Louisville CardFile: Eastern Kentucky

OK, let’s just talk about THAT PLAY here at the top, and get it out of the way.

You know the one, the beauteous 95 yard catch and scamper for a U of L TD. That wasn’t. The one where the rookie took it to the house — way faster than your favorite speedy home pizza delivery service — then dropped the payload on the porch without ringing the bell.

First some context.

Earlier in the day, during the noon window, in the day’s biggest upset, the Quack had just sealed its W against the Buckeyes with a late pick. The kid who made the play dashed to the sideline, ripped off his helmet, and with several of his similarly ebullient mates, rushed down toward the Oregon rooting section for a pose.

A zebra was trailing them, a hand in his pocket, ready to whistle a transgression. The celebrating Ducks were saved by several assistant coaches, screaming and spewing Steadman, and were herded back to the bench before the penalty flag was pulled.

It’s the nature of the game today. Players want to celebrate, and the NFL, stuffy as the oligarchs tend to be, finally gave its imprimatur a few seasons back. Now big scores and big stops mean mini memes in the endzone.

College kids watch that foolishness.

Which brings me back to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, a true frosh from South Carolina. The wideout caught a Cunningham toss, at the 15 or so, made a cut and a feint, then blasted toward the goal line, accelerating like a Baffert dosed t-bred in the Derby.

It was his first big moment as a collegian.

So, dropping the ball dismissively, is, all things considered, a rather understated way of showing off.

Except that, ya know, ya gotta wait til you cross into paydirt.

The kid messed up. He’s 18 years old. Who among us didn’t do something similar in our youth?

He gets a pass here.

And, Coach Satt handled the situation adroitly, I think.

He put him in for the next offensive series. Called his number. I’m sure a sit down followed at some point in the locker room.

Satterfield: Ahmari, that play was unfortunate. He did the hard part, the heavy lifting was outrunning the entire defense and the easy part, anybody in this room could just carry the ball across the line, but that’s unfortunate for him. But, he still had a great night. He’s a very good playmaker with the ball in his hands. He’s got exceptional speed and quickness. It’s just a shame he didn’t get a touchdown on that particular play. 

Huggins-Bruce led the receiving corps with for 150 yards, after one subtracted.

 * * * * *

The Cards D was led by Kei’Trel Clark.

He had six tackles, five by himself. Which really doesn’t tell the story, does it?

Mark him with two picks. Only four Cardinals ever had more in a game.

The last time a Card had a couple was Trumaine Washington in ’17 at Florida State.

Satterfield: Defensively, we really had a good night. Kei’Trel Clark, in particular, I thought he played awesome out there on the edge. He had some deflections and some interceptions and some great tackles coming off those little bubble spot screens they were trying to run. 

Qwynnterrio Cole also had six stops. (Trust me, upon further mentions, he shall be simply Q.)

 * * * * *

LB/ Special Teams ace Marvin Dallas must be mentioned.

For some odd reason — let’s chalk it up to human error — the official stats don’t reflect his hit and fumble recovery at the end of a Cardinal punt play in the 1st.

It energized Louisville, which tallied its first score, on a Cunningham keep, three plays and 1:12 later.

When U of L had to punt on its next series, Dallas went all Jadeveon Clowney on the returner, whom he launched halfway back to Richmond as soon as he caught the ball.

 * * * * *

Braden Smith’s punt return was way nifty.

 * * * * *

In my weekly predictions, I said the game wouldn’t be more than a workout for the Cards.

That it was. At best.

More like an early August scrimmage than a second battle of the campaign performance.

But, as much as I truly loathe these money tussles against directionals, it was what Louisville needed.

The O Line and running game still need work.

Cunningham still hasn’t shown he’s taken the next step up.

We should learn more Friday night, when Gus Malzahn and Central “Not a Directional Anymore” Florida from the Big 12 come callin’.

— c d kaplan

4 thoughts on “Louisville CardFile: Eastern Kentucky

  1. You said it, Maven. It was a very effective scrimmage. I ain’t real optimistic when it will come down to playing REAL football teams with real big and fast football players who are coached by tacticians who qualify for George Patton’s staff.

  2. My “feeling” for this team 16% into the season….

    ….The defense is better. Ole Miss may have the best offense in the country; and if not the best, they are top 5. So long as their QB stays healthy, they can beat anybody—-perhaps even Bama and Ga if its defense doesn’t get destroyed by injury. They are not very deep on defense….

    We need to win at least one of the next two games. If we beat UCF, which is very possible if not probable, we should win against FSU—which may not be nearly as good as they looked against ND—-who also may not be very good. If we win neither, it will be a long year. One win and we probably go to a bowl; Two? Hmmmm….I would like to ponder that but until my man Cunningham learns to be a “winner” and not just a stat accumulator we will be hard pressed to pull out the close games. He has the talent; he just needs to figure out how to win—which is job one for a QB.

    The fumbler showed that he may be a weapon and we need some. I know that ball gets heavy, but he runs clean routes and seems to have good hands along with his obvious speed. Now, if we can get an RB to become a threat?????

    Where has Marshon Ford been hiding? Have we thrown to any other TE? They are always open….

    Speaking of the defense, we do seem to be rotating a lot of dudes. #97 needs to play; Yaya needs to live up to his hype. The LB’s are solid; even Faggot. The DB’s even better—they were just up against it vs. Ole Miss and I think they did about as much as they could without a pass rush against the best Rebel QB since Archie….

    The OL looked better with Hudson starting at guard. I hope Gonzalez was not hurt badly; for a true frosh, I think he has promise. Reid may be a workout warrior, but not a baller.

    I think everyone is shocked that for the first time ever (50 years?) UK actually may have a decent team that is not a one trick gimmick. Our fan base always took pride that no matter how bad we were we still were better than that steaming trash. Now, if they don’t run their RB into the ground, they could win 9/10 games. I think their “success” is one of the “many” reasons why the fan base seems intent on running Satt out of town.

    He does not need to upgrade the recruiting…or no matter how good he coaches we will never be better than mid Power 5…

  3. With all the moaning and complaining about the lines and slow service at the concessions Saturday I suggest some fans might want to follow my game plan. We always eat and drink
    BEFORE and AFTER the game. Just come to mingle and watch football and you will enjoy the “game day experience” a lot more.

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