Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Jacksonville State

The Cardinals rolled over the Gamecocks to move to 2-0 on the young season.

Louisville Cardinals tight end Nate Kurisky (85) pushes Jacksonville State Gamecocks cornerback Kenney Solomon II (3) off as he runs down the field during their game on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Ky. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fresh off of a shutout victory to kick off their 2024 campaign, the Louisville football program carried that momentum into their week two matchup against Jacksonville State, cruising to a 49-14 victory.

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

• First of all, yes, I will go ahead and acknowledge the fact that this was a game in which Louisville's efficiency was a bit in flux at times against Jax State (more on that in a bit) - especially on the defensive side of the ball. But even with that being said, they still were able to take care of business by the end of the day. Final scores don't always tell the full story of how a game panned out, but a 35-point victory speaks volumes no matter how it was accomplished.
• It couldn't have been a much more vanilla game plan than it was on either side of the line of scrimmage for Louisville in this game. With Georgia Tech and Notre Dame (LOL, NIU) coming up, you don't want to empty your playbook for them to scout - especially against a team like Jax State. Offensively, Louisville ran the ball 36 times, and QB Tyler Shough threw the ball more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage just 11 times out of his 33 attempts. Not to mention JSU's base defense, which involved three down linemen, was condusive to the run anyways. There was the beautiful rollout screen play, as Shough actually did a fake toss on Duane Martin's touchdown run, but not many other plays stood out to me in terms of play design. Defensively, Louisville blitzed only a handful of times, and didn't showcase many exotic looks. It was interesting that they never seemingly utilized a QB spy when Tyler Huff started to get going with his legs, but my only thought was that either they didn't want scout-able film showing who would play as the spy, or that the defensive staff wanted to see how Louisville faired in their base package against a running QB.
• It's just a two game sample size, but so far, Shough has lived up to the hype that we saw in practices and heard from the coaching staff. He plays like how a veteran college QB is supposed to He's made good decisions when throwing the football, has a cannon of an arm but doesn't get unnecessarily reckless with it, and has used his legs only when he has to. The only nit-picky complaint I have so far is that I'd like to see him be a little more aware of his wide open running back check down outside of his field of view. But we're splitting hairs here.
• I picked up on this during the beginning of spring ball, but two games in, it's become very obvious that Shough's chemistry wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks is greater than any other pass catcher. For starters, he has 13 receptions and 172 yards through two games while the next receiver (Jadon Thompson) has five for 86. Additionally, Brooks' feel for the game is exactly what you would expect out of a former five-star prospect that was a legit contributor at Alabama.
• On top of Brooks standing out, it's clear that other guys are starting to step forward, and we don't have a Jamari Thrash situation on our hands. Chris Bell seems to have gotten faster, as his long touchdown grab came as a result of him simply out-running two defensive backs and not just out-muscling his defender. Cataurus Hicks' incredible long bomb catch came with two safeties draped all over him (while also committing DPI), and required some insane concentration. Even the tight ends were a factor. Jamari Johnson had a very difficult catch, Mark Redman was able to run a drag route for touchdown even after tripping up, while Nate Kurisky and Izayah Cummings looked solid as well.
• Side note: Kurisky returning a kickoff was not on my bingo card.
• Heading into the 2024 season, we all knew that the biggest question mark on the offense was the running back room. While competition has to be taken into account, it's hard not to be excited about this positions's potential. Maurice Turner is the starter for the time being and hasn't looked bad, but I wouldn't be shocked if Isaac Brown wound up as RB1 by the end of the season because of his pure speed and shiftiness. Not to mention that Keyjuan Brown's power and vision seem are really starting to stand out, and Duke Watson showcased some incredible balance and ability to take contact on his long touchdown run. Even Duane Martin got involved in the offense! The fullback still matters.
• I pointed out last week that Louisville's offensive line, for all the success that the Cards had on the ground and keeping Shough upright, seemed to be the shakiest out of all the position groups last weekend - especially in pass protection. Well, the script completely flipped against Jax State. The O-line set the tone up front, and didn't allow a single sack while giving up just two TFLs. This probably is because Louisville didn't rotate nearly as much up front as they did last weekend, and the starting five got extended (and more opportunities to play together).
• Now onto the defense. Believe it or not, they actually played very well. Of the 290 total yards and 130 rushing yards given up, 130 and 67 of them came in the second quarter alone. Even when playing a very basic scheme that didn't tip their hand too much to future opponents, they were able to make enough adjustments to allow only 91 total yards and 30 rushing yards in the entire second half.
• That being said, while the bulk of Louisville's defensive miscues can be corrected, there were a couple things that need pointing out. While Stanquan Clark did lead the team in tackle this past weekend, he took a few bad angles and did some unnecessary ankle biting. Both Antonio Watts, Benjamin Perry and T.J. Quinn didn't have great days in pass coverage, which led to a few open routes in the middle of the field inside the numbers. Huff's long touchdown run was a direct result of two linebackers covering the running back on a zone read, leaving Huff with green grass ahead.
• Even with all that in mind, this defense still played mostly lights out. The defensive line and front seven as a whole were swarming to the football for three quarters, allowing just 29 rushing yards to players not named Huff. Jared Dawson is really shining early in this season, and Tramel Logan is making a very, very early impact on this defensive line.
• While there were some lapses in coverage among the linebacking corps, the corners and safeties did a great job for the most part of keeping things in front of them and not allowing massive chunk plays. In fact, the longest passing play of the day by Jax State was only 18 yards.
• I noticed this on a few plays in the first game against Austin Peay but thought nothing of it, but then I picked up on this a few more times against Jax State: For some reason, Quincy Riley hasn't been playing at full speed at times. Like he's either being held back by the staff from going full force or intentionally holding himself back and loafing - which is not like him at all to do. Sure, he got an interception, but he might as well have been the intended receiver with how far in front of his man he was. This could be something to do with the fact that it's Austin Peay and Jax State and the staff doesn't want him to put his body on the line in games like this, or the fact that he's among the team leaders in reps taken now that he's on special teams returning punts as well. But it's certainly something to monitor during the next game.
• I'll close with this thought: I saw a manner of people online clamoring about how bad Louisville looked in this game (especially in the first half), and this was a game that they still won by 35 points - and covered. I go back to one of my points earlier in the piece in that Louisville had a very vanilla game plan against JSU. If Shough was chucking it all over the yard, the defense had someone play a permanent QB spy or didn't use a basic four man rush on the vast majority of their calls, and Louisville barely squeaked out a win, that would be a completely different story. Instead, they kept it simple and still curb stomped them. Just some food for thought.

Riley holding back

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