Louisville HC Scott Satterfield Previews Pitt
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The Louisville football program didn't have the smoothest of starts to ACC play, as they kicked off a ten-game conference slate by falling to the Miami Hurricanes to the tune of 47-34.
Fortunately, the Cardinals (1-1, 0-1 ACC) are not heading into their next game week with heads hung low.
"The sun did come back up yesterday," head coach Scott Satterfield joked to open up his weekly press conference Monday. "I thought we had a really good practice yesterday just getting right back after it after a tough loss."
They'll have to continue with this mindset and effort as the week progresses, as their next opponent on the schedule will prove to be a tough one: the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Pitt (2-0, 1-0 ACC) has had a great start to the 2020 season, fueled mainly by their efforts on the defensive side of the ball. The Panthers feature a pair of preseason All-ACC defenders in safety Paris Ford & defensive end Patrick Jones II.
On top of those two, defensive end Rashad Weaver was named the Defensive Player of the Week by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Sunday - the first Pitt player to earn the honor since Aaron Donald in 2013. He had seven tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks vs. Syracuse in a 21-10 win.
"They just continuously put pressure on offenses the whole game," Satterfield said. "You can turn on any film, that's just a (head coach Pat) Narduzzi type defense. They do an outstanding job, and he's been doing it for many, many years."
While the Panthers make a name for themselves on defense, Pitt has some playmakers on offense too. Quarterback Kenny Pickett has thrown for 6,038 yards at a 60.7 completion rate over his career, and their offensive line is led by preseason All-ACC center Jimmy Morrissey.
Not only that, but the Panthers will throw out similar looks to what the Hurricanes did. Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple runs a lot of unbalanced offensive plays, resembling what Miami OC Rhett Lashlee did last week against Louisville.
"Over 50% of their offensive plays, there'll be either tackle over or some sort of form of unbalanced," Satterfield said. "There offense fits well with what their defense does."
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 26 at 12:00 p.m. on ABC.
(Photo of Scott Satterfield: Atlantic Coast Conference)
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:
Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter - @LouisvilleOnSI and Matthew McGavic at @GeneralWasp
