LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's not much love available for quarterbacks in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It's all Trevor Lawrence, all the time. That's understandable. The man won the national championship as a freshman and took Clemson back to the finals of the college football playoffs this season.
If we have a season in 2020, look for Clemson and Lawrence to suck all the oxygen out of the room.
The wise guys like Lawrence or Justin Fields of Ohio State as their picks for the Heisman Trophy.
Even the people looking for an alternative to Lawrence in the Atlantic Coast Conference are not looking toward Micale Cunningham, the underrated quarterback at Louisville.
It's not a concern for Cunningham as he prepares for his junior season. His focus is returning to U of L Monday, the day the first of 30 selected players from coach Scott Satterfield's team will be permitted on campus.
After 11 days of quarantine, voluntary drills will begin with that 30-player group. Cunningham said he can't wait. He said that is the same outlook he has heard from teammates in his chat groups.
Cunningham said that he intends to follow all the required protocols -- social distancing, masks, gloves, remaining on campus.
Neither he nor his mother is concerned that he will put himself at unnecessary risk to the novel corona virus. He said he had faith in the U of L training staff and medical teams.
"Everybody wants to come back," he said. "It's crazy how much we miss each other."
The Athlon Sports college football yearbook will arrive on newsstands next Tuesday. Lawrence is the first team ACC pick. Sam Howell, the sophomore at North Carolina, is the second team pick. D'Eriq King, a transfer from Houston to Miami, is No. 3.
The numbers suggest Cunningham has reasons to fuss. He completed nearly 63 percent of his throws last season with 22 touchdowns and only five picks. He also ran for six touchdowns and 482 yards.
His quarterback rating last season (194.44) easily eclipsed Lawrence (165.75) and Howell (160.25) in the ACC.
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Cunningham also averaged more yards per passing attempt, a solid statistic used to evaluate quarterbacks.
Get this: Lawrence and Howell averaged about a touchdown pass on 9 percent of their passing attempts. Cunningham's productivity was one TD pass on better than 12 percent of his throws.
Cunningham won't get the magazine covers. But he should continue to get the victories.
Louisville delivered as the Most Improved Power Five team in the country last season by upgrading from 2-10 to 8-5.
Athlon forecasts another second-place finish in the ACC Atlantic with the Cards going 5-3 in the league and 8-4 overall while earning the No. 30 rankings nationally and a Belk Bowl appearance against Minnesota.
"Things like that (individual) accolades, I really don't look into those types of things," Cunningham said. "I'm more of a team guy.
"I'm worried about how my team is doing. How I can get those guys better. How they can make me better.
"How I see those types of things, it's crazy because Lamar (Jackson, the former U of L Heisman Trophy winner) told me a story kind of like that. They would ask him about things like that.
"He would just keep it calm, cool and collected. You can't pay attention to things like that. … those type of things are for the media and the (awards) committees … I'm just going to go out there and try to play my game, try to make my teammates better, try to win a championship together as one."
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