Louisville Not Dwelling on Recent History vs. Kentucky, Striving to Contain Emotions in Rivalry Matchup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At long last, rivalry week is finally here.

In what seems like a college football season that started only yesterday, the final week of the 2022 regular season is upon us. For Louisville, their last game before going bowling is the annual Governor's Cup showdown against in-state rival Kentucky, which this year takes place on enemy turf in Lexington, Ky.

But as Cardinals fans know, the series between them and their archrival has been incredibly one-sided in recent years, with the Wildcats winning the last three matchups in blowout fashion, and the previous two having come under current head coach Scott Satterfield.

Playing in a monsoon, Kentucky rushed for a school-record 517 yards en route to a 45-13 victory in 2019, Satterfield's first year at the helm. However, their most recent matchup in 2021 was even more jarring. Heading into last year's game as a three-point home favorite, Louisville was blasted to the tune of 52-21, and trailed by as much as 38.

"Last year, going back and looking at it, particularly on defense, we didn't really slow them down much at all," Satterfield said. "It was just one of those days nothing went right. Even early in the game, it’s 14-7, we're driving, and we get in a little bit of a scuffle on the sideline. We kind of lost our composure, and from that point forward it was straight downhill."

With how lopsided the series has been over the last few years, there is plenty of motivation to overcome that and finally take down their most hated rival for the first time since 2017. While that is true, and certainly some of the veterans on the team haven't forgotten the bad taste in their mouths that has come up as a result of falling short to Kentucky, Louisville isn't letting the recent history have any bearing on what they try to put together this Saturday.

“What we've done in the past is not going to affect anything this season," Satterfield said. "They’ve got a new team, and we’ve got a new team. I think for us, the guys that have played in the past are certainly not going to forget that. It's more about us in my opinion.

"We’ve got to go out have a great practice. We’ve got to prepare well. We’ve got to focus. All those things that we've done to win games, we’ve got to continue to do and then hopefully go out and play a great game. But it all starts with your preparation this week, and that's why we got to have a great week of practice.”

Early in the season, it looked like this year's Governor Cup might be heading for another blowout. Kentucky started the season at 4-0 and ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll, while Louisville opened up the year at 2-3 with midseason rumors regarding Satterfield's job status reaching a fever pitch.

But since then, momentum has swung in the complete opposite direction. The Wildcats have dropped five of their last seven games and are on a two-game home losing streak, while the Cardinals have won five of their last six games, and recently debuted in the College Football Playoff rankings.

Given the trajectories of both teams, not only is there reason to believe that Saturday's showdown will be competitive, but it isn't unreasonable to think the Louisville can outright win against Kentucky. Of course, as we've seen in the past with rivalry games, records can more often than not be thrown out the window due to the emotional nature of the matchup.

That emotion, however, is something that has come back to bite Louisville in recent matchups. As Satterfield alluded, following a first quarter scuffle in the 2021 game that came about after Malik Cunningham was shoved out of bounds, Louisville was never able to regain their composure and things quickly derailed.

Keeping a level head in this year's game is something that Satterfield says he will "certainly address" with his players. In fact, he's preaching a message of channeling those high levels of emotion into on-field focus and execution.

"I think anytime you get overly emotional in a situation like this, it takes away from the play," he said. "We have to worry about us, we have to worry about our guys and play for the ones beside you. That’s who we’re playing for. Focus on your job and not anything else. Let’s let the fans and everybody else do all that stuff. Let’s focus on what we have to do, which is our job each and every play, and play focused.

"We’re talking about that this week, but I know guys are going to be emotional. We have to channel it in the right direction. I thought we got sideways on that one last year and kind of got us out of our game.”

While Satterfield wants his guys to leave the emotions to the fans and put the series' recent history behind him, he very much understands how big a Louisville victory would be for the program and the community. Early in his tenure, many fans criticized him for not grasping the magnitude of the rivalry, and it's something that doesn't seem to be an issue now.

“It’s huge," he said last weekend. "It’s a huge game. There is no other thing to say, other than that. We are in the state of Kentucky. There’s a lot of people running around this state that bleed that color blue. There are people in this city that bleed that color blue. We represent all of the people that bleed red and Cardinal Nation. There’s a lot of things that go into that game."

Kickoff between the Cardinals and Wildcats is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26 at 3:00 p.m. EST at Kroger Field.

(Photo of Malik Cunningham: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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