Seniors celebrate, contribute in Louisville's bowl win
Louisville football’s 27-member senior class ended their careers on a high note.
The Cardinals defeated Mississippi State 38-28 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville Dec. 30. After falling behind two touchdowns in the first half, Louisville scored 31 unanswered points for its first bowl win since 2015.
In his first season as Louisville’s head coach, Scott Satterfield said the senior class has had it rough with the coaching changes and reshaping of the program’s culture.
“We have 27 of them that are done, out of that 27, probably 12 guys probably played significant, the other guys really don’t play a whole lot,” Satterfield said. “I told the guys in the team meeting last night, I said, ‘listen, there’s going to be some guys tomorrow that maybe haven’t played as much as they wanted to play this year, but you’re going to make big plays tomorrow.”
Plenty of seniors made big plays in Louisville’s eighth win of the season.
Devante Peete caught a 24-yard touchdown on a wheel route that gave Louisville its first lead with 5:01 left in the third quarter. The fifth-year senior hadn’t caught a touchdown since 2015.
“I said, ‘you’re going to catch a touchdown pass,’ and sure enough, he caught a touchdown pass,” Satterfield said.
Peete tore his ACL during fall camp as a junior in 2017.
Boosie Whitlow had two tackles for a loss and a sack. Cornelius Sturghill had seven tackles as a cornerback.
When Satterfield and his coaching staff took over the program in December, 22 scholarship players left the program during the offseason. The seniors finish their careers with a bowl win and an 8-5 record, placing second in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference with five wins.
“I’m so proud of them to stick it out because it has not been easy for them,” Satterfield said.
