Opponent Breakdown: Eastern Kentucky Offense

Scott Satterfield has built up some goodwill on Monday night when his team went out and competed for the full game against Notre Dame. On Saturday, he’ll have to show fans that he and his staff can make adjustments and improve from game to game. Bryan Brown’s defense gave up a substantial amount of rushing yards and he will have the perfect opponent to fix those issues this weekend in Eastern Kentucky.

The EKU offense is very run heavy as they ran the ball over 500 times last year while only throwing it 290 times. Conor Blount will start at quarterback for the Colonels after completing about half of his passes last week. Blount is a transfer from Oregon State where he walked on but saw game action last season. Blount can run a bit but left a lot to be desired passing the ball last week against a bad Valparaiso team. Louisville should be able to contain him while ironing out some issues they had against Ian Book on Monday.

The EKU running game is the focus of the offense with two running backs that averaged well over 15 yards per carry each last week. Daryl McClesky will get the start with Andrew Booth coming in to spell him. McClesky had a good game last week as the smaller and quicker back of the duo but Booth went off for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns. Booth is 250 pounds and I think he runs pretty well for that size. Louisville might not have issues with the Colonel offense but they will have an opportunity to take on the challenge of tackling a big running back.

The EKU receivers didn’t make an impact last week and I think Louisville will have an opportunity to play more aggressively in the secondary this week. Matt Wilcox is the only receiver to average double figures in yards per catch last week and he’s likely the most talented receiver on the roster. Wilcox started his career at Bowling Green State before heading to Independence College and appearing on Last Chance U last year. BK Smith and Jaelin Carter will both be playing in front of their hometown crowd but I don’t expect either to be real threats.

The Colonels run the ball a ton but they will spread the field with their formations. The offensive line plays in space with the width of the offense and has to block in that space. The line has good size with the majority of the starters being 300 pounds or more. I think Louisville should see some success with their disruptive scheme. The line doesn’t seem to move all too well and could have a lot of problems with the quickness UofL has up front.