Louisville football has lofty expectations coming into the 2016-17 season. They are lead by Sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson and star defensive end DeVonte Fields.
Many are predicting the Cardinals to have an outstanding season and they deserve that kind of hype. Here’s why this season will be special for the Cardinals under Bobby Petrino.
Is Jackson a Heisman darkhorse?
The Heisman trophy is the most prestigious award in college football and now, Jackson is being considered to be a possible finalist. He was very inconsistent last season as a Freshman, but had his coming out party against Texas A&M when he lead the Cardinals to a victory with 227 yards passing, 226 yards rushing and four total touchdowns. He was able to show his raw talent on a national stage against a premier program and the college football world took notice after that performance.
Jackson has been really working on his pocket presence this offseason and during the spring game, he had 519 yards passing and eight touchdowns. Jackson still has two more seasons left at Louisville at least and this season, he’ll need to defeat either Clemson or Florida State to get into that Heisman conversation. The entire Louisville season could lie on his shoulders for the entire season.
Building on momentum
The Cardinals went 7-5 last season and then defeated Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl 27-21. UofL lost their first three games by a combined 16 points against Auburn, Houston, and Clemson. They’ve lost to Clemson and Florida State every season since joining the ACC but have always been right there at the end of the game to clinch the victory.
It hasn’t happen yet, but this might be the season for the Cardinals to finally beat their old foes. Clemson and Florida St. are both top five preseason teams but this is arguably the most talented UofL team since Teddy Bridgewater was a Cardinal. Houston is still on the schedule and is a preseason top 15 team as well. Louisville won their last six of their last seven games toward the end of the season to get to that bowl game.
Predicting the season
This year will be extremely tough for the Cardinals but they will have a bounce back season. It’s one of the toughest schedules in years but this could be the year Louisville erupts. DeVonte Fields is a preseason 2nd-Team All-American and will anchor this Cardinal defense. Lamar Jackson will just miss the cut for the final five players chosen as the Heisman trophy finalists but he’ll be in New York his junior season.
Louisville will knock off Florida State and Houston this season but lose a close one against Clemson to finish the season 11-1 and be in the top ten for most of the season. This might be a young team but they are ready to have one of the greatest seasons at Louisville ever.