Louisville Football: 3 takeaways from shutout win over Syracuse

2. Syracuse’s offense had no spark

Throughout the 2020 season, the Syracuse Orange have been struggling to find any form of consistency on the offensive side of the ball. They have scored more than 24 points just once this season. The Cardinals have been known to showcase their strong presence of productivity on the defensive side of the ball.

The Cardinals found no problems stopping Syracuse as it could not find ways to drive the ball down the field or create some spark. The Cardinals held Syracuse to only 137 total yards with 45 of them coming from the passing game. They also held the Orange to 92 rushing yards on 25 carries for an average of 3.7 yards per rush. Nose tackle Jared Goldwire accounted for two tackles for loss, one sack and one quarterback hurry.

The Orange were held to only 1-of-10 third-down conversions. Louisville forced three turnovers and Syracuse was suffocated often by the Cardinals so much so that it could not reach the red zone throughout the entire game.

This was one of the most impactful performances by Louisville’s defense in some time. They were able to shut down the inefficient passing game of Syracuse from all over the field. They were even able to get into the face of the quarterback or create chaos in the backfield. Louisville’s defense accounted for four tackles for loss and three sacks.