Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Wake Forest

The Cardinals tallied eight turnovers and 35 points off them in the second half against the Demon Deacons.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Riding their first win streak of the 2022 season, the Louisville football program built on that streak with authority, blasting No. 10 Wake Forest 48-14 Saturday at Cardinal Stadium with one of the most incredible defensive quarters of football you will ever see.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the matchup vs. James Madison, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game:

• First of all, even with Louisville's good showing against a good Pitt team, I still did not think they were going to beat Wake Forest. Don't let that final score fool you, that was a great Wake Forest team coming to town. Their offense was one of the most prolific in the nation, led by one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, and was coupled with a defense that was much improved from the season before. They took Clemson to double overtime and should have won that game. The Deacs were very well deserving of that No. 10 ranking, which makes their bonafide dismantling even more insane. You know the saying "stranger things have happened"? That third quarter is the "stranger thing" they're referencing. It's been two days, and I am still processing what I witnessed. Six turnovers in a single quarter, five of which were consecutive, and eight turnovers for the half? That's something that just does not happen in football Power Five football matchups, as evidenced by the numerous recorded broken or matched by the performance. Both head coach Scott Satterfield and defensive coordinator Bryan Brown deserve enormous amounts of praise for getting the job done and seizing multiple opportunities, which I'll get into here in a bit.
• Doing what they did is even more impressive considering they came out of halftime facing a one-point deficit after leading 13-0 through the first quarter. After that second quarter, it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that Wake Forest was going to take advantage of that momentum and find a way to come out on top. Instead, Louisville took that Demon Deacons momentum and promptly snuffed it out.
• What made that defensive performance even more spectacular is that is wasn't just one player taking over like Yasir Abdullah did the week before against Pitt. Out of the eight turnovers, only Quincy Riley had more than one of them. Out of the eight sacks, no one had more than one. Most of this is because Bryan Brown did an incredible job of scheming up the defense, mixing or several looks, fronts and pressures to keep Wake Forest on their toes. Louisville very rarely ran the same defensive play more than once, and that made a huge difference. You could tell that by the closing minutes of the third quarter, WF quarterback Sam Hartman was absolutely rattled.
• It wasn't just the third quarter where the defense shined, either. They set the tone in the first half by either making plays or showing maturation. They didn't allow a big gain on WF's free play on their first drive. Josh Minkins and Kei'Trel Clark each had timely third down sacks. They didn't let the numerous questionable calls from the officials get to them. That's growth.
• Outside of Quincy Riley and his two picks, the player who impressed me the most in the game was Clark. He had an up and down season up to that point, and Wake Forest made it obvious early that they wanted to pick on him in coverage. It took a few plays for him to get settled in, but once he did, he made play after play. He was not only great in coverage, but looked good when applying pressure and in open field tackling.
• Honestly, it didn't feel like this defense had a glaring weak link in this game. The defensive line manhandled Wake's offensive line, the linebackers were swarming to the ball and ballcarriers, and the secondary didn't allow any game-breaking big plays. Sure, Monty Montgomery did whiff on a few tackles, but he made up for it by being opportunistic and snagging a tip drill interception. If Louisville is going to have a serious shot at maybe posting a winning record in their last four games, playing great team defense from all units will be crucial.
• Now let's move to the offense. For once, it didn't seem like a total chore for Louisville to move the chains. Were they perfect on that side of the ball? No, but it didn't seem like they were spoiling a phenomenal defensive effort. After the first two drives ended in field goals, it started to seem like this would be a game where the offense would struggle to get going. But not only were they able to tack on a touchdown after those first two field goals, but they answered the call after nearly every third quarter turnover. The only non-pick six turnover that didn't result in a touchdown was the very first one of the half. It was incredible complimentary football.
• The play calling itself was actually really good, for the most part. The two trick plays were beautifully drawn up, they stayed true to the inside zone run that has given them loads of success in the past, and the passing game got several guys involved. Would have liked to see Marshon Ford get more than one target, but at least his target was a big gain. The only situational play call I vehemently disagreed with was the decision to go for it early in the third quarter and not kick an easy field goal. Louisville was only up 20-14 at that point, the kick would have made it two scores, and Wake Forest was able to get the ball deep into plus territory on their ensuing drive before fumbling. If that fumble isn't forced and Wake is able to capitalize on that drive in some form, that might have been the shift in momentum necessary for them to win. But again, hindsight is 20/20.
• Welcome back, Tiyon Evans. Louisville needed you. Not to discount anything that Trevion Cooley or Jawhar Jordan have done in recent weeks, but his skill set too good not to utilize regularly against one of the better front sevens in the ACC. Evans ran hard all game long, getting tough yardage between the tackles, and even showcasing his speed and lateral quickness on his long touchdown run. I still really like the dynamic Cooley brings and think that he deserves a good amount of touches, but Evans proved in that game why he is their lead back.
• Tyler Hudson's stat line might not jump off the page, but he made two really impressive catches. Both in the first and third quarters, Hudson made a pair of high point catches that were threaded into a tight windows and in traffic. It helped keep Louisville on schedule, and both of those drives ended in touchdowns.
• Louisville's offensive line also had a great showing in this game, both opening holes for the backs and keeping Malik Cunningham upright with consistency. This was a good Wake Forest front seven, too. Defensive tackle Kobie Turner was, quite literally, the highest-graded player in all of Power Five football according to Pro Football Focus, and he was a non-factor in this game.
• Cunningham's final stats also won't jump out to many, but he certainly looked better than he did last week. He only had a couple overthrows for the game, and while he didn't throw for a touchdown, he made sure his throws were a lot more accurate and in spots where only his guys could catch them. Not to mention he looked great on the ground in the red zone.
• Also, before I wrap this up, holy hell the officials were bad. I've seen brutal outings from ACC refs before, but this was definitely the worst I've seen in person. Of course it came against Wake Forest, too. That scoring drive late in the second quarter was particularly egregious between calling forward progress on a sack (what?!?) and ruling that Jahmal Banks' bobbled catch - which clearly hit the ground - was a touchdown. I give up on expecting competent, or even fair, treatment from ACC officials. In any sport for that matter.
• I'll close with this thought: Just four weeks ago, I would have never thought Louisville was going to be in this position. Satterfield went from 2-3 and potentially getting fired at a moment's notice to a three-game win streak and only the Cardinals' seventh-ever win over an AP top-ten team. Momentum is clearly on their side, and now they're just one win away from going bowling. Now they need to take care of business against James Madison, who is much better than people realize, and you can maybe set yourself up for a great end of the 2022 season.

(Photo of Jawhar Jordan: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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