Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Boston College

The Cardinals pulled themselves out of a 20-point deficit to come back and steal a road win over the Eagles.

Oct 25, 2024; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Tyler Shough (9) passes the ball against the Boston College Eagles during the first half at Alumni Stadium. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite digging themselves into a 20-point deficit to start their game at Boston College, the Louisville football program was still able to storm back, stealing a 31-27 road win over the Eagles.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the matchup at Clemson, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game against the Eagles:

• First of all, what a roller coaster of emotions this game was. The first half of this game was a perfect encapsulation of Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Louisville was a complete and total mess right out of the gates. Based on what I saw on social media, a good portion of the fanbase was primed and ready to start asking some incredibly uncomfortable questions, especially in the wake of the Caullin Lacy situation. But, for as much criticism that was warranted for getting in that 20-0 hole to begin with, even more praise is deserved for being able to pull themselves out of it. Watching this play out in real time, when adding in the fact that juice/energy has been lacking at times for Louisville, I did not think a comeback was in store. If anything else, this game showed me and everyone else watching that the players and coaches do still very much care.
• When looking at the game from a 30,000-foot viewpoint, I think I large reason why Louisville found themselves in a big of a hole as they did was because of the on-field excution by the players and not because of the coaching. While certainly not perfect, overall, I think both the offensive and defensive coaching gets a passing grade for this game - which is a far cry from last week's showing vs. Miami, where one side passes with flying colors while the other flunks out in spectacular fashion. Offensively, I thought Brohm and Co. did a good (but not great) job of scheming players open for most of the night. There were a handful of instances where players were able to get wide open and make plays - the second touchdown by Nate Kurisky is what comes to mind the most to me here. I still am not the biggest fan of running the ball 30-plus times a game considering the strength of this team is passing the ball, but as long as Isaac Brown continues to get the majority of the carries, it will only be a minor complaint from me. I also didn't like the decision to try and throw on their final drive, which led to BC getting more time on the clock. On the other side of the ball, this was actually a decently called game by English and the rest of the defensive staff. It was clear last week that Louisville got most of their defensive success on plays where they brought pressure, and while they didn't send the kitchen sink at BC, it was noticeable that the pressure was dialed up some compared to previous games. Like I mentioned with the offense, this was a defensive performance that, for the most part, seemed like the failed plays were mostly a result of the effort/execution on the field vs. issues with coaching and communication. Although, I don't understand why one wrinkle this staff like to include from time to time is dropping defensive linemen into coverage. BC's first touchdown was mainly a product of Ramon Puryear being tasked to drop into what seemed to be a flat zone - and he was blindsided. Ashton Gillotte saw some run at linebacker last week as well. It makes no sense.
• Alright, I'll start with the offense first. Considering how much this unit has thrived this season, it was almost stunning to see them struggle as much as they did to start this game. This might have been the first time all season, where it seemed that quarterback Tyler Shough didn't seem very comfortable or poised. I couldn't tell if his first interception was meant to go to the receiver running a crosser and he badly whiffed, or if he meant to throw it out of bounds and didn't get enough power on it. Regardless, it was a bad throw. Additionally, I get that he's actively trying to avoid another freak injury given his history, but I would have liked to see a little more effort on some of his runs - especially the ones in the first half. That being said, he did look much better in the second half, and actually wound up crossing the 300-yard mark for the fourth time this season and third time in the last four games.
• Considering the hits that Louisville took when it came to their pass catchers over the last week (losing Jamari Johnson to a season-ending ankle injury and Caullin Lacy opting out), this was going to be a gut check kind of game for them. They needed guys to step up, and that's exactly what happened. While Ahmari Huggins-Bruce had that brutal drop to start the game as well as the first half fumble, he was able to bounce back and have a strong game overall as the new starting slot receiver. Kris Hughes, a walk-on who hadn't seen action since the season-opener against Austin Peay, made a few catches. Nate Kurisky caught not one, but two touchdowns - both of which came in Louisville's second half rally. Mark Redman continues to make plays The Cardinals don't have the fire power that they did just a month ago, but if the aforementioned players keep this up, their passing attack will be a-okay.
• Ja'Corey Brooks gets his own bullet point. That one-handed catch that he made, while clearly being interfered with, was one of the best plays he's made all season, and there have been a lot for him. Not to mention that he got rocked on a couple catches, and just shrugged them off like they were nothing. Watching in the offseason, I had a feeling that he would develop into Shough's go-to guy, but he has established himself as one of the best receivers both in the ACC and the FBS. He will absolutely be playing on Sundays next season.
• Brooks' performance overshadowed what was another great outing by true freshman phenom Isaac Brown. It might not have been his flashiest game, but his production played a massive role in the final outcome. I've said it before and I'll say it again: even when/if Maurice Turner comes back this season, Brown needs to remain the starting running back.
• I've been fairly critical of the offensive line this season, but they deserve some praise for how they played in this one. Considering how they've had to play musical chairs because of injuries, they didn't allow Shough to be sacked once, gave him a good amount of time to throw more often than not, and did just enough in run blocking to make the Cardinals' ground game be a factor that BC had to account for. It was great to see Monroe Mills return from what seemed to be a significant injury, and Renato Brown get back in the mix after injury has really held him back.
• Now onto the defensive side of the ball. For has poorly as this side of the ball played against Miami last week, this was a fantastic turnaround. Were they perfect? No, but they got much better from what we saw against the Canes. They held BC to just a 19 percent offensive success rate, allowed them to score just four times on 14 drives, plus forced six three-and-outs and two turnovers on downs. After giving up a 74-yard scoring drive to open the second half, they allowed no points and only 68 total yards on the Eagles' final six. It's not about how you start, it's how you finish, and this unit did just that.
• Considering Boston College's offensive line is the strength of their offense as a whole, and how Louisville was punched in the mouth at the point of attack last week vs. Miami, I was worried that we could see the same thing unfold against the Eagles. However, Louisville's front seven actually did a good job of making Thomas Castellanos uncomfortable in the pocket, as well as not letting short runs turn into something bigger like Miami did. Ashton Gillotte is really starting to hit his stride in terms of actually getting home on his pressures.
• Additionally, after going back and re-watching the game, the pass coverage was much better than I remembered. While the fourth down coverage bust for BC's first touchdown, and Treshaun Ward's wheel route catch-and-run that came as a result of an awful tackle attempt stand out as massive blunders, take out those two plays, and Thomas Castellanos was just 11-of-26 for 51 yards. After a slow start to the season, cornerback Quincy Riley has rounded back into his elite form, and made some big plays/open field tackles. STAR Antonio Watts played arguably the best game of his life up to this point, and was an impact player in all areas of the field. The only real negative standouts were T.J. Quinn's coverage lapse on Castellanos' second touchdown pass, how he and Stanquan Clark bit HARD on the play action on his final touchdown pass, and Tamarion McDonald's awful "tackle" attempt on Ward's long catch and run.
• Speaking of tackling and defending play action, one area got better while one got significantly worse. While there were a few bad angles taken, there was minimal ankle biting, and the tackling effort was better than their disastrous showing vs. Miami. But on the play action front, two of their touchdowns given up were a direct result of selling out hard for the run, and getting okie-doked on play action. That has to be cleaned up.
• Louisville only committed five penalties, but man... they sure know how to get their money's worth. One negated a 39-yard catch from Brooks, another took away a first down catch from Bell, while another allowed BC to get closer to the goal line and throw for a touchdown as opposed to trying for a field goal. This has been a season long issue up to this point.
• Louisville's special teams also had a really bad showing. They averaged a measly 32.7 yards per punt, and went just 1-2 on field goals. Like penalties, this continues to be an issue more times than not, and I wouldn't be shocked if the Cardinals have a new special teams coordinator next season at this rate.
• Hey, a game where I don't have to talk about bad officiating!
• I'll close with this thought: Early on in this game, I thought for certain that Louisville had mailed in the season, and that things would only spiral onwards from there. However, like I previously mentioned, this game showed me that the coaches and players do still very much care and are emotionally and physically invested in the season despite some of the close losses they have taken. An ACC Championship Game berth might be likely off the table, but that doesn't seem to have deterred this team from finishing the year strong. I'm not saying that this means Louisville will march into Death Valley next weekend and upset Clemson, but at the very least, they still seem motivated to want to put the product forward.

(Photo of Tyler Shough: Eric Canha - Imagn Images)

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