D-Fence Louisville vs. Syracuse 11-7-2015 Photo by William Caudill

Updating Louisville Football’s Road Map to Success 11/9

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 9, 2015

After an 0-3 start, we mapped out a “Road Map to Success” for Louisville Football and identified several key areas of why the Cards are where they were after the first 3 games of 2015. Now the Cards are above .500 for the first time in 2015 and at 5-4 are just a win away from bowl eligibility. Lets take a look at the road map now and how UofL opponents have fared so far.

	Rk	W-L	Wins	Losses
Auburn		5-4	UofL, Jax St, San Jose, UK, A&M	LSU, Miss St, Ark, Ole Miss
Houston	#16	9-0	UT-Chat, UofL, Tx St, SMU, Tulane, UCF, Vandy, Cincy
Clemson	#1	9-0	Wofford, App St, UofL, Notre Dame, GT, Miami, NC St, FSU
NC State		6-3	Troy, EKU, ODU, So Bama, Wake	UofL, VT, Clemson
Florida St	#19	7-2	TX St, USF, BC, Wake, Miami, UofL, Syracuse	GT, Clemson
Boston College		3-7	Maine, Howard, NIU	FSU, Duke, Wake, Clemson, UofL, VT, NC State
Wake Forest		3-6	Elon, Army, BC	Syr, IU, FSU, UNC, NC St, UofL
Syracuse		3-6	Rhode Island, Wake, Cent Mich	LSU, USF, UVA, PITT, FSU, UofL

~~Step #1: Beat Samford ->~~ COMPLETED (1-3)

~~Step #2: Split N.C. State & Florida State Road Tests~~ -> COMPLETED (2-4)

~~Step #3: Find a Way to Beat Boston College~~ -> COMPLETED (3-4)

~~Step #4: Beat Wake Forest~~ COMPLETED (4-4)

Step #5: Protect What’s Left of the Home Schedule…. ~~Syracuse~~ & Virginia (6-4) IN PROGRESS

The final game of Louisville’s home schedule in 2015 is a revenge match-up against the Virginia Cavaliers (3-6). Virginia fell to Miami this week 27-21. That loss followed a win over Georgia Tech to go along with losses to UCLA, Notre Dame, Boise State, Pitt, and North Carolina….all good teams. But the Cavs also barely skated past William & Mary and Syracuse.

The Cavs are an interesting case because they are (like Syracuse) competitive but have found themselves on the losing end more times than not. UVA travels to UofL sandwiched between Coastal Division match-ups Miami & Duke, but with this being another home game the Cards simply can not afford to drop this Senior Day.

Step #6: Beat PITT at Heinz Field (7-4)

Pitt (6-3) was in fantastic position a few weeks ago but has lost two games in a row. But they’ve lost to 3 really good teams, #8 Iowa, #17 UNC, and #6 Notre Dame. Pitt held tough with all 3 of these teams losing in Overtime in Iowa City, by 7 at home vs. North Carolina, and by 12 to Notre Dame.

Pitt is a good football team and despite the two recent losses is still the toughest game remaining on the schedule for UofL. It is a longshot now for the Panthers to contend for the Coastal division.

With wins over GT, UVA, VT, Syracuse, Akron, and Youngstown Pitt has won the majority of games in front of them with 1st year HC Pat Narduzzi.

UofL faces Pitt between divisional games (Duke & Miami, just like UVA) and this week Pitt travels to Duke and both teams are fresh off 2 losses in a row after being in contention for the division just 2 weeks ago. For Louisville they need to find a way to beat Pitt in Heinz Field to take the next step up the ladder in 2015.

Step #7: Beat Kentucky at Commonwealth Stadium (8-4)

The Cats (4-5) have dropped 4 in a row after a nice start for UK. Kentucky was held to just 3 points in a 27-3 loss to Georgia this week. Prior to the last 3 weeks UK had been playing competitive football and were playing teams close in losses. But the last 3 losses have been by huge margins of 26, 31, and 24.

The Battle for the Governor’s Cup always means a great deal to both programs and a bowl appearance may even rest on the line for one or both teams. UK is 4-5 with wins over Lafayette, South Carolina, Missouri, and Eastern Kentucky. Their losses are to Florida, Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Georgia. UK will visit Vanderbilt this week and will and come home vs. Charlotte. If the Cards can get to this game with a chance for an 8th win that would be HUGE. To win would be even bigger.