Louisville moved to 3-0 on the season with a convincing win over Bowling Green on Saturday. The Cards got an improved performance from Miller Moss as well as a strong showing from the defense. For all that the team improved on, the offensive line was still an issue. Special teams was also great with a touchdown return for a touchdown and a long kickoff return from Caullin Lacy. I broke down some plays below that stood out to me throughout the game.
You’re going to sense a theme in this review, and
it is poor offensive line play. Jeff Brohm decided to muscle up on a third and short, but Jordan Church gets stoned at the point of attack, and Keyjuan Brown gets hit by two guys and can’t fall forward. The staff made some adjustments to the starting group, but the results weren’t that impressive.
This was such a beautiful play design by Bowling Green that I audibly gasped in my living room. This is a jet sweep GT counter, and I’m fairly certain I’ve never seen it before. The goal is to get the defense flowing one way with a lead blocker to draw more eyes while you pull your guard and tackle to create a backside running lane. They executed it so well and got a good gain out of it.
Louisville actually defended this really well with the linebackers playing with good eyes to see the counter action. The backside players stay home and get downhill to meet the blockers, while the front side players don’t get too wide to the point that they can’t get into the play. Tayon Holloway does well to beat his block and make the tackle before this play went for more yardage.
I still have some concerns about how the Cards defend the middle of the field, but this play also gives me concerns about how they defend when the pass rush isn’t effective. Drew Pyne has all day to throw here, and he gets to stand tall and wait for his tight end to break free across the middle of the field.
This is a pretty basic play action pass, but Khalib Perry and Corey Gordon both bite hard and then fail to get enough depth in their drops. This is the type of play from the second level of the defense that has to improve going forward. This is where teams attacked them last year, and it’s vital that they can defend here because it’s how teams sustain drives.
During the open spring practices this year, I watched Antonio Watts make this exact play, where he dropped into a deeper coverage because the player in the flat wasn’t a threat. Watts is responsible for the back running out to the sideline, but instead of crashing down to close the space, he turns his hips and keeps his eyes on the quarterback. He then floats in an area where he can play both players, and then he takes advantage of a terrible decision.
This is a great play design by Jeff Brohm to get his fast guy on the edge running full speed. This is a basic stretch right motion from everyone but Caullin Lacy and Mak Pounders, who fakes like he is blocking to the right, only to double back to the left to be a lead blocker down the sideline.
The goal here is the same as Bowling Green’s jet sweep counter I clipped above. Getting the defense to flow the wrong way gives your runner an advantage because everyone is chasing. This is more effective, in my opinion, because you have Lacy at top speed as soon as he gets the ball.
This is a poor effort from Rasheed Miller at left guard. He just dips his head and blindly runs past the player he is supposed to block, and then turns around to watch the play. The only player on the line who completes their block is number 91, who I believe is Trevonte Sylvester. Everyone else fails to get push, gets beaten to the spot, or just gets manhandled. Some of this is just “want to”. They’re not firing off the ball like they need to, which is leading to them being stoned at the line and the running backs having nowhere to go.
Lance Robinson is showing more effort and fight here after the play is over than he has during the actual plays. I found it to be really silly to see him celebrate this like he had done something good, as well. Nate Kurisky’s reaction says it all.
Mahamane Moussa gets worked here by a blitzing linebacker whom he is heads up with. They play this well with Moussa passing off the last man on the line to the tight end pulling with the play action, but then he just doesn’t move his feet and lets the linebacker get inside of him for a free run to Miller Moss. There are too many times where the line looks disoriented, but the issues are magnified when you also have plays like this by individual players.
This is my stuff right here. Just an outstanding play by DeAngelo Hutchinson to read the play and the quarterback before making a nice catch for an interception. Hutch has his eyes on the quarterback at the snap and sees that the ball will be coming out quickly. He then turns to see the route and realizes the running back is going upfield. In an instant, he gets his head around and then attacks the football. This is exactly what you want to see from your veteran defenders.
Three of the offensive linemen on this play end up not blocking anyone, with the player they are responsible for ending up getting in on the tackle. The left side of the line ends up allowing their guys to beat them across their face, which is essentially a sin in offensive line play. Jordan Church and Pete Nygra seem to be set up for a double team here, but they end up splitting a bit, which allows the defensive tackle to penetrate and close the hole.
I try not to be overly negative in these posts, but there were only a few plays in this game where the line blocked effectively in the run game. Keyjuan Brown took advantage, but he also had to work for yardage on some plays where he just did not have space to run. The line has to get better, quickly.
This was another really nice play design with the flea flicker, with a run off by the outside receiver and Jaleel Skinner leaking out behind it. Chris Bell is lined up tight inside Skinner, and he makes a quick fake to block the linebacker, which ends up pulling the linebacker inside and up the field when he sees the flea flicker. That keeps the outside of the field open with Bell running a post route to pull the corner with him.
Skinner holds his block long enough to allow the defense to run away from him before he gets up the field for an easy completion for a chunk play. Kudos to the Bowling Green middle linebacker who doesn’t even react to the trick play and instead gets depth into his drop. When he sees Moss moving to his right, he breaks for the ball. This may have been a bigger play if he had played it wrong.
This was a really nice play by Khalib Perry. You can see him on the 30-yard line to start the play. He reads the play quickly, and he violently gets downhill. Perry takes on the pulling tight end in the hole and knocks him back, and wraps up the running back at the same time.
Louisville needs Perry and TJ Capers to step up with Stanquan Clark being out injured. This is the type of play you love to see in Perry’s first game as his replacement.
We’ll end it with another poor showing from the offensive line. Not the sack, which was really just a well-executed corner blitz by Bowling Green. No, the poor showing is the line not even attempting to help Miller Moss up from the ground. This wouldn’t even fly in high school, and I would hope that Richard Owens made a point during film review this week.
I am more hopeful than anyone that the line starts to play better, but at this point, it would be a shock if it were to happen. They seem so far away from where they need to be, and things like this and Robinson begging for a flag earlier in the game feel much deeper than playing poorly.
