Louisville QB Malik Cunningham on Winning Streak: 'We Found Our Swagger'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Five weeks ago, the Louisville football program seemed like they were dead in the water.

The Cardinals had just lost a 34-33 decision against a lowly Boston College team, plummeting them to just to just 2-3 on the year and winless in the ACC in three tries. Not only was the outlook for the remainder of the season extraordinarily grim given the difficulty of the remaining games on their schedule, but head coach Scott Satterfield was planted squarely on the hot seat, and it didn't take long for rumors and reports to start spreading like wildfire regarding his future.

Now, the current Louisville squad looks completely unrecognizable from the one that lost at Chestnut Hill on Oct. 1.

Following their dominating performance against James Madison on Saturday, the Cardinals are now riding a four-game win streak that has seen them take down Virginia, Pitt and then-No. 10 Wake Forest along the way. In just over a month, the script has been completely flipped upside down, and Louisville is on a roll that almost nobody saw coming. In fact, it's the longest win streak of the Scott Satterfield era, and the longest for the program since 2016

While Louisville didn't play a perfect game against the Dukes, the Cardinals are now brimming with confidence because of the victory that extended the win streak.

"To be honest, I just feel like we found our swagger now on both sides of the ball," quarterback Malik Cunningham said. "Offensively, we just got to pick it up a little bit more. The defense, they came out a little flat at first, but they turned it up for us. That's what we need. We're going to need everybody, not just the offense or defense just to create turnovers. We can't be depending on the defense to make eight turnovers, we gotta go score. That's what we did today. We helped them out."

A large part of Louisville's winning streak has been their performance in the second half, and the matchup against James Madison was no exception. Deadlocked at ten points a piece at halftime, the Cardinals came out of the locker room looking like the much more locked in team on both sides of the line of scrimmage, out-gaining the Dukes 302 yards to 49 while out-scoring them 24-0.

Previously, the inability to finish games in the fourth quarter had almost been a staple of Louisville football over the past two seasons. But their winning streak has, in a way, relieved some pressure from the team, which has led them to play a lot less tight when the game is on the line.

“We are still having fun, and that allows you to play loose. That’s the way practice has been. Flying around in practice, which is coming from the players which is awesome. We want a player-led team. We want the guys internally to come every day to get better and compete in practice and have fun with it. But, the real fun is when you come out here and make plays on the field. Our guys have been doing that. And that’s where the fun comes in."

During their 2-3 start to the season, Louisville was only putting up 430.0 yards and 26.4 points per game, while simultaneously allowing 369.8 yards and 23.4 points. During their four-game winning streak, the Cardinals are averaging 415.5 yards and 35.0 points per game, but are only allowing 310.0 yards and 14.5 points. Their average margin of victory was just 3.0 points over their first five games, but has been 20.5 over their four-game winning streak.

As a result, what seemed nearly impossible over a month ago is now a reality: Louisville is going bowling. The win over James Madison clinched bowl eligibility for the Cardinals for the third time in Satterfield's four seasons at the helm. Even with all the outside doubt that Louisville would get to this point, the players never wavered in their faith towards one another, and that faith has turned into a heightened level of confidence.

"We never lost belief in ourself. We believe in ourselves wholeheartedly, regardless of who else does. We know that people are gonna continue doubting, but we're gonna keep believing in ourselves," inside linebacker MoMo Sanogo said. Running back Tiyon Evans also added that Louisville was "still trying to figure out" their identity early in the season, but are now "finally headed in the right direction."

"If we can start off fast, it's no question we can be a top team in this conference," Evans said.

Of course, the team directly in front of them has something to say about that. Louisville travels to No. 4 Clemson next weekend, and considering the Tigers will be coming off of a 35-14 loss at Notre Dame, they'll be motivated to rebound and potentially keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive.

That being said, the Cardinals will be motivated in that matchup as well. Last year, they were a two yards and four plays away from knocking off Clemson for the first time in program history, but a fierce goal line stand by the Tigers handed Louisville a 30-24 defeat. Cunningham and Co. haven't forgotten what that loss felt like, and are using it to stay motivated and locked in.

"That's still got a bad taste in my mouth," he said. "We got six days to prepare for them, just got to take the mental aspect to another level, and just dial in on those guys. Like I said, they're a very good football team, they're well coached, so they're not just going to give us anything. We got to go in there and take it."

Kickoff between Louisville and Clemson is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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