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Lack of Execution, Late Adjustments Cost Louisville Early Against Ole Miss

Louisville found themselves behind the sticks many times in the first half of their loss to Ole Miss, thanks to poor team execution and a far too late adjustments from the coaching staff.

ATLANTA - When facing a team like Ole Miss, it's important to get off to a good start early. The Rebels are a team that can move the ball in a hurry with their high tempo spread offense, and put up multiple scores in the blink of an eye. In order to slow down Ole Miss, or at least keep up with them, Louisville had to have a near-flawless game plan right out of the gates.

That's not exactly what transpired.

Instead, in the first half of Monday night's 43-24 loss to the Rebels, the Cardinals (0-1, 0-0 ACC) could not get out of their own way. Wide receivers couldn't find separation, offensive linemen struggled to maintain their blocks, resulting in quarterback Malik Cunningham facing busted plays time in and time out and having to scramble to make plays.

Louisville's final drive of the half perfectly encapsulated how the first thirty minutes of the game came to pass.

Facing 2nd & 12 around midfield, Cunningham throws a backwards pass to wide receiver Braden Smith, who in turn then throws it right back to Cunningham. What results is a situation where he is free up the left sideline with five blockers placed around him - except Ole Miss' Jaylon Jones was able to get to him scot free.

A few plays later, after converting a 4th & 3, Louisville finds themselves at 4th & 2 at the 19-yard line - their only red zone trip of the day. Cunningham tosses the right option to running back Hassan Hall, who has nothing but green grass ahead of him, and can't corral the toss and fumbles.

"We never got in a rhythm in the first half. We never got the sticks moving," head coach Scott Satterfield said after the game. "And I think obviously when you do that, like we did in the second half, then everybody feels more comfortable, and you're in more of a rhythm and you can move the football and go score points."

However, the subpar execution was only one factor that played into Ole Miss taking a 26-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Far too often, the questionable and simple play calling from last season crept its way into the first half, resulting in Louisville finding themselves behind the sticks more times than not

But, on top of that and despite the fact that a blowout was unfolding early right before their very eyes, the coaching staff did not make any adjustments to the offense until it was almost too late.

"I expected them to blitz us and get in our face, but I guess they thought different and just dropped eight the whole game," Cunningham said after the game. "They just rushed three and tried to keep me in the pocket, and they did a good job of that at the beginning of the game.

"(QB Coach Pete Thomas and Satterfield) both came up to me and told me (at halftime) that we were going to call some different stuff. So just sit in there and just dial things up, and that's what we did the second half."

To Louisville's credit, the second half did look a lot more fluid. Cunningham was 17-of-24 for 174 yards compared to 5-13 for 17 yards in the first half, helping Louisville score 24 second half points to avoid the shutout, and the defense did hold the Rebels to less points and yards in the second half.

But on the flip side of that coin, theses changes were made far too late. If Louisville had any chance of giving themselves a shot, and not putting themselves in a near-inescapable hole, these scheme adjustments had to come much, much earlier. This arguably had a bigger impact on the outcome than the execution did.

Ole Miss is likely the second-best team Louisville will face all season (Hello, Clemson), but the Cardinals still have a couple tests on the horizon. After a tune-up game next week against EKU in their home-opener, Louisville then welcomes UCF to Cardinal Stadium, and travels to Florida State for their first ACC game of the year.

If strides aren't made in both the players' ability to execute, and the coaching staff's willingness to make the necessary adjustments quicker, it could be a long season.

(Photo of Hassan Hall: Brett Davis - USA TODAY Sports)

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