In the biggest game in school history, the Louisville Cardinals destroyed Florida State, 63-20, and placed themselves in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Make no mistake about it: Today’s contest against the Seminoles was a red-letter date in the program’s storied history. Although the Cardinals entered this game ranked in the top 10, many people felt that they were the third-best team in the ACC Atlantic behind Clemson and Florida State. Louisville needed to win this game to change that perception and to enter the ACC and national championship pictures.
That’s exactly what the Cardinals did. The UL offense took control of the game from the opening whistle, marching 75 yards in six plays to grab an early 7-0 lead. After a punt on the following drive, the Louisville offense would get into scoring position in every other drive in the first half, scoring four more touchdowns to take a 35-10 lead at the half. It would add four more touchdowns in the second half before calling the dogs off in the fourth quarter.
The Louisville defense was even better than the offense. The Cardinal front seven kept pressure on FSU’s quarterbacks all afternoon, recording five sacks and forcing a number of rushed throws. As a result of the pressure, Seminole signal callers completed just 8 of 24 passes for 113 yards and an interception.
For the afternoon, the Cardinals limited Florida State to just 284 yards of total offense and 4.82 yards per play.
This impressive victory proves that Louisville is one of the — if not the — best teams in college football this year. With Lamar Jackson under center, the Cardinal offense will be very tough to stop. Although some dismissed Jackson’s outstanding numbers because he posted them against lesser competition, he showed how dangerous of a player he is by running the read option to perfection and averaging 10.8 yards per pass attempt against one of the better defenses in the ACC. That speaks volumes about how talented he really is.
In other words: Jackson is every bit as a good as advertised — if not better. His electrifying play at quarterback, combined with an aggressive defense that frequently makes plays behind the line of scrimmage, will have the Cardinals in the hunt for the national championship this year.
