FSU football: 3 things to look for in Louisville/UCF game

FSU football fans watched Louisville get blown out in their season opener against Syracuse last week. FSU beat Syracuse last year, and that’s the game fans expect to win again in 2022.

Louisville was the bigger test on paper and arguably the most important game on the schedule because FSU needed to come out of their first three games with a 2-1 record at the worst.

After defeating LSU, the Noles have a great shot at starting the season 3-0, with a bye week to prepare for the Louisville game.

The good news is we get to watch Louisville Friday night when they travel to UCF. It’s an opportunity to see if the Syracuse game was a fluke, or if Louisville’s defense is that bad.

Here are three things to look for when the Cardinals take on UCF:

• Can Louisville stop the run at all?
• The play of Malik Cunningham
• Will Louisville lay down at the first sign of adversity?

Syracuse averaged 5.2 yards per rush against Louisville in week one, and the Cardinals allowed 4.36 yards per rush last season. Syracuse All-Conference running back Sean Tucker had 100 rushing yards on 19 attempts, and QB Garrett Shrader had 94 yards on 16 attempts. FSU has a dynamic running attack and a mobile quarterback that do damage.

Malik Cunningham didn’t play poorly against Syracuse aside from two interceptions. He completed over 70 percent of his passes, but those two interceptions came on back-to-back possessions, with the latter leading to a Syracuse touchdown that put the game out of reach at 24-7 early in the fourth quarter.

However, 90 of his 152 passing yards came on two plays, so Louisville’s offense continues to have explosiveness. They averaged 6.68 yards per play against Syracuse, with the difference in the game the three turnovers. I don’t expect UCF to have an elite defense, but it could be a good indicator of how effective Louisville’s offense can be.

Will Louisville quit on Scott Satterfield if they get down early again on the road? If the offense isn’t clicking early, or they continue to turn the ball over? They might and will face a similar offense in UCF compared to what they saw from Syracuse. Louisville enters the game as +5.5 betting underdogs. The game will air on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night.