Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Western Kentucky

After a long and tumultuous offseason that threatened the status of the 2020 season, the Louisville Cardinals (0-0, 0-0 ACC) are set to retake the field of Cardinal Stadium. Their first test of the season will come against Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (0-0, 0-0 C-USA) this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Saturday's game:

Veteran Status

Like Louisville, Western Kentucky is also heading into the 2020 season with a veteran roster. Both teams are returning sixteen starters, with the Hilltoppers returning nine on defense and seven on offense.

“They do have a veteran team coming back,” Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield said. “On both sides of the ball, a lot of guys that have played a lot of football games."

While Louisville did defeat Western Kentucky, 38-21 down in Nashville, Tenn. last year, Satterfield warns that it doesn't necessarily imply another win is in store this time around.

“You really don’t know what the chemistry of a team is going to be when you come back for a new season,” he said. “The first game there could be some things that are different.”

Pound the Rock

Running back Gaej Walker is back for another shot at the Cardinals, and he's someone that the Louisville defense will have to contain. The 6-foot-0, 195-pound redshirt senior from Tampa, Fla. rushed for 1,208 yards and eight touchdowns a season ago.

"He does a really good job of getting downhill when he needs to get downhill, but he's shifty as well," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. "He can stick a foot in the ground and get north & south really really quickly. He's good in protection. Overall, he's a really good athlete."

Walker only rushed for 41 yards last season against the Cards, but four of his five starting offensive linemen are back to create lanes for him. He was also just three games into becoming a full-time running back, as he had previously been exclusively a defensive back in college.

"That kid has groomed himself into a really good running back," Brown said. "To be able to see that, that's just really impressive to me within itself and learning the offense."

New Sheriff in Town

Out of all the returners for WKU, there is one key spot where there will be a fresh face - the quarterback position.

Coming over from Maryland over the offseason as a graduate transfer, Tyrrell Pigrome was awarded with the starting nod by WKU head coach Tyson Helton over the offseason. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound dual threat signal caller collected 2,407 total yards of offense in 34 games & seven starts as a Terrapin.

"He's an explosive quarterback that has a really, really strong arm and does a great job of keeping his eyes down the field even when he does get outside the pocket," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. "But he's also a runner - he's like a running back. So they'll use him in the run game as well."

Pigrome will have a couple solid targets to throw to. WKU returns their No. 2 wide receiver in Jahcour Pearson & starting tight end John Simon. Pearson accumulated 804 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, while Simon hauled in 430 yards and four scores. Lucky Jackson, who led the team in receiving yards with 1,133, departed in the offseason due to graduation.

Challenges on the Edge

Louisville's biggest test in the this game will be how they contain WKU's defensive end tandem, which is arguably one of the bets in college football.

The conversation unquestionably begins with DeAngelo Malone. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge rusher logged 21.0 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks during his junior campaign, both of which are top 15 marks in FBS. He was voted as the 2019 Conference-USA Defensive Player of the Year & 2020 Conference-USA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

"He's got tremendous quickness and speed, thats the first thing that stands out," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "He can run plays down from behind, but he's also quick enough that if you run at him he can avoid the block and get in the backfield."

But Malone is not the only Hilltopper defensive end who spends a lot of time in the opponent's backfield. Redshirt junior Juwaun Jones completes a high-caliber 1-2 punch on the bookends of the defensive line, as the 6-foot-3, 270-pound lineman also had double digit tackles for loss with 12.5 and 7.0 sacks to boot.

For any team, this duo would already be a handful. But considering the Cardinals lost both their starting offensive tackles during the offseason, newly inserted starting left tackle Adonis Boone & starting right tackle Renato Brown won't have the luxury of easing into their new roles when the season begins.

"These tackles we got this game are going to get tested big time by these two defensive ends they have," offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said.

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