Louisville Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win over Florida State

Louisville football desperately needed a win on Saturday over a Florida State team coming off a big win and the Cardinals got just that.

Finally, Louisville got just what it needed: a win. After opening the season with a victory over Western Kentucky, the Cardinals had lost four straight games and nearly pulled off an upset over Notre Dame last week. They took down Florida State 48-16 on Saturday.

The game wasn’t all that close, either. The Cardinals were up 31-14 at halftime and the Florida State offense wouldn’t score another point as the defense added a safety in the second half.

Louisville finally looked like the team we all expected before the season and that was refreshing for the fans who were clinging onto hope for a 2020 turnaround.

OK, so 2-4 isn’t the best record, but a Florida State win could be a massive momentum swing.

What did we learn from the Cardinals’ blowout win?

3. Javian Hawkins is elite

In case you didn’t already know, Javian Hawkins deserves the label of “elite” after another sparkling performance on Saturday afternoon.

The sophomore running back had 519 yards and three touchdowns on 5.2 yards per touch entering the Florida State game which was one of the better totals in the nation, but all he did was add 174 yards and three more scores on 16 carries. He averaged over 10 yards per carry throughout the game and looked like a legit star.

Florida State’s defense isn’t all that impressive this season, but Hawkins continues to show why he’s one of the best backs in the nation.