Louisville Football: 5 reasons why Cardinals will stink in 2017

2. A penalty-prone team will see too much yellow again in 2017

In 2016, Louisville was one of the most penalized teams in the country. The Cardinals averaged nearly eight penalties and over 70 penalty yards per game. That lack of discipline cost them dearly in terms of field position.

In losses to Clemson and Houston, the Cardinals were flagged for more than 100 lost yards in each game. Momentum-killing penalties were one thing that Petrino’s staff seemed incapable of coaching out of the roster last season. The utter lack of discipline was surely the difference between victory and defeat at least once, and even in wins the Cardinals were guilty of boneheaded gaffes.

Part of that is the result of an inexperienced offensive line. That issue won’t get any better in 2017. Neither will the mistakes on defense, especially with the unit learning the schemes of a new defensive coaching group. Experience can only teach away so much intuition.

There is certainly room for improvement from Louisville’s sub-120th rankings in all FBS penalty rankings. But it is hard to imagine that the team is going to flip a complete 180 in terms of its discipline. That means that Louisville is going to cough up yards and potentially leave some points on the board because of their missteps and infractions.