LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Preseason college football coverage is a journey into the great unknown. A great many preseason stories are based on hearsay evidence. What the coaches say. What the players say.
Scrimmages? Often closed. Practices, you can see the early periods, when teams run through drills or work as position groups, but rarely actual contact periods.
If there are contact periods, anymore.
Keep all that in mind while reading this latest University of Louisville football scrimmage report, which differs from the last scrimmage report in that the offense fared a little better. (Or, perhaps the defense fared a little worse, depending on where you stand on the glass being half-full or half-empty.)
In the club's scrimmage two weeks ago, there were murmurs when it was learned that it took the offense more than 100 plays to score.
Satterday Scrimmage 🤝 Slow Motion#GoCards pic.twitter.com/kDD4mtO0gk
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) August 21, 2021
After a scrimmage this past Saturday, Louisville coach Scott Satterfield said that there was little cause for concern.
"You can say we didn't score in 100 or whatever plays (last week), but, I mean, when you're out there playing, we're just calling plays on offense, not trying to scheme the defense on anything," said Satterfield, who is doubling as offensive coordinator this season. "We're not looking in that regard. Sometimes we're calling plays because I want to see a certain player touch the ball, or how a tight end is going to do with this particular block. Some of that gets misconstrued when you look at it. Even across the country, most coaches are trying just to look at certain players and certain things and not just trying to score. So, I don't put a lot of stock into some of that."
Regardless, when the Cardinals hit the field for a 98-play scrimmage on Saturday that included full special teams situations, the offense managed to find the end zone, and quickly.
"I thought they (the offense) did much better," Satterfield said. "The offense the first drive took it down and scored a touchdown, I think it was a seven- or eight-play drive on the first drive to get it in there. And throughout the scrimmage I thought they did some really good stuff. I thought (Malik) Cunningham played well today -- decision-making was good, got rid of the football, made some big plays. I thought it was probably more of a well-balanced scrimmage, when you look at it from that perspective, offense and defense. It's hard to really say."
Perhaps it helped that a number of offensive players were protected from tackling by wearing orange jerseys. Although some of them said it may have actually limited their ability to make plays. They come back to the huddle after a play is blown dead and say, "I was going to score on that."
Among names on offense that keep being dropped are a couple of new ones – junior transfer wideout Jaelin Carter and freshman running back Trevion Cooley.
Carter transferred from Eastern Kentucky and is a walk-on at receiver, but has been making some highlight-reel plays in practice and even had one released by the team's social media account. He didn't show up on the preseason two-deep released in the team's media guide, but could well show up when play begins next month.
In the category of “how’d he do that?”…#GoCards pic.twitter.com/8U7dBggpU0
— Louisville Football (@UofLFootball) August 19, 2021
"A guy like Carter, who has come on really strong the last couple of days, got some opportunities today," Satterfield said after the scrimmage. ". . . He just got here the last semester so for him it's been a learning curve. But he's got a lot of ability. He's got that great size. You take his shirt off he is rocked up. A very mature body. He's got really good hands and he is fast. And I tell you what else he does, he practices fast. We track all our players with the catapult system. He's one of these who practices really fast and is going for a long period of time. He's a guy who I think will benefit once we start narrowing everything down and game-planning. He's going to be in the mix. He's not scared to mix it up blocking. And he's a guy who can knock the top off, you know. And we saw the other day in practice when he made a great catch, went over the top of somebody and made a catch and we put it out on social media. He's got a lot of ability."
Cooley is a true freshman out of Knightdale, N.C., where he skipped his final season of high school football to enroll at Louisville, where he was one of the most highly ranked recruits in the Cardinals' class.
"He's coming on strong," Satterfield said. "He'll be a contributor this year no question about it for us. He's had a great camp for us. He's a good combination of size and power. He's a 206, 208-pound back, but he can go. His vision has been good, he can catch the ball out of the backfield, he's protected well. So he's done a lot of great things and he'll play. He'll be in the rotation."
The Cards have had a welcome presence in practice in recent days, with Josh Minkins Jr. was cleared for more reps coming off an injury. He started eight games at safety last season and is expected to play a key role in the secondary.
Probably the most important thing Satterfield said after Saturday's scrimmage involved his team's approach to the scrimmage. He liked the focus he saw in preparation. He liked the camaraderie among many of the position groups. He seems to genuinely like his team.
"For where we are, we're almost 2 weeks out until we play, I feel good about our first units, really all the way across the board, offense defense and kicking game," he said. "I think we do have a lot of players who can help. We have a lot of team speed. We've got some young guys, but they can run, and they're in the mix. We had a walk-through (Friday) and went through all four phases, ones and twos, and everybody was so intent on what they had to do. A lot of times you don't get that. Particularly when you're looking at the tenth practice in camp, on a walk-through. But the focus was there, and I really liked that and appreciated that from our guys, and it just tells you they're in tune with what's happening."
As for the rest, we just have to stay tuned. Louisville opens its season on Sept. 6 in an 8 p.m. ESPN matchup against No. 25 Ole Miss in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
