STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is taking its show on the road this bowl season.
Sunday it was announced MSU (6-6, 3-5 SEC) will head to Nashville, Tennessee Dec. 30 for the Music City Bowl against Louisville (7-5, 5-3 ACC). And while the game remains three weeks away, it’s worth taking an early look at what the Cardinals will offer when they square off against the Bulldogs at Nissan Stadium.
With that, here are a few storylines to watch over the next 21 days as MSU gears up for its second postseason meeting with Louisville since facing Heisman winner Lamar Jackson in the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl.
Same program, plenty of changes
It’s been a whirlwind two years in Kentucky’s most populous city since MSU and Louisville last met. After longtime coach Bobby Petrino — who was in his second stint at the head of the Cardinals — was fired following a 2-8 start to the 2018 season, Scott Satterfield has done wonders in his first year in charge.
The former head coach at Appalachian State, Satterfield capped his final campaign in Boone, North Carolina with a 10-2 season — one of three times his squad hit the 10-win plateau during his six years leading the Mountaineers.
And while his squad won’t reach double-digit wins this year, the Cardinals have looked like a refreshed and potentially potent program moving forward in the ever-unpredictable ACC.
After beginning the season 2-2 with losses to then-No. 9 Notre Dame and Florida State, Louisville finished its year 5-3 including wins over then-No. 19 Wake Forest and No. 24 Virginia.
So while the Cardinals are not quite at the peak of the Petrino and Charlie Strong eras in which they won seven or more games every year from 2010-2017, Satterfield has Louisville on the rebound from a disastrous 2018.
Quarterback has been a revolving door
It’s never easy to replace the guy (just ask Joe Moorhead about what it’s like taking over after Dan Mullen).
In Jawon Pass’ case, that meant following Louisville’s first ever Heisman trophy winner and NFL MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson at quarterback for the Cardinals. Entering last season, Pass was billed as an heir apparent to the current Baltimore Ravens signal-caller with his ability to make plays on the ground and through the air. But it hasn’t been simple.
After throwing for 1,960 yards and eight touchdowns in nine starts last season, he was primed for a big year in Satterfield’s new offensive system. But when Pass underwent season-ending surgery in October, the first-year head coach’s quarterback situation became muddied.
As has been the case with Tommy Stevens and Garrett Shrader in Starkville, Satterfield played a balancing act between freshman Evan Conley and redshirt sophomore Micale Cunningham to solid results.
Conley — who was rated a three-star prospect out of Marietta, Georgia — has seen limited action but offered a strong showing against Wake Forest when Cunningham went down injured.
That said, Cunningham has offered a comparable dynamism as to what was expected from Pass in 11 games this season — completing 95 of 155 passes for 1,782 yards and 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions while adding another 401 yards and six scores on the ground.
The offense has been good, the defense — not so much
For all the good Satterfield has done with the revolving quarterback room door and an offense that sat dead last in the ACC in 2018, Louisville’s defense has been a downright disaster.
Ranked No. 107 nationally in total defense and 12th in the ACC, the Cardinal’s have had issues stopping virtually everyone they’ve faced this season.
Through 12 games, Louisville has allowed 446.1 yards and 33.8 points per game. And while MSU has been anything but an offensive juggernaut — scoring 30 or more points just twice in SEC play this year — the Cardinals are a unit more than susceptible to giving up offense in droves.
Further, though Louisville has been decent against the pass (No. 8 in the ACC), it’s been abysmal in stopping the run. With the SEC’s leading rusher in junior running back Kylin Hill headlining an MSU offense that has struggled to do much of anything through the air, Moorhead’s bunch should have little trouble racking up yards on the ground come Dec. 30 in Nashville.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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