Louisville's Backup Quarterback Battle Remaining 'Highly Contested'

The Cardinals enter the 2024 season with three players battling for QB2.

Louisville football QB Harrison Bailey (15) during spring practice at the Trager practice facility in Louisville, Ky. on Mar. 19, 2024 / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Unlike a lot of college football programs, Louisville is heading into their 2024 season having long known who their starting quarterback is. Ever since Texas Tech/Oregon transfer Tyler Shough arrived on campus, he has performed exceedingly well in spring ball and fall camp, and has long earned the trust of both the coaching staff and the players.

As for their backup quarterback spot, even though fall camp is now in the rear view mirror and the Cardinals have now shifted into their normal weekly practice schedule, Louisville has yet to formally declare a true backup to Shough.

"The backup position, I still think is highly contested between Pierce (Clarkson), Harrison (Bailey) and Brady (Allen)," head coach Jeff Brohm said after Louisville's first scrimmage of fall camp.

Additionally, the head coach of the Cardinals noted that the various backups on the roster had up-and-down performances in the aforementioned first scrimmage period of camp. The trio had done "did some good things," while also doing "some things not as good," and wanted to continue to bringing the non-starters along.

If you ask Jeff's brother Brian, who is Louisville's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, while there is a talent and production discrepancy between Shough and the other signal callers, he does like the overall competition going on between the backups.

"I think we have a good, healthy competition going on in the back of quarterback department," he said.

Between the three main backups, Clarkson has the inside track to being named QB2. The former top-200 prospect has limited in-game experience, playing just one drive against Murray State in his true freshman campaign last year.

That being said, Clarkson has made serious strides in both spring ball and fall camp both as a passer and a runner. It also helps that he is easily the most mobile quarterback on the roster.

"I think Pierce has done a good job of grasping the offense," Brian Brohm said. "He knows what to do out there now, as opposed to last year when he was just getting his feet wet. He's definitely confident in what he's doing."

But don't rule out either Bailey or Allen to get to potentially come from behind to claim the backup spot. Like Clarkson, both players also joined the program last offseason, and got just one drive of work against Murray State during the 2023 season.

The two also have high ceilings in their own right. Bailey, a former five-star recruit who previously played at Tennessee and UNLV, has done well in both the spring and fall and is the quarterback who best models Shough's game. Allen, a former top-50 prospect who started his career at Purdue with Brohm, has been up-and-down since becoming a Cardinal but has the respect from his head coach due to his football IQ.

A wildcard here is true freshman Deuce Adams. While he very much had "true freshman moments" during the first few open practices of fall, the top-600 prospect started the really get things going midway through camp, showing some noticeable zip on his passes.

"Harrison has shown some flashes as well, of some good plays and then some bad plays. A little bit up and down. Brady's been in our system for three years, so he knows what's going on out there as well. Deuce is just learning and growing every single day," Brian Brohm said.

But as far as who they will inevitably go with whenever it comes time to insert someone not named Tyler Shough for whatever, the staff says they won't make that call until push comes to shove. Until that moment arrives, the backups are continuing to work hard and push forward in hopes of being the one chosen

"I feel good about the talent we have behind Tyler," Brian Brohm said. "I don't think those guys are to Tyler's level quite yet, but they're working and striving to get there every single day.

"We're going to continue to let those guys battle it out, continue to compete, and get reps, When that time comes, when one of those guys needs to go in, we can make that decision at that time."

The Cardinals will kick off the 2024 season against Austin Peay at L&N Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31.

(Photo of Harrison Bailey: Sam Upshaw Jr. - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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