In Loss to Syracuse, Louisville Suffers Worst-Case Scenario Start to New Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over the course of the last several months, the Louisville football program had been steadily building up vast amounts of goodwill amongst the fanbase.

The bitterness of the demoralizing losses to Kentucky and Air Force that ended the 2021 season was starting to feel like a distant memory for the Cardinals, and the program seemed like was in a much better spot than it was back in December. Whether it be because of the additions to the roster, the shake-up in the support staff or the blazing-hot recruiting, most Louisville fans were firmly on board with the direction of the program under head coach Scott Satterfield.

It took just one game for the vast majority of that optimism surrounding the 2022 season, which has been billed as a "show-me season" for Satterfield, to get thrown out the window.

From the very start, Syracuse established control of the game. Despite the Orange's best efforts to try and give the game away, whether it was via numerous penalties or occasional drops, Louisville could not capitalize on anything and generate any semblance of momentum. By the time the clock hit double zeroes, the Cardinals had been dealt a somewhat shocking 31-7 defeat - and it wasn't even that close.

"Obviously, very disappointed in how we came out and played tonight," Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield said. "We did not execute very well offensively with with some penalties that really hurt us. ... Defensively, we missed a lot of tackles."

Outside of Louisville's second offensive drive of the game, one that ended in a 36-yard rushing touchdown by Tiyon Evans, that side of the ball looked completely disheveled. They struggled to establish any sort of rhythm all night, and out of their nine drives, only five of them made into plus territory - and two of those drives ended in a turnover on downs.

The biggest factor to Louisville's woes on the offensive side of the ball, surprisingly enough, was because of Malik Cunningham. The veteran quarterback had one of his worst performances of his career, only throwing for 152 yards, which was the fifth-lowest of his career. He also never found the end zone, through the air or on the ground, and had three second half turnovers - two interceptions and a fumble.

“It hurts,” a dejected Cunningham said after the game. “I’m very disappointed, the team is disappointed, I’m disappointed in myself. I let my team down, I let the city down. I just got to learn from it.”

However, Cunningham doesn't bare all of the offensive woes in this game. While he did tend to key on Tyler Hudson way too much over the course of the game, and the offensive line did not have a great game either, the scheme itself looked like it had not changed much since last season.

Lance Taylor's addition as offensive coordinator was touted as a move that will help Louisville get better in many crucial situations. However, it was largely the same song and dance that we saw last season. Consistent rushing on clear passing downs, inefficiency on third down, and bad execution in the red zone. Taylor's fingerprints on this offense were seemingly nowhere to be found.

But as bad as the offense was on Saturday night, the defense was much, much worse. Star running back Sean Tucker and quarterback Garrett Shrader gashing the Louisville run defense, rushing for a combined 207 yards and a score each. Not to mention that Shrader, who hasn't been known for his passing ability in the past, threw for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns

Sure, defense hasn't exactly been a strong suit for much of the Satterfield era, but the tackling effort against Syracuse might have been the worst we have seen under Satterfield. There was very little wrapping up, and too much leading with the shoulder.

Not to mention that many the touted defensive transfers, such as middle linebacker MoMo Sanogo and nose tackle Jermayne Lole, had minimal or no impact on the game. Even some of the veteran playmakers like corner Kei'Trel Clark and middle linebacker Monty Montgomery did not have showings that we have been accustomed to seeing.

"As a defense, we need to come together," Sanogo said after the game. "It's not conventional to tackle all throughout the week, but we probably need that. We need the work, whether it's in the third period, going up in front of a guy in the chase period, we need to work on tackling. It's a player problem."

But like on offense, the coaching additions made on defense didn't seem to have any noticeable impact as well. Wesley McGriff was brought in to help that side of the ball advance in crucial situations, like third downs and in the red zone, but his fingerprints on the scheme seemed to be mostly absent as well. Had Syracuse not committed an absurd amount of penalties, they could have hung a lot more points on Louisville.

The biggest issue regarding Louisville's performance last night, is that none of the progressions that were promised over the offseason were present.

Cunningham looked like he had regressed as a pocket passer, and frankly looked hesitant to run. The defense showed almost no aggression, and the coverage against a mediocre passing attack looked abysmal. The coordinators on both sides of the ball, from an outside perspective, looked like they had no impact on the game plan. Outside of Tiyon Evans, Tyler Hudson and to an extent Jarvis Brownlee Jr., most of the impact transfers had little to no impact on the game

Everything that Louisville couldn't afford to have go wrong, went wrong. Even worse, they are staying on the road and have a short turnaround against a good UCF squad. Everything that Syracuse does offensively, you can make the argument that the Knights do at a much higher caliber.

"We got to do a great job of getting the guys back," Satterfield said. "Getting them back confident to know that we can go out and play well, and learn from these mistakes right here. To go out and play a much better game on the road. It's going to be a tough place to go play."

The season has only just begun for the Cardinals, and it looks like they are already on the ropes. Now, they have a limited amount of time to try and get things right, or else their issues will snowball. It seems ludicrous to even say this at this point in time, but considering how much harder the schedule gets as the season progresses, Satterfield's tenure at Louisville could be at stake if there is no clear improvement next weekend.

(Photo of Tiyon Evans: Mark Konezny - USA TODAY Sports)

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