Written by Manuel DeLeon
Orlando- While everyone is making New Year’s resolutions, Louisville and LSU are making preparations for the 71st annual Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. The Orlando Citrus Bowl will be hosting its third bowl game of the season, and this game is shaping up to be the most intriguing. The biggest headline this post season by far, is the decision made by LSU running back Leonard Fournette, to forego this bowls game to prepare for the NFL draft. Fournette may garner the headlines, but the biggest star on the field come Saturday will be 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, who is the conductor of this potent Cardinal Offense.
The game will be played on the field by the players, but off the field Louisville has had its share of trouble, be it players being shot, or the NCAA investigation into the team’s involvement with former Wake Forest employee Tommy Elrod leaking team information. With distractions like that, the coaches turned to the leadership in the locker room to keep their players focused on the job at hand. The Cardinals will not be hung up on the negative things surrounding the program, but instead focus on the positive with Head Coach Bobby Petrino say “One of the things that we always focus on too is the good things that are going on and the positives. So, we have a Heisman trophy winner. We just had 16 guys graduate here at mid-year. Our guys are working extremely hard for this bowl game and doing a great job for that. So, we feel like we've got a tremendous upside and coming off a great year where we have nine years and went 7-1 in the ACC conference and we're excited about this football game.”
If the Cardinals are focusing on the positive, why not refocus my attention to the field where Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson will look to silence all naysayers who felt he ended the season below expectations. Even with the fact that they didn’t end the season the way they wanted, the Cardinals were able to solidify its place as the second best total offense totaling 537 per game. Not only does the Louisville offense put up huge numbers, they also score major points leading the nation with 45 points per game, behind the skills of Jackson and company. Though they score fast and often, this Cardinals team hasn’t faced a defense like the Tigers all year. Coach Petrino and his staff have taken notice of this stout LSU defense “Yeah. I think they'll be the most talented defense that we've went against this year. They're very physical up front and do a great job in their run gaps. Their linebackers are big and can run and are physical and they've got guys that can match up and play man
coverage. So I think just the number of snaps of man coverage that they play will be new to us than most of the people we've played this year.”
Helping Jackson attack the Tigers will be wide receiver Brandon Ratcliff, who’s the Cardinals big play receiver. Ratcliff, leads the team with 877 yards and 6 touchdowns, but Jackson spreads the ball around to multiple guys as the Cardinals top four receivers all have over 25 catches and 500 yards; so pick your poison.
LSU will come into the contest very short handed as Leonard Fournette cut his college career short to prep for the draft. I support Fournette all the way, but his team on the other hand may not, as they know Louisville is no cake walk and need all they help they can get. The offense of LSU has never been the strong point of this Tiger’s team, so losing Fournette hurts tremendously. Its may hurt but the guy providing the much needed aid is running back Derrius Guice, who actually led the team in rushing (1249 yards and 14 touchdowns) due to Fournette sitting out after injuring his ankle.
The key to LSU will be containing Lamar Jackson and the play of quarterback Danny Etling who has improved since Head Coach Ed Orgeron took over after the firing of Les Miles. Though Etling has improved, I don’t think it will be enough to defeat these hungry Cardinals whose defense is nothing to smile at as they rank 11th in the nation. Even with the 11th ranked defense the Cardinals can be passed on ranking 44th in pass defense, but the passing game of LSU scares no one. LSU wide receiver Malachi Dupre is too good of a player to have only 34 receptions for 452 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals will look to make a statement against the almighty SEC, and take some of that momentum into the recruiting process and offseason, as Florida is a hot bed for football talent. Coach Petrino know just how big this can be for his program “I feel like our recruiting is going great. We do put a lot of time in here in South Florida, Central Florida, and Northern Florida. It's really good football. We've got a number of our players that get to come here and play in front of their family and friends, so it's a big game for us.
Prediction Louisville 41-20
The game will be played on the field by the players, but off the field Louisville has had its share of trouble, be it players being shot, or the NCAA investigation into the team’s involvement with former Wake Forest employee Tommy Elrod leaking team information. With distractions like that, the coaches turned to the leadership in the locker room to keep their players focused on the job at hand. The Cardinals will not be hung up on the negative things surrounding the program, but instead focus on the positive with Head Coach Bobby Petrino say “One of the things that we always focus on too is the good things that are going on and the positives. So, we have a Heisman trophy winner. We just had 16 guys graduate here at mid-year. Our guys are working extremely hard for this bowl game and doing a great job for that. So, we feel like we've got a tremendous upside and coming off a great year where we have nine years and went 7-1 in the ACC conference and we're excited about this football game.”
If the Cardinals are focusing on the positive, why not refocus my attention to the field where Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson will look to silence all naysayers who felt he ended the season below expectations. Even with the fact that they didn’t end the season the way they wanted, the Cardinals were able to solidify its place as the second best total offense totaling 537 per game. Not only does the Louisville offense put up huge numbers, they also score major points leading the nation with 45 points per game, behind the skills of Jackson and company. Though they score fast and often, this Cardinals team hasn’t faced a defense like the Tigers all year. Coach Petrino and his staff have taken notice of this stout LSU defense “Yeah. I think they'll be the most talented defense that we've went against this year. They're very physical up front and do a great job in their run gaps. Their linebackers are big and can run and are physical and they've got guys that can match up and play man
coverage. So I think just the number of snaps of man coverage that they play will be new to us than most of the people we've played this year.”
Helping Jackson attack the Tigers will be wide receiver Brandon Ratcliff, who’s the Cardinals big play receiver. Ratcliff, leads the team with 877 yards and 6 touchdowns, but Jackson spreads the ball around to multiple guys as the Cardinals top four receivers all have over 25 catches and 500 yards; so pick your poison.
LSU will come into the contest very short handed as Leonard Fournette cut his college career short to prep for the draft. I support Fournette all the way, but his team on the other hand may not, as they know Louisville is no cake walk and need all they help they can get. The offense of LSU has never been the strong point of this Tiger’s team, so losing Fournette hurts tremendously. Its may hurt but the guy providing the much needed aid is running back Derrius Guice, who actually led the team in rushing (1249 yards and 14 touchdowns) due to Fournette sitting out after injuring his ankle.
The key to LSU will be containing Lamar Jackson and the play of quarterback Danny Etling who has improved since Head Coach Ed Orgeron took over after the firing of Les Miles. Though Etling has improved, I don’t think it will be enough to defeat these hungry Cardinals whose defense is nothing to smile at as they rank 11th in the nation. Even with the 11th ranked defense the Cardinals can be passed on ranking 44th in pass defense, but the passing game of LSU scares no one. LSU wide receiver Malachi Dupre is too good of a player to have only 34 receptions for 452 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals will look to make a statement against the almighty SEC, and take some of that momentum into the recruiting process and offseason, as Florida is a hot bed for football talent. Coach Petrino know just how big this can be for his program “I feel like our recruiting is going great. We do put a lot of time in here in South Florida, Central Florida, and Northern Florida. It's really good football. We've got a number of our players that get to come here and play in front of their family and friends, so it's a big game for us.
Prediction Louisville 41-20