Reed challenges Louisville's special teams
Louisville football is no stranger to the impact kick returners can have on a game.
Hassan Hall is averaging 38.7 yards per return this season. He took a kick 100 yards for a touchdown along with an 80-yard return in Louisville’s 62-59 victory over Wake Forest two weeks ago. The sophomore returned a kick 38 yards against Clemson to help set up a field goal in Louisville’s 45-10 loss last Saturday.
Virginia brings one of the nation’s most prolific returners to Cardinal Stadium Oct. 26.
Joe Reed is the only player in FBS history to have 2,700 plus career kick return yards and a career kick return average of 28 plus yards. The senior is second in the country with an average of 39.4 yards per kick return this season.
Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said Reed, like Hall, has a knack for returning kicks.
“He [Reed] understands where to hit the hole, and then all of a sudden if it gets clogged up, he has good vision to be able to breakout somewhere else,” Satterfield said. “There’s something about his speed and power. He’s able to run through some arm tackles, but he also has the vision to know where to hit it and the timing of it.”
Satterfield wants kicker Blanton Creque to send the ball deep into the end zone as a way to prevent Reed from returning kicks.
“If you can kick it eight, nine or 10 yards deep, they’re not returning it, they’re starting on the 25,” Satterfield said. “This team here, they do some things where they need those opportunities.”
