Louisville football hosts EKU Saturday. Both schools are looking for a signature win.
When Louisville and Eastern Kentucky face off at Cardinal Stadium on Saturday night, both teams will be looking to secure a signature win.
For U of L, a victory would be the first under new head coach Scott Satterfield, who joined the program after compiling a 51-24 record in six seasons at Appalachian State. Should the Colonels prevail, it would be the type of marquee win that has so far eluded them during the tenure of fourth-year coach Mark Elder.
Last week Louisville opened the season with a 35-17 home loss to No. 9 Notre Dame, but the Cardinals hung tough with the Fighting Irish through most of the game, trailing by seven at halftime and 11 early in the fourth quarter. It was an encouraging effort from a squad that melted down during a brutal 2-10 campaign last year under Bobby Petrino, who was fired with two games left in the season after the Cardinals dropped their seventh game in a row.
“We were in the game until late in the game and that just gives the guys enough confidence,” Satterfield said this week. “And that’s what I like about it to say, ‘hey, this is working, let’s just keep on doing what we’re doing and not change anything.”
Eastern Kentucky kicked off the season with an eye-opening victory, dominating Valparaiso in Richmond, 53-7. The 46-point margin was the biggest for the Football Championship Subdivision Colonels over a fellow FCS opponent in 14 years. Going back to last season, the Colonels have won five games in a row and are 11-6 in their last 17 games. Their roster features more than two dozen players from Louisville and surrounding areas.
EKU piled up 333 rushing yards and averaged 8.5 yards per carry against Valpo. Alonzo Booth led the charge with 128 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries. EKU held Valpo to 68 rushing yards, but the Colonels will likely face a much stiffer test against Louisville, their only Football Bowl Subdivision opponent this season. The Cardinals ran for 249 yards against Notre Dame, and had they not turned the ball over three times they might have had a real shot to spring the upset.
“We’ll work on ball security, obviously, as we move forward,” Satterfield said after the Notre Dame loss. “We talk about the turnover margin; we have to win that, tonight we didn’t. That’s probably the difference in the outcome of the game quite honestly. If you don’t fumble right there at the half, and they (don’t) score those seven, then it’s a ball game.”
Louisville leads the all-time series with EKU 18-8-1. The Colonels’ last victory over the Cardinals came in 1985, when they won 45-21. Louisville has won all three matchups since, including a 44-7 victory when the teams last met in 2013.
Encouraging as EKU’s performance was last Thursday, Elder knows Louisville poses a bigger challenge even while rebuilding. Elder reviewed film of Satterfield’s Appalachian State teams to prepare for a Cardinals squad that’s similar to the Mountaineers in many ways.
“There are some new wrinkles and some things that they did a little bit different,” Elder said. “They showed a little bit more than previously. We’re going to have to make some adjustments, but we’ve got a pretty good idea of what they’re going to do.”
Saturday
Eastern Kentucky at Louisville
When: 7 p.m.
Live video broadcast: ACC Network Extra (online only)
Records: Eastern Kentucky 1-0, Louisville 0-1
Series: Louisville leads 18-8-1
Last meeting: Louisville won 44-7 on Sept. 7, 2013, in Louisville.
