisville vs. Boston College

Tom FarmerOctober 4, 2019

686 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Louisville Cardinals have won a football game against a conference opponent. You can grow an entire elephant in that amount of time and, in fact, that’s literally what the Louisville Zoo did. But that little fellow isn’t the real elephant in the room. The Cardinals take the field Saturday against the Golden Eagles of Boston College in search of that elusive ACC victory.

READ: Blankenbaker’s Stat Comparison

READ: Biscuit’s Five Keys To Victory

Game Info

DATE: Saturday 05 Oct 2019
TIME: 12:30 pm EDT
LOCATION: Cardinal Stadium
WATCH: Streaming on ACCNX/WatchESPN
WEATHER:
Tailgate – 60°F and sunny
Kickoff – 72°F and sunny
Game – 81°F and increasing clouds

Waur Eagle

Boston College comes to Floyd Street sporting a 3-2 overall and 1-1 ACC record after losing to #24 Wake Forest last Saturday by the slim margin of 24-27. The affair was tight throughout but with a chance to get the ball back in the fourth quarter the Golden Eagles consistently failed to stop the Deacons on third down. Despite eventually getting the ball back their final drive would end ignominiously as an attempted lateral bounced off the intended receivers facemask and rolled out of bounds to end the game.

All eyes will focus on standout Jr. RB A.J. Dillon who now leads the ACC in career yardage with 3,324 yards. Fittingly, all of Dillon’s career rushing highs came in his breakout debut against Louisville back in 2017. In 2019 to date he has 627 yards on 122 attempts with six touchdowns and 102 yards on six passes with a receiving touchdown to boot. Dillon presents a daunting task for the Cardinals defense to say the least. But when asked about stopping the BC run, Khane Pass said, eloquently, “Cut the wheels off, the car can’t go no more.”

And with Dillon the Golden Eagles offense looks eerily similar to the Satterfield scheme. R-Jr. QB Anthony Brown does throw the ball a bit more, if only a little, but has a similar completion percentage to the Cardinals QB triumvirate. The similarities continue in that Brown is the fourth leading rusher on the squad. With the combo of Dillon and fellow RB So. David Bailey the Eagles have been explosive in the first half. So much like the Cardinals you can expect BC to pound it on the ground until you’re on your heels and the opportunities downfield begin to open.

As for the Eagles defense, the phrase of the day for Louisville will be, “Protect the ball.” BC has already racked up 31 points off turnovers this season, most notably through five forced turnovers against Virginia Tech alone. BC’s defense features seven new starters compared to last year, including three redshirt freshmen but are led by R-Jr. LB Max Richardson with 49 tackles, six of those for a loss.

In Search Of

Who will start at QB for the Cardinals? Your guess is as good as anyone’s and don’t let them tell you otherwise. But given the healing progress as well as Scott Satterfield’s preferred schemes, expect to see Jawon Pass back under center. The Cardinals now stand exactly where they did in 2018. A win against Boston College and that big elephant in the room will go back to the zoo where he belongs.