Louisville’s Offense Under Scott Satterfield

Total Offense

Louisville’s Offense has been incredibly consistent under Scott Satterfield. The Cards have ranged between 444-448 yards of offense per game in all 3 seasons. That is an incredibly tight range of production. And while that production is very good (Top 21-29 in each season) it does need to range up higher in order for the Cards to notch a few extra wins.

2017 was Louisville’s best ever yardage output figure and Bobby Petrino owns the Top 6 season performances in program in the last 19 years.

Scoring

Scoring has also been consistent, but various factors that we’ll get into later have caused the scoring output to range more than the yardage output (things like 3rd Down %, Turnovers, FG%, etc.) greatly affect how many points UofL can put up well beyond just the yardage totals. The best recent production was the 2004 team putting up 49.8 points per game, with the 2009 season under Steve Kragthorpe solidly the worst in 19 years at 18.1 ppg.

Under Satterfield the Cards have scored between 29.5-33.1 ppg.

Passing Offense

The passing offense for the Louisville under Satt is the same story. Incredibly consistent. This may be a result of the Cards having Malik Cunningham as its signal caller for all 3 years.

Rushing Offense

Starting to sound like a broken record? Consistency remains the theme for the Cards under Satt. Running the Ball Louisville has been a Top 18-29 team in all 3 years with totals per game ranging from 213-200 yards per game. Louisville will run the ball under Scott Satterfeld. That’s been established.

1st Downs

1st Downs is an area where the Cards need a few more per game. A team that wants to run the ball and control the clock as much as the Cards, 63rd, 65th and 84th just isn’t complementary.

3rd Down%

3rd Down Conversion percentage is a key winning metric. Run through the Top 5 performances in the last 19 years:

• 2013: 12-1 Russell Athletic Bowl, Final AP Rank #15
• 2012: 11-2 Sugar Bowl, Final AP Rank #13
• 2005: 9-3 Gator Bowl, Final AP Rank #19
• 2004: 11-1 Liberty Bowl, Final AP Rank #6
• 2006: 12-1 Orange Bowl, Final AP Rank #6

Of course in 2020 the Cards did convert 3rd Downs at a high rate during the COVID year…… but they also had one of the worst turnover margins in the country with 24 giveaways (124th in the nation).

In 2021 Louisville dipped down to its worst performance on 3rd down. This is a critical area for 2022 to be a success.

Red Zone %

Everyone remembers the Cards failing to score in the Red Zone vs. Clemson in 2021….. but the Cards were actually OK in the Red Zone last season. In 2019 Louisville lost Blanton Creque and had to resort to some interesting Red Zone calls for its final few games of the season taking some of the field goal options off the table.

Red Zone TD %

When Louisville has gotten into the Red Zone, they’ve done a good job of getting the ball into the END ZONE under Satt. To be elite, these numbers have to shift northward, but the chart shows that this metric has been more than adequate for the Cards.

Red Zone Trips

Louisville could use some more trips into the Red Zone for sure. This metric is going to be a touch low because the Cards do score outside of the Red Zone at a higher rate than most teams, but more 1st down and 3rd Down Conversions lead to more Red Zone trips, more ball control and more well-rested defense, etc.

2020 Louisville actually did well but played two few games

Sacks Allowed

Limiting the Sacks Allowed stat was one of the great metric successes Louisville had in 2021. Previous to 2021 UofL hadn’t been in the Top 50 in Sacks allowed since 2010. Wild.

TFLs Allowed

It’s the same story with the TFLs Allowed category. Louisville was outstanding at limiting defenses into its backfield. A monumental shift from previous years.

FG %

Louisville with James Turner was outstanding kicking field goals in 2020….. with the same kicker in 2021 the Cards were down 23 percentage points. That’s a big swing considering UofL didn’t change kickers. 2019 would have registered much higher had Blanton Creque not been lost for the year.

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Mark Blankenbaker

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

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