Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions with Louisville Report's Matt McGavic

Georgia Tech faces Louisville this Friday night in Atlanta

Jackson Caudell | Aug 30, 2023

Behind Enemy Lines: Five Questions with Louisville Report's Matt McGavic /

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Kickoff for Georgia Tech vs. Louisville is only two days away.

The Yellow Jackets and the Cardinals are going to open the seasons against each other and look for a 1-0 start under their new head coaches. The head coaches might be new, but they are plenty familiar with their programs, having played at them.

Georgia Tech has plenty of questions of it's own it has to answer on Friday, but so does Louisville. To try to find out more about the Cardinals, I talked with Matt McGavic, publisher of the Louisville Report, to find out more about the opposition on Friday night.

1. Can Louisville contend right away under Jeff Brohm?

"I wouldn’t put them amongst the top tier of the teams in the ACC, but I’m not ruling out a potential run for the conference title either. First off, the schedule is extremely friendly, as Louisville doesn’t have to face Florida State, Clemson or North Carolina this year, whereas the aforementioned three all play each other. Plus, while the Cardinals do lose impact playmakers like Malik Cunningham and Yasir Abdullah, Brohm, and Co. have done a phenomenal job with talent retainment and acquisition. According to On3’s transfer portal rankings, which takes into account players both arriving and departing, UofL had the No. 1 portal job in all of college football. Plus they bring in a top-25 freshman class as well, which features a handful of guys who are expected to be in the mix early. Then take into account what he was able to do at a place like Purdue, which included a Big Ten Championship Game berth, it’s not inconceivable that he could do the same at Louisville with an arguably more talented roster."

2. Because of his familiarity with the system, will it be an easy transition for Jack Plummer at quarterback?

"It very much seems like it has been an easy transition for Plummer. In fact, Brohm has so much faith in him that he was named the Cardinals’ starter a couple of months before fall camp even started. His film at Cal last season fell in line with what you come to expect from a “field general” type of quarterback: one who makes sound decisions and relies mostly on skill position players to do the work. But in spring ball and fall camp, while his cerebral nature was on full display, he also had more opportunities to stretch the field, showcase his arm strength, and make plays himself. This will still be an offense that is very much dictated by the wide receivers since it is a pass-heavy offense, but Plummer has shown that he can help the offense be as efficient and as opportunistic as they can."

3. Will there be a significant drop-off on the defensive side?

"There will certainly be a drop-off of some kind, that much is certain. When you have a defense that leads all of college football in sacks per game, and you lose five of your top six players in terms of total sacks, there is bound to be a dip in production. That being said, this defense has the opportunity to be one of the better in the ACC. Ron English’s 4-2-5 scheme relies a lot of players winning one-on-one battles, especially on the defensive line. Fortunately, this is one of the deeper units on the team in terms of impact starters and quality depth, headlined by an All-ACC caliber edge rusher in Ashton Gillotte. Even with that, the secondary might be the strength of that defense. They finished second in the ACC in interceptions last season, and only really lost Kei’Trel Clark, who is now with the Cardinals of the Arizona variety. Losing safety M.J. Griffin for the season due to injury certainly hurts, but guys like Jarvis Brownlee, Quincy Riley, and Josh Minkins will make sure the secondary doesn’t skip a beat."

4. Of the transfers, which one will make the biggest impact?

"It’s 100 percent Jamari Thrash. The wide receiver from Georgia State was one of the most explosive players in college football last season, catching 61 passes for 1,112 yards (18.39 YPC) and seven touchdowns. Throughout this offseason, it seems like the jump from the Group of Five to the Power Five has been smooth for Thrash, as he has regularly displayed his upper-tier speed, large catch radius, and elite body control in the open practices. Plus, Brohm’s offense puts a *heavy* emphasis on their top receiver. In three of his six years at Purdue, their top receiver had over 1,250 yards, not to mention Taywan Taylor had 3,197 yards in a two-year span during Brohm’s time at WKU. Not only do I expect Thrash to break 1,000 years for the season, he’s got a real chance to break the UofL single-season receiving record of 1,276."

5. What makes Bryan Hudson an elite offensive lineman?

"He’s the complete package for what you would want out of an upper-tier center. For starters, he excels at both run blocking and in pass protection and was the third-highest-rated offensive lineman in the ACC last year according to Pro Football Focus. But on top of his actual on-field abilities when it comes to blocking, he has complete control and command of the offensive line and what they do. He was even described as the O-Line’s “traffic cop” by a teammate in fall camp. He knows what protections to call at almost any time, regardless of how many defenders are in the box and how they are lined up. He’s in line to play a crucial and underrated role in how successful the line is, especially since it was slightly disappointing last season."

Betting Odds

Betting odds per Si Sportsbook: Louisville -7.5; Over/under 49.5; Moneyline: Louisville -300, Georgia Tech +220

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