Fundamentals focused on in bowl practices
Louisville football will go back to the basics in practices leading up to the Music City Bowl. The Cardinals face Mississippi State Dec. 30 in Nashville, preparing with 15 or so practices in the next three weeks.
“I think initially the first handful to seven practices are more like spring type practices where you are working fundamentals, blocking, tackling, working with a lot of the young guys,” Satterfield said. “You’re keeping the older guys obviously in tuned, getting a lot of reps as well. A lot of it goes back to your base football stuff.”
Satterfield wants to keep practices fun, planning different competitions to help players enjoy their time. After a 12-game regular season, he said so much of the preparation is mental at this point in the season.
“The ones that want to be there, put the work in, are usually the ones that are most successful,” Satterfield said.
Louisville’s defense struggled mightily in the final two games against Syracuse and Kentucky. Syracuse rushed for 261 yards and finished with 510 yards of offense in Louisville’s 56-34 victory Nov. 23 at Cardinal Stadium.
Kentucky dominated Louisville’s defense, rushing for 517 yards and averaging more than 12 yards per carry. Louisville will need to show signs of improvement against Mississippi State, a team with the Southeastern Conference’s leading rusher in Kylin Hill. The Bulldogs averaged 226.9 rushing yards per game.
“There are a lot of things we have to get done,” Satterfield said. “Tackling, fitting the defense right, throwing and catching. All the fundamentals we will work on.”
Louisville will use the last half of practices preparing specifically for Mississippi State. The Cardinals are set for their first bowl practice Wednesday, Dec. 11.
