SI.com
By David Burns:
Louisville’s Suffocating Defense – A Stat Review
Previously, we looked at the devastating effects Louisville’s offense has had on opponents’ defensive stats. Today, we are going to look at Louisville’s top 10 defense and how that affects opponents’ offensive stats.
The following charts show Louisville’s previous 9 opponents’ current offensive ranks. It then shows the results of their matchup with Louisville. We then take out the Louisville game to see where these teams would be… had they not had the pleasure of taking on the Cards. We also calculate the difference that 1 game had on each team.
Scoring Offense
| Team | Rank | PPG | vs LOU | Diff | Adj Rank | Diff | Adj PPG |
| Charlotte | 81 | 26.2 | 14 | -12.2 | 70 | -11 | 27.8 |
| Syracuse | 100 | 23.7 | 28 | +4.3 | 106 | +6 | 23.1 |
| Florida St | 41 | 33.6 | 20 | -13.6 | 33 | -13 | 35.3 |
| Marshall | 67 | 28.3 | 28 | -.3 | 66 | -1 | 28.4 |
| Clemson | 21 | 38.6 | 42 | +3.4 | 24 | +3 | 38.1 |
| Duke | 92 | 24.1 | 14 | -10.1 | 87 | -5 | 25.4 |
| NC State | 83 | 26 | 13 | -13 | 69 | -14 | 27.6 |
| Virginia | 87 | 25.4 | 25 | -.4 | 86 | -1 | 25.5 |
| BC | 122 | 19.3 | 7 | -12.4 | 118 | -4 | 21 |
| Averages | -6 | -4.4 |
- On average, Louisville’s defense holds opponents to 6 points below what they usually score.
- Playing Louisville will drop your scoring offense ranking by an average of 4.4 spots.
Total Offense
| Team | Rank | YPG | vs LOU | Diff | Adj Rank | Diff | Adj YPG |
| Charlotte | 77 | 391.6 | 208 | -183.6 | 55 | -22 | 418.5 |
| Syracuse | 38 | 463.4 | 414 | -49.4 | 35 | -3 | 469.6 |
| Florida St | 34 | 470.3 | 284 | -186.3 | 22 | -12 | 493.6 |
| Marshall | 113 | 348.7 | 207 | -141.7 | 104 | -9 | 366.4 |
| Clemson | 24 | 488.4 | 507 | +18.6 | 26 | +2 | 486.1 |
| Duke | 74 | 398.9 | 239 | -159.9 | 54 | -20 | 418.9 |
| NC State | 63 | 408 | 250 | -158 | 48 | -15 | 427.8 |
| Virginia | 105 | 365.6 | 322 | -43.6 | 102 | -3 | 371 |
| BC | 124 | 312.1 | 207 | -105.4 | 123 | -1 | 325.3 |
| Averages | -112.1 | -9.2 |
- On average, Louisville holds opponents to 112.1 yards below what they typically gain.
- Playing Louisville will drop your total offense ranking by an average of 9.2 spots!
The Next 3 Games
If we take the averages from the first 9 games and apply them to the next 3 games…this is what we get:
| Opponent | Opponent score | Louisville Score | Opponent yards | Louisville yards |
| Wake Forest | 15 | 40 | 219 | 560 |
| Houston | 32 | 44 | 359 | 490 |
| Kentucky | 21 | 52 | 278 | 616 |
Conclusion
Louisville currently has the #21 scoring offense (21.2 ppg) and the #8 total offense (293.1 ypg). Playing Louisville has some negative effects on your offensive rankings. It is important to note that these numbers could be much higher. Louisville’s starters have only played 3 full games. In the other 6 games, Louisville starters sat the 4th quarter. In a couple of those games, they sat the 3rd quarter. You don’t want these Cards!
RED RAGE TAILGATE 