PREVIEW: Cards vs. Irish

Tom FarmerSeptember 1, 2019

D-Day approaches for the Band of Brothers, and with H-Hour set for 8:00 p.m. Monday it will assuredly prove to be Der längste Tag. The Scott Satterfield era at UofL has begun, and yet has it truly started? It’s somewhat fitting that Monday will nearly mark nine months since Vince Tyra announced the Cardinals newest head football coach. By Tuesday morning we shall know what, precisely, this culture-shifting gestational period hath wrought.

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It’s key to note that, whatever this incubation hatches, it has restored an Era of Good Feelings in the Falls City. Or, as I so eloquently put it while on-air with Mark Ennis, “…everyone’s been pukin’ rainbows and fartin’ sunshine.” And as sarcastic as that might seem, it holds as true as it did after the Battle of New Orleans. But however emboldened Cardinals fans are by the new culture of Louisville football, there remains a warranted seed of doubt. Will there be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Or merely a cauldron of bile and pyrite? Louisville sports media’s poet laureate Eric Crawford would tell you that anyone saying they know what’s going to happen Monday night is a dirty rotten liar. And he’s correct in doing so. When I caught redshirt senior Tyler Haycraft in a light-hearted candid moment and joked, “You’re a big star now!” his response was a laconic, “…we ain’t even played yet.”

Mark Blankenbaker’s (2018) Stat Comparison

Notes For Those Attending In Person

Cardinal Stadium Map 2019 — **Click To Expand**

Reserved stadium lots open at noon Monday!
Cards March begins at 5:30 p.m. under the Denny Crum Overpass on Central Avenue
It’s very Sears Tower vs. Willis Tower, but the Green Lots are now the Planet Fitness Purple Lots. You want that purple stuff.
Chik-fil-A will be available at two kiosks inside Cardinal Stadium, but there will not be any Popeye’s sandwiches
If you’re a season ticket holder that hasn’t picked up your refillable cup, you can do so from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. near the Denny Crum Overpass, or from 6:30 p.m. until kickoff by Gate 4
Stadium gates open at 6:00 p.m. with $3 domestic drafts and $5 12 oz cans on the Norton Terrace and UPS Flight Deck, with $3 drafts throughout the stadium until kickoff
Refresh yourself on bag, purse, and other stadium rules

Whether The Weather?

Fear not Cardinals fans! It’s going to be a beautiful day for football in The Ville. 81 F and mostly cloudy as the lots open at noon, with little to no chance of rain. But beware, as the temperature will increase to near 90 as the skies clear towards Card March at 5:30 p.m. It’s a long day of tailgating, so pace yourself and be sure to drink plenty of water! We don’t want this Blackout game to be an actual blackout. By the time kickoff at 8:00 p.m. rolls around temps will have dropped back to around 83 with partly cloudy skies and lowering humidity with little to no wind. Perfect early autumn football weather.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting

Satterfield Preview

As far as what to expect? Nobody knows, and don’t let anyone fool you into believing otherwise. The consensus spread has Louisville at +18, and that seems to be a fair assessment per the Cardinals fan base. What’s been the most notable about this Satterfield Era cultural shift is the corresponding onset of Louisville fan conservatism. Perhaps getting burned so horribly by the pitiful exit of He Who Shall Not Be Named has engendered a new sense of caution. We are on a collision course with pragmatism, as it were.

Louisville Football 2019 Depth Chart

Kelly Preview

But it’s difficult to criticize an era where fans have begun to feel a newfound sense of pride even before the first kick and snap. It’s equally difficult to find fault in a regime that has restored hope and joy in the faces and words of young men who, just a year ago, had given up their love for the very game that defines them. The byword, time and again this preseason, has been effort. It might seem foolish to find confidence in the knowledge that the 2019 Louisville Cardinals will once again be trying to win. But after last year, that’s something in which we’ll all find comfort and joy.

Depth Chart Notes

Jawon Pass is your starting QB, and this wouldn’t be a surprise even if Malik Cunningham had not suffered an injury during fall camp. The coaching staff are please with Pass’s development, and this isn’t a knock against Williams. Malik’s talents are far too dynamic for him to be limited to behind center. As Scott Satterfield said, it would be a foolish waste for Williams to be left on the sideline even if he weren’t the starting QB.
R-Fr. Javian Hawkins is in the top RB spot, and so we say, “Welcome to the Satterfield era.” Notre Dame will punish the offensive line straight up the gut until Ledford’s Band of Brothers convinces them they should do otherwise. Hawkins and R-Jr. WR Dez Fitzpatrick present Coach Satt with opportunities to wheel around the ends. And Hassan Hall isn’t exactly a slouch himself. What we see out of Hawkins and Hall on Monday night will be a sure bell weather for the season.
Effort isn’t just a word. Four players on the depth chart are former walk-ons, with R-So. DE Dayna Kinnaird and So. HB Marshon Ford earning top spots. If these guys are indicative of the hustle we can expect in the Satterfield era, then it’s all upside.
WR coach Gunter Brewer is a big fan of his Mighty <ahem> Little Guys, with little being used in the most figurative possible sense. Take Tutu Atwell at 5’9″ for instance. The WR corps proudly accepts their moniker, the FREAKS (Fresh Receivers Excite All Krowds Smoothly). With Satterfield focusing on runs around the end, and a reinvigorated O-Line, there’s a chance we’re going to see some amazing plays come out of the slot.

So, I’ll admit I’m firmly in the pessimist/pragmatist camp at the moment. I feel that a good number of Cardinals fans join me in that mentality. But here’s the part where I remind you that the Louisville Cardinals are 1-0 all-time against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. It’s been nine months since Scott Satterfield came to Louisville, and Monday is Labor Day. It’s the birth of a new era, Cardinals fans. And I leave you with this: