Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Cincinnati
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's been a long couple of weeks for the Louisville football program, but they still have one more game left in their 2022 season, as they will take on longtime rival Cincinnati in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Saturday's game:
Coaching Carousel in Full Swing
In case you have been living under a rock these last two weeks, the single biggest storyline heading into this game is not only that both programs lost their head coaches following the end of the regular season, but the head coach at one team was poached by the other.
Just a couple days after the end of the regular season, Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell opted to leave the Bearcats after six seasons at the helm to take the vacant job at Wisconsin.
UC's search for a new head coach lasted a little over a week, and in a stunning move that no one saw coming, they ended up hiring away Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield. Fortunately, the Cardinals found their next head coach only a couple days later, hiring Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm.
Of course, neither Satterfield or Brohm will be coaching in the Fenway Bowl. Director of Player Personnel Deion Branch was elevated to interim head coach for Louisville, and cornerbacks coach/special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs was also made the interim for Cincinnati.
As you can imagine, both teams will be operating with skeleton crew coaching staffs for the bowl game. Cincinnati will not have defensive coordinator Mike Tressel, offensive coordinator Gino Guidugli, wide receivers coach Mike Brown and safeties coach Colin Hitschler.
Louisville has seen much more assistant coach turnover. They lost defensive coordinator Bryan Brown, offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Lance Taylor, quarterbacks coach Pete Thomas, offensive line coach Nic Cardwell, inside linebackers coach Derek Nicholson, running backs coach De'Rail Sims and co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach Wesley McGriff.
The Keg of Nails Returns
Had it not been for the bonkers storyline of one coach leaving for the other program, the most notable storyline in the Fenway Bowl would be the fact that it is pitting old rivals against each other.
Louisville and Cincinnati need no introduction to one another. In fact, like their basketball counterparts, the Cardinals have faced the Bearcats more than any other opponent in the history of their program. This mainly because of the fact that the programs followed each other across multiple conference, sharing time in the Missouri Valley Conference, Conference-USA and the old Big East.
The rivalry was played on an annual basis from 1966 to 2013, fighting for the right to take home the rivalry trophy known as The Keg of Nails, which is a wooden barrel adorned with the logos of both schools. While Cincinnati owns the all-time series at 30-22-1, Louisville won the most recent matchup with a 31-24 overtime victory on the road in 2013.
Offenses Will Be Dramatically Impacted by the NFL Draft and Transfer Portal
Heading into this matchup, the offenses for both Louisville and Cincinnati have lagged behind their respective defenses. The Bearcats put up 392.8 yards and 31.1 points per game, ranking 64th and 46th, respectively in FBS; while the Cardinals amassed 405.1 yards and 27.2 points per game to ranks 54th and 76th nationally.
If that wasn't enough, both teams have seen a fair amount of offensive player exoduses due to either the NFL Draft or transfer portal.
For Louisville, they lost starting quarterback Malik Cunningham, lead running back Tiyon Evans and their top wide receiver in Tyler Hudson all to the NFL Draft. Cunningham had collected 2,128 total yards of offense and 20 touchdowns, Evans led the team in yards per carry at 6.3, and Hudson became the program's seventh 1,000-yard receiver at 1,034 receiving yards.
Of course, the Cardinals will still be thin at running back too after both Trevion Cooley and Jalen Mitchell entered the portal. Jawhar Jordan and Maurice Turner are the lone scholarship backs remaining.
As for Cincinnati, well, their offensive defection have been much, much more noteworthy. Wide receivers Tyler Scott and Tre Tucker both declared for the NFL Draft, as did tight ends Josh Whyle and Leonard Taylor, while wideouts Jadon Thompson and Nick Mardner entered the portal.
These were UC's top six pass catchers, who were responsible for 87.2 percent of their total receiving yards and all 22 of their receiving touchdowns. The Bearcats' top receiver for the Fenway Bowl? Running back Charles McClelland and his 117 yards (plus 834 rushing yards). Not to mention that their starting quarterback, Ben Bryant, was lost to a season-ending injury in their penultimate regular season game.
So, once again, it will be a battle of backup quarterbacks, pitting Louisville's Brock Domann vs. Cincinnati's Evan Prater. Domann has completed 53.7 percent of his passes for 866 yards and three touchdown to five interceptions, while Prater is 54.9 percent for 340 yards and a pick while also rushing for 196 yards and a score.
High Caliber Defenses Still Relatively Intact
For both Louisville and Cincinnati, the opposite is true for their defenses. Not only have these teams been powered by their defenses for most of the year, both units have had minimal NFL Draft and transfer portal losses compared to their offenses.
During the regular season, Louisville allowed only 347.1 yards and 20.2 points per game, which was good for 35th and 19th in FBS, respectively. Cincinnati's defense was just ahead of Louisville, allowing just 328.5 yards and 20.3 points per games for 23rd nationally in both categories. Both the Bearcats and Cardinals also ranked in the top-20 in sacks and tackles for loss per game.
As for Louisville, they did lose starting cornerback Kei'Trel Clark to the NFL Draft and key inside linebacker reserve Dorian Jones, but that's really it in terms of impact defenders. Louisville's top five sack and tackle for loss players are still in line to play in the Fenway Bowl, including First-Team All-ACC linebacker Yasir Abdullah, who notched 13.0 TFLs, 8.0 sacks, four forced fumbles and two picks during the regular season.
It's mostly the same for Cincinnati. Their top defensive back in corner JaQuan Sheppard and rotational defensive end Noah Potter entered the portal, but like Louisville, those are the only defenders of relative note to leave. Most importantly, AAC Defensive Player of the Year and First-Team AP All-American linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. is still on the roster. He finished the regular season with 119 total tackles (11th in FBS), 18.5 TFLs (4th in FBS), 8.0 sacks, four pass deflections and a forced fumble.
Deion Branch Returns to His Home Away from Home
Arguably the most underrated storyline for a bowl game that isn't short on them, is the fact that this will serve as a bit of a homecoming for interim head coach Deion Branch.
Following the end of his playing career at Louisville, Branch was drafted by the New England Patriots, who play just south of Boston in Foxborough, Mass.
"I'm super excited just to be back in Boston, and I know the (Patriots) fans are too," Branch said. "I love the fans up in that New England area and the whole state of Massachusetts for me to come back and be in this position, to take these young men on the football field."
Branch had a successful 12-year career in the National Football League, playing seven seasons with the Patriots and five with the Seattle Seahawks. He totaled 518 receptions for 6,644 yards and 39 touchdowns in 12 seasons.
He played in two Super Bowls with the Patriots, totaling 21 receptions. After an 11-catch/133-yard performance in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles, Branch was named Super Bowl MVP.
Before departing for the NFL, Branch established himself as one of the top wide receivers in Louisville history. From 2000-01 as a JUCO transfer from Jones Country, he amassed 143 receptions for 2,204 yards and 18 receiving touchdowns. In terms of program history, the receptions total is seventh all-time, the yardage is ninth, and the touchdowns are fourth. His No. 9 jersey is one of Louisville's honored jerseys.
(Photo of Jawhar Jordan: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)
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