Louisville’s offense has kept them in games that some think the Cardinals have no business being a part of. Largely thanks to Malik Cunningham, this offense is versatile and scary from a variety perspectives. Let’s take a look at what Louisville has been doing well offensively so far this season:
Quarterback
Malik Cunningham so far has been the star of this offense. The junior starting QB through 6 games has been throwing for 263 yards per game, rushing for 58 yards per game, and has scored 18 total TDs either through the air (8) or on the ground (10). Cunningham is a versatile player and will be hard for the Boston College offense to contain. He’s no Lamar Jackson, who Eagles fans will remember gave BC a 52-7 drubbing and scored 7 TDs back in the 2016 BC-Louisville match-up, but Cunningham can still facilitate around the field and has quietly been one of the better QBs in the ACC this season.
Running backs
When Malik Cunningham, Louisville’s 2nd best rusher, isn’t running the ball, you can expect RB Jalen Mitchell to be taking hand-offs in the backfield for the most part. So far this season, Mitchell has been averaging 60 yards per game on the ground and about 12 yards per game through the air. Other RBs like Hassan Hall and Trevion Cooley give Louisville a deep backfield that have allowed the team to run 180+ yards per game this season overall. The ground game is where this Cardinals offense shines, which may be bad news for BC’s weakest position group in the interior.
Receivers
Louisville’s receivers aren’t anything to scoff at either. They have 6 players that are raking in 10+ yards per catch and many of them doing it at a high volume. TE Marshon Ford, WR Jordan Watkins, WR Tyler Harrell, WR Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, and WR Justin Marshall are all players with over 10 catches, and 4/5 of them have 200+ yards this season so far. Ford and Watkins are solidly the TE1 and WR1, but any of these depth players could be threats on any play. Louisville’s great run game has largely been aided by the competence and depth of this receiving group to stretch the field.