Is This The Beginning of The End of Scott Satterfield's Tenure at Louisville?

Just two weeks ago, the Louisville football program suffered one of the worst losses of the Scott Satterfield era. Sure, there had been other games where the Cardinals had fallen by a much larger margin. But their 35-31 loss to Florida State seemed to embody every single thing that had ever gone wrong during Satterfield's tenure as Louisville's head coach.

It was a game that seemed to be a breaking point for a lot of fans, and it's hard to blame them. Penalties, turnovers, missed tackles, and an inability to finish all rear their ugly heads in the game against the Seminoles. Everything that Satterfield and Co. had vowed to fix from the season before was still on full display. I even wrote immediately afterwards that the game could have been the point of no return for Satterfield, and we just didn't know it yet.

However, there was still a blueprint for a comeback that could save the season. 

If Louisville won their next three games - vs. USF, at Boston College and at Virginia; all of which were very winnable games - they could generate a fair amount of momentum heading into the second half of the year. Winning in the second half of the year still wouldn't come easy, considering five the Cardinals' final six opponents are ranked (for now), but it would put Louisville in a much better position to maybe steal a game of two.

Louisville did their job against USF, easily dispatching a lowly Bulls team to the tune of 41-3. This was not a game you could draw a lot of conclusions about the Cardinals from, but they did seem to play with an improved amount of energy, effort and disciple. That's all you can ask for against a team like USF.

It should have been all they needed against Boston College. Prior to the matchup, you could have made a case that the Eagles were a bottom five team in all of the Power Five. They lost their season opener to a mediocre Rutgers team. They were out-scored 71-24 in their two ACC games played up to that point (at Virginia Tech and at FSU). Their one win had come against an FCS opponent, Maine, and they still did not cover the spread.

This was a golden opportunity for Louisville to capture their first win in ACC play, and continue generating momentum. Instead, the Cardinals did what they had done so many times before in the Satterfield era: they squandered it. But this time, however, it feels different, and it could very well be the turning point in Satterfield's tenure.

Entering the game as a 13.5-point favorite, Louisville found themselves on the losing end of a 34-33 stunner in Chestnut Hill. It was the Cardinals' biggest upset loss since losing 45-42 as a 19-point favorite back in to 2017 to... Boston College.

"You got to play better," Satterfield said after the game. "I mean, we can't give up 34 points, and we got to score more than that. We just got to play better, that's the bottom line. We can't give up the big play. ... Then offensively, we got to try to get more of a rhythm, and be able to go score points. Since I've been here, we've been a big play offense. One play and done, and we have not had that this year. We got to find ways to get some of those big plays."

Boston College sported one of the worst offensive lines in all of FBS football, and had struggled immensely to move the ball because of it. They ranked 118th and 126th nationally in tackles for loss allowed and sacks allowed, respectively. Their 283.2 yards per game ranked 121st, while their 59.8 rushing yards ranked 128th. Remember, there are only 131 teams at the FBS level.

This was a game in which the Louisville defense, while very much imperfect, should have feasted in. Instead, Boston College feasted on them.

Despite turning the ball over three times in the first half, the Eagles were still able to put up 449 yards of offense on the Cardinals, as well as 144 rushing yards. Both totals were season-highs for BC, even with Maine already in the real view mirror.

Their biggest issue was, once again, a failure to contain the big play. 200 of Boston College's yards came on 52 plays. The rest of their 249 yards came on just five plays: 69- and 57-yard passes to Zay Flowers, a 50-yard pass to Jaelin Gill, a 40-yard run by Alex Broome and a 33-yard run by Phil Jurkovec. In fact, BC's 13 biggest plays went for 401 yards, while the other 44 plays went for 49 yards.

"Big plays have been hindering us all year defensively," Satterfield said. "We'll stop them, stop them, stop them, and all of a sudden a big play. We got to stay on top, that's the bottom line. If you stay on top, then it's gonna be hard for teams to drive the ball on us."

Offensively, it was yet another game where Louisville just could not establish any rhythm no matter what they did. Quarterback Malik Cunningham struggled to find his receivers in the first half. Even with a three-touchdown day on the ground from Cunningham, the Cardinals struggled to run the ball, rushing for only 137 yards and a 3.6 yards per carry average.

Just when the offense seemed to get their act together in the third quarter, it all fell apart in various ways in the final 20 minutes.

Jawhar Jordan's 48-yard rushing touchdown in the closing minutes of the third quarter, one that would have put Louisville up 40-28 (with the PAT), was negated by a backside chop block penalty.

Then, on Louisville's final three drives of the game, Cunningham would be forced to sit on the sideline, and later to the locker room, with an undisclosed injury. Any semblance of offensive momentum Louisville still had from the third quarter was promptly thrown out the window.

Backup quarterback Brock Domann completed his first pass of the day for 19 yards to Marshon Ford, then whiffed on his the rest of his attempts to finish 1-of-8 for the day. Even though Cunningham had not been great that day, going 19-of-28 for 186 yards and a touchdown, he had completed eight passes in a row before exiting the game.

The defense did give up two field goals in the final eight minutes, they at least gave the offense a chance to stay in the game, and the offense couldn't do it. In fact, Louisville as a whole had every opportunity to take control of the game against Boston College, and simply could not do it.

Falling just short to Florida State is one thing, at least they've shown that they are somewhat good and a possible contender in the Atlantic Division. But Boston College? A team who was neck-and-neck with Georgia Tech for the worst team in the league? Inexcusable. I don't care that the game was on the road.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wrote after the Florida State game that it could be like the point of no return for Satterfield, and we just didn't know it yet. Now, it feels like the point of no return is actually here.

At this point, the results speak for themselves. Louisville is already 2-3 for the year, during a portion of the schedule which is the much easier than what's to come. The Cardinals are 4-6 in their last 10 games and 6-9 in their last 15 games. They're 4-7 in their last 11 ACC games, and that number is sure to plummet as the season goes on. They've been tied or leading in the fourth quarter in six of their last nine losses.

I can spit out statistics and numbers all I want, but what is most damning is that is seems that most position groups on the roster have regressed.

At quarterback, not only does Cunningham look like he has taken a step back as a thrower, but Satterfield's failure to not recruit the QB spot well is about to show up big time if he has to miss time. The offensive line hasn't dominated like they were expected to. The defensive line looked like they were the ones getting dominated at times against a woeful BC offensive line. The secondary has gotten burned and Moss'd on a weekly bases, and it was no exception against the Eagles.

After the Florida State game, you could still see a way in which Louisville and Satterfield were able to battle back, and finish the year with a respectable record given how the year began.

Now? It feels like we witnessed the true beginning of the end on Saturday. Given the performance that Louisville put together against a very bad Boston College team, in a must-win situation, I don't see a conceivable way in which Satterfield bounces back from it.

I don't know if it'll happen next week, next month, or if athletic director Josh Heird will simply wait until the end of the season to pull the trigger. But the body of work up to this point is too large to deny, and it seems like the writing is on the wall that a divorce is coming.

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