Notes and Observations from Louisville's Sixth Open Fall Camp Practice

Here is our notebook from the sixth and final open practice for Louisville football's fall camp.

Louisville opens up a practice session during their preseason fall camp. / Matt McGavic - Louisville Report

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fall camp for the Louisville football program is coming up on the halfway point. The Cardinals are nearly two weeks into their preseason, with seven of their 15 practice sessions now complete.

Their seventh practice, which took place on Friday, was their final one of camp that was open to both the fans and media. Like we were for the first five open practices practices, Louisville Report was there for it all to watch the final open practice of fall ball.

Previous Open Practice Notebooks: Practice One, Practice Two, Practice Three, Practice Four, Practice Five

Below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the morning:

• Injury update: Jimmy Calloway started to get involved in walkthroughs and some special teams drills, so some progress is being made there. Thor Griffith and Jordan Guerad are still being held out, but according to DL coach Mark Hagen, Griffith is expected back "shortly" and Guerad is ahead of schedule following offseason shoulder surgery.
• Prior to breaking off into positional drills, Louisville ran some work with kickoffs and returners fielding them. Cooper Ranvier got all of the kicking work here, and while he had mostly great kicks, there were a couple shanks in there as well. Calloway, Maurice Turner and Caullin Lacy were the main ones fielding kickoffs here.
• During this, I also noticed a very brief drill where some offensive lineman were working on snapping balls to the quarterbacks. The linemen involved were Pete Nygra, Madden Sanker, Austin Collins, Victor Cutler and walk-on Ellis McAdoo.
• During this final open practice, I watched the tight ends during the opening positional period. In the initial cone drill which tested out their footwork on their route running, Nate Kurisky and Mark Redman seemed to be the most agile here. In the drills that worked on their reaction time, force and overall fundamentals in run blocking, Jamari Johnson displayed some good driving, gap-opening power, as did Izayah Cummings. At one point, the position group split up, where one segment continued working on run blocking and the other worked more on route running and timing with the quarterbacks. It's no shock that Johnson and Mark Redman man the most crisp routes, but Dylan Mesman also had a couple good reps here.
• Following extended positional drills, Louisville ran a somewhat brief 7-on7 period prior to a full blown 11-on-11. While it was one of the shorter 7-on-7 up to this point, it was chock full of notable plays. Tayon Holloway and Rae'mon Mosby showed good stride-for-stride coverage on their reps. Brady Allen looked the most poised he's been. Chris Bell made an extremely difficult catch that required him to jump and contort his body in the air. Antonio Meeks had a great block on a WR screen type of rep. Walk-on converted quarterback Sam Young also made the most of the period with a couple catches, and is starting to make significant strides following the position change.
• During the first 11-on-11 of the day, there weren't too many changes to the 1's. It was mostly the same starting offensive line up to this point in camp, although Jonathan Mendoza is starting to get back into the mix post-injury. Ramon Puryear got some of the first reps with the ones on the line. Benjamin Perry, likely for injury reasons (brace on right wrist) is still running mostly with the twos. The second team offensive live was Trevonte Sylvester, Madden Sanker, Victor Cutler, Brown and Mendoza; while the second team defensive line had Richard Kinley, Dezmond Tell and Adonijah Green (couldn't see the fourth starters).
• With the first scrimmage of fall camp set for Saturday, this 11-on-11 continually moved the ball up the practice field, and was conducted at an extremely fast no-huddle type of pace. As you can imagine, the offense typically got the better of the defense in this setting. The running backs got a lot of early catching reps in this period, and while Turner did very well, Donald Chaney Jr. did have a couple drops. Caullin Lacy did very well after the catch up the right sideline on one rep. Cummings is starting to get more comfortable as a pass catcher as well, and got good separation on an out route. They once again ran what I can only describe as a flea flicker wide receiver screen.
• Pierce Clarkson got extended work during this first 11-on-11. His best throw of the day came here when he floated a ball over the middle - just over the outreach of Perry - to a crossing Cataurus Hicks for the catch. His pocket escapability also continued to shine here as well. He had some overthrows, but he largely looked incredibly accurate both here and on the day overall.
• The defense did make their fair share of plays as well in this stretch. M.J. Griffin had a pick against Ja'Corey Brooks in the end zone (although there was a LOT of holding). D'Angelo Hutchinson got a sack on a safety blitz. Tahveon Nicholson played tight coverage on a speeding Hicks that prevented a touchdown.
• This period ended with Ranvier drilling a field goal in a bit of a scramble drill, then after some positional work, it was back to more special teams practice - specifically punting. A.J. Vinatieri got most of the kicking reps here, and while his hangtime was great, the distance on most of his kicks were so-so. The same returners to start today's practice - plus Quincy Riley - got the bulk of the returning reps.
• Following the punting period was a 7-on-7 that essentially served as the end of practice. Tyler Shough's accuracy looked very good here, making a couple throws while rolling out to his right, and also finding Chris Bell on a slant that was in a very narrow window. Deuce Adams also did well, connecting with another walk-on wideout in Kris Hughes, and finding Antonio Meeks wide open up the seam. Redman also had a rep where he had to freestyle after running his route, and actually got open in the end zone for an easy score. Harrison Bailey had a beautiful floater to Lacy in the corner of the end zone. Hutchinson made another great play by jumping a route and nearly securing a pick, while Mosby got himself a pass breakup while covering Jadon Thompson- who has looked great in camp up to this point.
• Practice did end on an 11-on-11 segment, but for some reason, it lasted only a couple minutes. Here, Ashton Gillotte got a sack, Duke Watson got some run with the ones and looked shifty, Meeks and Hicks both caught passes and gained yards on RPO bubbles, and Tahveon Nicholson had a pass breakup (couldn't see the WR's number).

(Photo of Louisville Players: Matt McGavic - Louisville Report)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X - @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram - @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X