Louisville Football: What’s a realistic outcome for Cardinals in 2019?

Can the offense take strides forward after a rough 2018?

Uh, hopefully the offense is better. It was ugly last year, and that’s putting it lightly.

• The Cardinals ranked 122nd nationally in scoring at 19.8 points per game.
• They ranked 102nd in rushing at 141.5 yards per game.
• They ranked 89th in passing at 211.1 yards per game.
• And finally, they ranked 109th in the country in total offense, averaging 352.6 yards per game.

So yeah, it wasn’t great. and there are multiple layers to this. The offensive line was bad, the running game was inconsistent, and the quarterback position was a game of musical chairs between former four-star recruit Jawon “Puma” Pass and Malik Cunningham.

At the time of drafting this article, Louisville has not chosen a starting quarterback for the Labor Day night opener against Notre Dame, but a decision is expected soon.

No matter who ends up being QB1, the turnovers will need to be cleaned up heading into 2019. The Cards were bad enough offensively to begin with a year ago, but when combining their existing issues with the turnovers, where at -12 in margin, Louisville was ranked 125th nationally, there is no room for error.

Cleaning up the turnovers will go a long way, and consistency on the offensive line will be step one towards turning this thing back in the right direction. Scott Satterfield-led offenses have been historically run-heavy in the past, so expect that trend to continue heading into the season.

Hassan Hall returns as the team’s lead back, but he only had a hair over 300 yards rushing a year ago with three touchdowns. He’ll need to improve, but once again, the consistency on the offensive line will have much to do with the potential of Hall and the path for improvement.

When Louisville does put the ball in the air, there are plenty of returning receivers who can make plays on the outside. The receiving corps is the strength of the team, as even though the Cardinals lost leading receiver Jaylen Smith to graduation, they retain Seth Dawkins, Chatarius Atwell, and Seth Dawkins. The trio combined for 80 catches, 1,157 yards, and six touchdowns among the three of them.

It was a rough go of it a year ago in the final season under Bobby Petrino for the offense, but there’s still enough talent to make 2019 a better year.