Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Pitt

The previously undefeated Cardinals succumbed to the trap game, losing at the Panthers as a touchdown favorite on the road.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Traveling to the Steel City for a matchup with Pitt, the Louisville football program was unable to overcome critical mistakes and crucial injuries, getting upset 38-21 for their first loss of the season.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the bye week, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game against the Panthers:

• First of all, this is exactly what I feared could happen to Louisville. Riding the highs of a big win, facing a team with very little to lose in their house, and in weather conditions that were less than ideal, you had all the ingredients for the classic trap game. These concerns were amplified given Jeff Brohm's track record of having massive, unexpected letdowns. I was hopeful that, considering this team is more complete (and frankly more talented) than any team Brohm at Purdue, Louisville wouldn't find themselves on the wrong end of a stunning upset. Instead, that's exactly what we got.
• As much flak as quarterback Jack Plummer will get for his role in this loss, a lot of this falls squarely on the shoulders of Jeff Brohm. He's done a pretty good job as the play caller up to this point in his first season at Louisville, but this was without a doubt his worst play calling job. I get that Jawhar Jordan was not available past the first series, but the offense was doing a solid job stringing together some methodical drives with both Isaac Guerendo and Maurice Turner in the game. Yet at some point in the second half, even before it got out of hand and Louisville had no choice but to throw, Brohm seemingly abandoned the run game. This approach might be fine under normal weather conditions. But having Jack Plummer attempt the most passes by a Louisville QB since 2018, in the rain, is truly baffling. On top of that, a large chunk of Louisville's passing attack was just to chuck it downfield in hopes that the receiver would win the one-on-one battle or draw a pass interference call. Again, doing this in the rain makes is truly bewildering. If there's anything that can justify this, it's that looking back at the tape and checking advanced stats, Louisville's offensive line did not do a great job with run blocking. Every single starting lineman had a below average run blocking grade. This would make a little bit more sense shifting to a more pass-heavy approach, but if you're going to do this, maybe don't try and go bombs away in a rain storm.
• Then there's the decision to go for it on fourth down to open up the second half when you're barely outside of your own red zone. I get that Brohm has an aggressive approach, but there's a fine line between aggressive and stupid. Especially since the actual play itself was a run out of the shotgun.
• Okay, now onto the actual play on the field. Given the momentum swings that his turnovers caused, we have to address Plummer and the offense first. Plummer has too much experience under his belt to continue to make careless decisions with the football. And I'm not even talking about just the interceptions. You would think that a sixth year senior would have more consistent pocket awareness. He held onto the ball way too long on his fumble, and probably should have felt the pressure coming or shown a higher sense or urgency. Plus, he had *another* intentional grounding penalty. As far as his interceptions go, they weren't as egregious as watching them live. On the pick six, Jamari Thrash was clearly trucked by the Pitt linebacker to throw him off his route, which should have been a penalty, and his second pick was because it bounced right out of Jimmy Calloway's hands. Regardless, the mistakes were made, and even without the picks, Plummer is still showing an extreme inconsistency with his overall decision making. Which is a shame, because before Brohm completed abandoned the run, he was 20-of-33 even with the picks. He largely made solid decisions, but that was countered with a few extremely costly decisions.
• On one hand, it's easy to get mad at the receiving corps for the four drops they had. But considering it was in the rain, one way to look at this is to actually commend them for not having a lot more. Thrash, playing through a heavily taped wrist, was still able to be a consistant threat in the passing game. Calloway showcased his potential on a couple great throws, although he did play a role in Plummer's interception. Chris Bell continues to be a threat. Considering Brohm didn't exactly put them in a position to have more success, I'm not going to harp on them too much.
• What makes the decision to abandon the run so infuriating was the fact that Turner and Guerendo had been playing really well. Turner wound up averaging nearly seven yards a carry, and that mark was still just under five when you take out his 30-yard run. Guerendo was taking it right to Pitt's defensive line, getting a pair of grimy touchdowns. Had they been more utilized in the second half, maybe we're looking at a win.
• However, I'll reiterate the fact that Louisville's offensive line did not have a good game when it came to run blocking. They did, conversely, all grade out above average in pass blocking. So that might have been the deciding factor as to why Brohm was quick to abandon the run after halftime.
• I can't help but feel like that if Louisville had a more developed tight end, that would have played a huge role here. Pitt's defensive alignment seemed like it would have played well into the hands of even an average pass catching tight end. This has to be one of Brohm's top portal concerns once the season is over.
• Alright, that's enough about the offense. Time to address the defense. I'm not going to harp on this side of the ball too much. They did hold Pitt to just 88 yards rushing and 288 yards of offense overall, so it's hard to really get mad at them. Especially after the mistakes committed on offense. Honestly, after only allowing -11 yards on Pitt's first three drives out, I thought Louisville was en route to steamrolling Pitt, not the other way around.
• That being said, my biggest concern, and honestly what I think is the most underrated story line from this game, is that the front seven did not generate near the amount of pressure that I expected them to. Pitt's offensive line was essentially made of paper mache and chicken wire with how decimated they were with injuries, and the Cardinals just had a plethora of success against one of the best offensive lines in college football. This should have been a matchup in which they feasted. Instead, they were almost a non-factor. Out of Christian Veilleux's 29 drop backs, Louisville combined to generate just seven quarterback pressures (per PFF), and Mason Reiger was responsible for three of them. The pass rush was just flat out not there, and I'm perplexed as to why.
• Even the coverage was shaky at times. Granted, this had a lot to do with Jarvis Brownlee getting knocked out of the game and the front seven not generating a lot of pressure and allowed Veilleux to get comfortable, but the coverage wasn't the greatest either. Storm Duck got picked on a lot. Cam'Ron Kelly got beat a few times. Even on the one time that Brownlee was targeted, that resulted in a touchdown.
• Reiger and T.J. Quinn deserve shoutouts. While a lot of the defenders had below average to just okay outings, they were one of a few where you could see their impact being felt on the gridiron.
• Yes, I will admit that injuries did play a massive role in this game. When you don't have one of the most electric running backs in the nation at your full disposal, how could it not? Still, for all the aforementioned reasons in this article, it should not have resulted in a three-score blowout.
• I'll close with this thought: Sure, the dream of an undefeated season will have to wait another year, and the potential for a special season, and potentially still contending for the ACC, is still very much on the table. But if Louisville is going to have a chance at achieving this down the stretch, especially with three tough opponents in the final five games, they are going to have to clean up a lot during the bye week. Both players and coaches alike.

(Photo of Jamari Thrash: Charles LeClaire - USA TODAY Sports)

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