Louisville Football: Defense shines in win over Florida State

Louisville football traveled to Tallahassee to take on Florida State in Week 8. What did we learn from the battle of two middle-of-the-pack ACC teams?

This was supposed to be a pivotal game in the ACC Atlantic race. Instead Florida State is without their starting quarterback and Louisville is 1-3 in conference play. Rather that playing for a division title, these two schools met on Saturday hoping to secure a spot in a respectable bowl game. Regardless of the stakes, these two teams have no love lost for each other and had plenty of reasons to want a victory in Week 8.

Both of these teams have been locked in close games and this contest was no different. Florida State and Louisville were tied at 7-7, 14-14, and 28-28. It was the Cardinals defense that stepped up late, forcing a turnover and getting the ball back to their offense with two minutes remaining in the game. Louisville would drive the length of the field to kick the game winning field goal and give the Cardinals a narrow 31-28 victory.

Louisville improved to 5-3 (2-3 ACC). Florida State falls to 2-4 (2-3 ACC). It wasn’t the prettiest game, but there were plenty of things to takeaway from the Cardinals win over Florida State on Saturday. Here are three things that stood out the most.