2018 Louisville Cardinals football team

The 2018 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinals competed in the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They played their home games at Cardinal Stadium (previously Papa John's Cardinal Stadium) in Louisville, Kentucky. They were led by head coach Bobby Petrino until he was fired on November 11 after starting the season 2–8.[1] Lorenzo Ward was the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. They finished the season 2–10, 0–8 in ACC play to finish in last place in the Atlantic Division.

2018 Louisville Cardinals football
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionAtlantic Division
2018 record2–10 (0–8 ACC)
Head coach
Co-offensive coordinatorLonnie Galloway (3rd season)
Co-offensive coordinatorMike Summers (2nd; 7th overall season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorBrian VanGorder (1st season)
Base defense4-3
Home stadiumCardinal Stadium
(Capacity: 65,000)
2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 1 Clemson x$#^  8 –0     15 –0  
No. 15 Syracuse  6 –2     10 –3  
NC State  5 –3     9 –4  
Boston College  4 –4     7 –5  
Wake Forest  3 –5     7 –6  
Florida State  3 –5     5 –7  
Louisville  0 –8     2 –10  
Coastal Division
Pittsburgh x  6 –2     7 –7  
Georgia Tech  5 –3     7 –6  
Miami  4 –4     7 –6  
Virginia  4 –4     8 –5  
Virginia Tech  4 –4     6 –7  
Duke  3 –5     8 –5  
North Carolina  1 –7     2 –9  
Championship: Clemson 42, Pittsburgh 10
    1. – College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ – College Football Playoff participant
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

On December 4, Louisville hired Appalachian State head coach Scott Satterfield for the head coaching job.[2]

Previous season
Main article: 2017 Louisville Cardinals football team

The Louisville Cardinals finished the 2017 season 8–5 overall, 4–4 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. The Cardinals would be invited to the TaxSlayer Bowl, where they would eventually lose 27–31 to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Following the season, star quarterback Lamar Jackson would come in third place in Heisman Trophy voting, before declaring on January 5, 2018, he would be entering the 2018 NFL Draft.[3]

Offseason

Coaching changes

On January 13, 2018, the Cardinals announced the hiring of Ryan Beard as new safeties coach.[4] On January 29, 2018, the Cardinals announced the hiring of Brian VanGorder as new defensive coordinator, replacing former DC Peter Sirmon.[5] On February 2, 2018, the Cardinals announced the hiring of Grady Brown as defensive assistant and recruiting coordinator.[6]

On November 11 Louisville fired Bobby Petrino.

Departures

Notable departures from the 2017 squad included:

NameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotes
Lamar Jackson8Quarterback6'3"211JuniorPompano Beach, FloridaDeclared for 2018 NFL Draft

2019 NFL Draft
See also: 2019 NFL Draft

Cardinals who were picked in the 2019 NFL Draft:

Round Pick Player Position Team

Recruits

The Cardinals signed a total of 23 recruits.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Fred Biletnikoff Award[7] Dez Fitzpatrick WR So.
Jaylen Smith WR Sr.
John Mackey Award[8] Kemari Averett TE So.
Micky Crum TE Sr.
Lou Groza Award[9] Blanton Creque K Jr.
Wuerffel Trophy[10] Jonathan Greenard DL Jr.

ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.

Media poll (Atlantic)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Clemson1,031 (145)
2Florida State789 (1)
3NC State712 (2)
4Boston College545
5Louisville422
6Wake Forest413
7Syracuse232

Schedule

The Cardinals' 2018 schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away games, including the first game of the season being played in Orlando, Florida at Camping World Stadium, a neutral-site venue.[11] The Cardinals first non-conference game was an away game, against Alabama of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), before hosting the remaining three non-conference games; against FCS opponent Indiana State from the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), Western Kentucky of Conference USA (C-USA) and against arch-rival Kentucky of the SEC.

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 1 8:00 p.m. vs. No. 1 Alabama*
ABC L 14–51 57,280
September 8 7:00 p.m. Indiana State*
ACCN Extra W 31–7 44,520
September 15 7:30 p.m. Western Kentucky*
  • Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ACCRSN W 20–17 54,923
September 22 12:30 p.m. at Virginia
ACCRSN L 3–27 34,446
September 29 3:30 p.m. Florida State
  • Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPN2 L 24–28 52,798
October 5 7:00 p.m. Georgia Tech
  • Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ESPN L 31–66 51,658
October 13 12:30 p.m. at Boston College
ACCRSN L 20–38 31,478
October 27 12:00 p.m. Wake Forest
  • Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ACCRSN L 35–56 49,603
November 3 12:00 p.m. at No. 2 Clemson
ABC L 16–77 78,741
November 9 7:00 p.m. at No. 13 Syracuse
ESPN2 L 23–54 42,797
November 17 12:20 p.m. NC State
  • Cardinal Stadium
  • Louisville, KY
ACCN L 10–52 48,265
November 24 7:00 p.m. No. 17 Kentucky*
ESPN2 L 10–56 49,988
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

vs Alabama
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 0 7 7 14
No. 1 Crimson Tide 14 14 16 7 51
See also: 2018 Alabama Crimson Tide football team and Camping World Kickoff

Indiana State
1 2 3 4 Total
Sycamores 7 0 0 0 7
Cardinals 7 0 7 17 31
See also: 2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Western Kentucky
1 2 3 4 Total
Hilltoppers 7 7 0 3 17
Cardinals 0 3 3 14 20
See also: 2018 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football team

at Virginia
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 0 3 0 3
Cavaliers 0 6 7 14 27
See also: 2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team

Florida State
1 2 3 4 Total
Seminoles 7 0 7 14 28
Cardinals 7 14 3 0 24
See also: 2018 Florida State Seminoles football team

Georgia Tech
1 2 3 4 Total
Yellow Jackets 21 10 14 21 66
Cardinals 0 17 0 14 31
See also: 2018 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

at Boston College
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 13 7 0 0 20
Eagles 14 10 0 14 38
See also: 2018 Boston College Eagles football team

Wake Forest
1 2 3 4 Total
Demon Deacons 21 14 21 0 56
Cardinals 7 14 14 0 35
See also: 2018 Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team

at Clemson
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 3 0 6 7 16
No. 2 Tigers 14 21 28 14 77
See also: 2018 Clemson Tigers football team

at Syracuse
1 2 3 4 Total
Cardinals 0 7 7 9 23
No. 13 Orange 7 30 7 10 54
See also: 2018 Syracuse Orange football team

NC State
1 2 3 4 Total
Wolfpack 7 10 21 14 52
Cardinals 3 0 0 7 10
See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team

Kentucky
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 17 Wildcats 14 21 0 21 56
Cardinals 7 3 0 0 10
See also: 2018 Kentucky Wildcats football team and Governor's Cup (Kentucky)

References
  1. http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/25242973/bobby-petrino-fired-louisville-cardinals-coach
  2. "Scott Satterfield era at Louisville brings a needed infusion of belief". The Courier-Journal.
  3. "Louisville QB Lamar Jackson intends to enter 2018 NFL Draft". NFL. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  4. "Football Names Ryan Beard to Coach Safeties". University of Louisville Athletics. 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  5. "VanGorder Selected to Lead the Louisville Defense". University of Louisville Athletics. 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  6. "Grady Brown Named Defensive Assistant, Recruiting Coordinator". University of Louisville Athletics. 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  7. "2018 Biletnikoff Award Watch List". July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  8. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  9. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  10. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  11. "2018 Schedule". GoCards.com. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
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