By Ed Peak
There is no question quarterback Malik Cunningham is the face of University of Louisville football this season. He showed up Wednesday at Atlantic Coast Conference Media Days wearing an all red outfit with red tennis shoes.
“I take pride in fashion,” said Cunningham. “Not just being the quarterback it’s the type of person I am. I’m big on that type of stuff. I like to feel good, play good, and look good. I feel like I look good. I’m sure a lot of you do too.”
While the red suit drew raves, it was the $900 Prada shoes that drew most attention. “The shoes definitely makes the fit and it was a no-brained. I had to get these,” he pointed out.
If the senior plays as good as he dresses the Cards are in for quite a season. Cunningham improved considerably last season. He cut his turnovers from 15 to six. He has started 38 games and played in 46 during his career. He has passed for 7,889 yards and 61 touchdowns. He is second for a quarterback in UofL history running for 38 touchdowns. Last season he connected on 62 percent of his passes near his career percentage of 62.7 percent.
“This season I want 10 wins for sure,” said Cunningham who was recently named to tho the Davey O’Brien Watchlist. “Just being consistent. That’s been the biggest thing that coach Sat (Satterfield) has been preaching to me and all the other coaches. Consistency has been the biggest thing for me this off-season.”
Cunningham leads seven returning starters on offense. An offense that should score a lot of points.
“Considering the style of play that I have, passing the ball has been very — I’ve tried to pattern my game around that because I’ve been runnin* for a long time and just being consistent for the most part and just trust my receivers. When it’s not there of course, I’m going to take off and run. That’s just the ability that god gave me. I can’t do nothing about that.”
Neither can opposing defenses. Hopefully.