Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Wake Forest

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With momentum finally on their side and a win streak on the line, the Louisville football program continues their three-game home stand this weekend with No. 10 Wake Forest coming to town.

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

Injury Report

When it comes to players both having to sit out due to injuries and getting to come back after getting healthy, there is a fair amount of news for Louisville on that front.

Lead running back Tiyon Evans has missed that last two games due to a lower leg injury, and there's a chance he could miss his third in a row. Head coach Scott Satterfield said that he is "listed as day-to-day," and that "hopefully he'll continued to get healed up and get better this week."

Satterfield also said that offensive tackle Trevor Reid, who got hurt in the Cardinals' win at Virginia on Oct. 8, "should be back" against Wake Forest, and that "he'll practice again today."

Reserve offensive guard Luke Kandra and tight end Marshon Ford are two guys who went down in the Pitt game with injuries. Kandra will "probably a couple of weeks with an ankle sprain," but Ford has "gotten a lot better" to the point where Louisville "anticipate(s) he's gonna be ready to go and play this week."

Pitt Win Breaks Pair of Negative Trends for Louisville

Louisville's win over Pitt was big not just because of the simple fact that they had won, but more so the manner in how they did it. Not only was it a win over a conference quality opponent, but it broke two major negative trends for Louisville: not being able to capitalize on momentum, and not being able to rally from behind late.

In the first half of the year for the Cardinals, they alternated between winning and losing in each of their first six games. The wins against Virginia and Pitt marked the first time all season that Louisville was able to string together back-to-back wins.

Not only that, but they won in a manner in which Louisville has never done under Satterfield up to that point. The Cardinals had been 0-16 under Satterfield when trailing entering the fourth quarter, and Louisville happened to be down 10-7 to Pitt through three quarters. Their 17-0 run in the final 15 minutes marked their first come-from-behind fourth quarter win in the Satterfield era.

"It was big, it was a huge fourth quarter for us to be able to finish the game like that," Satterfield said. "We've been there many, many times and to finally be able to finish was outstanding. We've played complementary football, and that's the one thing we've kind of struggled with is that complementary football."

Wake's Forest's "Clawfense," Quarterback Sam Hartman Continuing to Operate at High Level

For those who don't know, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson runs one of the most unique offenses in college football. It's predicated on the read option, except the quarterback and running back hold the ball together for an abnormal amount of time to try and get the defense to bite on the wrong player.

This season, the "Clawfense" has been extremely effective. The Demon Deacons are averaging 438.7 yards and 41.4 points per game, with only five turnovers on the year and averaging just 4.43 penalties per game.

"It’s hard to contain it, you don't want to get out of your gaps," Satterfield said. "If you get out of your gaps, he hands the ball off and the running bank finds the open holes. It’s very unique, it's something you play against (often). I don't know many teams at all in the country that are running this type of offense. Then Sam (Hartman) does such a great job of knowing when to hand it and when to pull it, and it seems like the receivers always have a good little route whether it be a bender or a vertical route."

Quarterback Sam Hartman is a massive reason why this scheme has been so successful. Already one of the best passers in the league, he's completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 1,755 yards, 21 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

Not to mention that Wake Forest has options a plenty in the passing game. A.T. Perry stands out the most with his 32 receptions for 524 receiving yards and five touchdowns, but guys like Jahmal Banks (27/385/7), Donavon Greene (23/360/3) and Taylor Morin (21/207/4) are all legitimate threats to burn defenses.

Louisville's Defense Starting to Limit Big Plays Given Up

Over their first five games of the season, with all issues that have beleaguered Louisville at various points of the year, you could have made an argument that the single-biggest reason their 2-3 start was because they struggled mightily to contain big plays. The only game during this stretch that the Cardinals did not give up at least 12 plays that went for either 15 yards passing or 10 yards rushing was their blowout win over lowly USF.

Sure, both Virginia and Pitt have their issues when it comes to offense, but in their matchups against these two squads, Louisville has started to make very noticeable improvements in this department. They gave up just 10 chunk plays for 197 yards against the Cavaliers, then only eight plays for 176 yards against the Panthers.

Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown believes that the turnaround in the big play department can be chalked up to both players and coaches making an extra effort to "paying attention to detail."

"Just understanding down and distance situations, when there's a throwaway down, when it's a passing situations, or splits, or formations and things of that nature," he said. "The guys are playing at a high level right now, being able to pay attention to detail. It's great to see. They're excited, man, and hopefully we can keep that trend going on of not giving the big play. ... I'm doing a little bit of it as well. Being able to help those guys, put them in some situations to help them be a little bit more successful as well."

Wake Forest Making Tremendous Strides on Defense

Last season, Wake Forest sported one of the worst defenses in the ACC. While it was countered by an incredible offense, they were still surrendering 413.3 yards and 28.9 points per game. Their 195.5 rushing yards allowed per game was 111th in FBS, whereas their 314 first downs allowed was 125th.

The Deacs hired Purdue co-defensive coordinator Brad Lambert to the same role in Winston-Salem, and it has made a noticeable difference. Through seven games, Wake Forest is allowing 375.6 yards and 24.0 points per game, good for 69th and 53rd in FBS, respectively.

"They’re doing a really good job on defense keeping guys out of the end zone," Satterfield said. "I think that is probably the biggest thing I've seen on film this year for the Wake team. Certainly, a thing we have to do game planning wise is trying to find ways to get into the end zone."

A lot of this comes as a result of a very impactful front seven. Defensive lineman Kobie Turner, who has 6.0 tackles for loss, a sack, five QB hurries and a forced fumble, is tied with Michigan running back Blake Corum as the highest-rated player in all of FBS football.

Guys like lineman Rondell Bothroyd (5.0 TFLs, 5.0 sacks, five QBH, three pass breakups), lineman Jasheen Davis (5.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, 2 QBH) and safety Malik Mustapha (4.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, 3 QBH, 2 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles) also stand out on this Wake defense.

Safety MJ Griffin Making Difference in Increased Role

One contributing factor to Louisville's defense cutting down on big plays, outside of Satterfield announcing he would get more directly involved in the defensive game plan, could be the increased role given to safety M.J. Griffin in the Cardinals' wins over Virginia and Pitt.

With Kenderick Duncan being forced to miss Louisville's game at Virginia, Griffin was thrust into a starting role at free safety for the Cardinals. Logging 53 snaps, he tallied four tackles and a third-quarter interception that he made following a good read in zone coverage and toe-tap sideline catch. Louisville would go on to win 34-17 for their first victory in conference play.

After the bye week, Griffin was tabbed as the co-starter alongside Duncan for their matchup against Pitt. When kickoff came, it was Griffin who wound up getting the start, going on to log three tackles and an interception for back-to-back games with a pick. It was one of four turnovers that Louisville would force in that game, leading to a 24-10 win over the Panthers at home.

"The last two weeks, he’s made some great plays for us. He really is flying around," Satterfield said. "He's missed a couple of tackles here and there but he's not like a veteran. I love the way he's pulling his trigger. And then we mentioned earlier the two big interceptions are huge, huge interceptions for us. He's been able to make those kinds of plays, and he plays with a lot of energy. I think our guys feed off of that.”

(Photo via Reinhold Matay - USA TODAY Sports)

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