The University of Louisville offense has something to prove this weekend when the Cardinals host Florida State Saturday at Cardinal Stadium. Kickoff is lated for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

Looking for their third-straight win over the Seminoles, the Cardinals understand they can’t accomplish that feat unless they can get their offense going. which is averaging a little over 300 yards per game.

Mired in a slump, the Cardinals are uncharacteristically putting up sub-par numbers, which included just 214 yards of total offense last week in a loss to Virginia – 66 coming on the ground.

The Cardinals scored three points, being held without an offensive touchdown for the first time in 16 games.

UofL head coach Bobby Petrino challenged his offense on Tuesday in practice to get better, and become the offense that has finished in the top-10 nationally over the last two seasons.

Co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mike Summers, who has been a part of numerous high-octane offenses at Louisville, said the Virginia film was tough to watch, but the team is taking the right steps to get back on track.

“We went and took a big step today,” Summers said. “I was really proud of the way the guys came out today and responded. They came out on the practice field with the right focus. They understand the situation they’re in right now.”

The offense has shared its woes this season, only scoring 20 points or more twice. Summers says the confidence is there, but players must get on the same page.

“We have guys that can move the football and score points,” Summer said. “We’ve seen every guy in our huddle perform, we’re just not performing consistently. Offensive football is about consistency.”

Louisville hasn’t had an ideal start to the season, but the Cardinals continue to work and strive to get better this weekend versus a Seminoles squad that allows only 97.0 yards per game on the ground.

“We’re trying to avoid pointing fingers … that’s been the message from coach (Bobby) Petrino, from all of the coaches and the players,” Summers said. “No one is more disappointed than the guys in the locker room. All of us are pulling hard together to get that fixed.”

With another key league game on the schedule this weekend, moving forward is the only option for the Cardinals.

“When I first got here, I learned about the 24-hour rule,” sophomore offensive tackle Mekhi Becton said following Tuesday’s practice. “You let that game go, you watch the film, see what you did wrong and move on to the next game.

Becton echoed Summers’ message to the team of coming out looking to improve in practice.

“You can tell there was a difference today in practice,” Becton said. “We really picked it up today. We got better.”

Redshirt junior center Nate Scheler, who is expecting to make his fourth start this weekend, has also put last week’s game in the rear-view mirror

“Today we had a good step forward. We talk about going one play at a time and getting better. We did that for sure,” Scheler said.

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@UofLSheriff50. Louisville native, University of Louisville Business School Grad c/o 2004. Co-Founder of TheCrunchZone.com

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