Ron English's Move to Sideline Proves Critical in Louisville's Win at Virginia

This minor defensive adjustment played a major role in streamlining the communication for the Cardinals' defense.

Oct 12, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Virginia Cavaliers quarterback Grady Brosterhous (19) scores a touchdown during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It certainly wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing performance at times, but at the end of the day, it was still a much needed victory.

Heading into Charlottesville on a two-game losing skid, the Louisville football program was able to get back to their winning ways against Virginia, mounting a fourth quarter comeback to escape with a 24-20 win.

"Really proud of our football team," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "To come on the road, beat a team that's 2-0 in the conference, in a back and forth game that wasn't perfect by any means. But it was a hard, workmanlike job that our team did.

"I was proud of the work they put in this week, I was proud of the coaches' work they put in this week. We made some strides. Obviously, there's more to to do, and there's many improvements to make, but we came out with a win. I was proud of our football team. They did a really good job."

While the majority of the attention will be fixating on Jamari Johnson's go-ahead five-yard touchdown reception with under two minutes to go, the primary factor behind the victory actually came on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

In Louisville's prior three games against power conference competition, problems began to bubble up on their defense - specifically, with their communication. The Cardinals' coaching staff appeared to struggle with the new in-helmet comms, and as a result, calls were routinely not getting in time to the players.

This problem came to head in Louisville's loss to SMU last weekend. The Cardinals had very few answers for the Mustangs' up-tempo offense, and they paid dearly for it. QB Kevin Jennings caught Louisville's defense off guard and out of position all day long, serving as the primary catalyst for a 34-27 loss at L&N Stadium.

With that in mind, Brohm made a slight adjustment to how the defensive staff communicates with the players. Instead of having defensive coordinator Ron English maintain his post up in the press box, Brohm had English come down to the sideline against Virginia to make his play calls.

Louisville's defense was certainly not perfect on Saturday. This still had issues with another dual threat quarterback, with Anthony Colandrea putting up 363 yards of offense. They also allowed the Cavs to go 8-of-19 on third down.

But hat being said, the streamlined communication did help the Cardinals be much more effective on that side of the ball. Outside of a much-too-easy opening drive and a handful of untimely chunk plays in the fourth quarter, the defense actually had a good day at the office.

Virginia might have posted 449 yards of offense, but part of that was due to them having the ball for nearly 10 more minutes than Louisville (34:44 to 25:16) and running 20 more plays (82 to 62). In fact, the Cavaliers averaged only 5.5 yards per play, and had a defensive success rate of just 29 percent. For comparison's sake, Louisville averaged 6.6 per play and had a success rate of 32 percent.

Bend but don't break was the name of the game. Of Virginia's 11 drives, just two of them ended in touchdowns. Of the Cavaliers' three red zone trips, just one of them ended in a touchdown. Brohm says that having English directly on the field played a massive role in the defense's efficiency.

"I think Coach English being on the field and have this sense of: 'Is this team going fast? Are they huddling? Are they at the line of scrimmage?' Just kind of feeling it. But at the same time, getting the pulse of our defense and football team I think was going to be beneficial, and it was.

"I thought the defense, other than a couple things here and there, played better. We were ready for most of the plays when they were snapped, and we did a much better job."

Perhaps the most important development to come from this adjustment was that the defense showed that they can finish games.

While Virginia was able to score on three straight drives, including their own go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, Louisville's defense was able to respond by holding the Hoos to a three-and-out and a turnover on downs. This allowed the offense to break out of their funk and string together the game-winning drive.

"I'm proud of them," Brohm said. "It says they're a tough team. I love our team. They work really hard. They know that things aren't going to be perfect, but as long as we stick together, and - from myself to our coaches, look in the mirror first, and figure out, 'Okay, how can we get better? What can do to help the players achieve success? How can we put them in a better position?' and then we go about practicing it.

"We changed things up this week and did different things, because you have to. Every year is different, every team is different. A lot of new players on our team every year, and you just have to adjust and adapt. The fact that we played hard to the end against a good football team that had two good conference wins is a good win for us."

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