Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Boston College

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville football's matchup vs. the Eagles:

Louisville's Jawhar Jordan gets a first down against Boston College Saturday afternoon in L &N Stadium. / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Having lost three of their last four games, the Louisville football program is hitting the road in an attempt to get back on the right track, traveling up to Chestnut Hill for a weeknight showdown with Boston College.

Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Friday's game:

Injury Report

For as healthy as Louisville is starting to get, the Cardinals suffered a big time loss in the Miami game.

Tight end Jamari Johnson, who has been an underrated component of Louisville's offense, suffered an ankle injury against the Canes and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

Other injuries to note: defensive end Tramel Logan did play vs. Miami, but saw very minimal run. Defensive tackle Rene Konga also missed his second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.

On the Boston College side of things, there is one major injury to note. Linebacker Kam Arnold, who is third on the Eagles in tackles with 40, is considered "day-to-day" after getting hurt in BC's most recent game at Virginia Tech.

Additionally, Boston College also lost starting cornerback Amari Jackson to a torn ACL a couple weeks ago.

Louisville Trying Not to Let Recent Losses Snowball Into Something Greater

The Louisville football program certainly started their 2024 season on the right foot. The Cardinals won their first three games of the season, winning those games by an average margin of 36.3 points, and peaking as high as the No. 15 team in the Associated Press Top 25.

But since then, Louisville has hit a midseason slump, losing three of their last four games. These last three losses have each only been by a touchdown, but regardless, the Cardinals are now within striking distance of falling to .500 on the season.

With a quick turnaround in store this week, Louisville is trying hard to not let the past losses lead to an even greater losing skid.

"When you go through a football season, if you’re not prepared for the ups and downs going into it, then it’s going to catch you off guard and you’re not going to be able to adjust," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "So, we talk about simple things: it’s got to be a one-game season once we get to the season, no matter whether we win or lose. You got to learn from it and move on and get better. You got to get ready for the next one, and no matter what your record is, you’re expected to win the next game."

While many are quick to single out the defense as Louisville's main issue, Brohm says it's "a combination of things" that have led to the Cardinals' current predicament. Their offense has been subject to drive-killing penalties and more negative play than they would like, while special teams has been very hit-or-miss this season despite a good showing vs. Miami.

"I just think all of us need to continue to work through some things that have not gone well," he said. "Address it, work hard at improving on it because every little thing matters and we just in some of the losses we haven’t been good enough overall to get it done and that fall on me, and we got to be better at it.”

Boston College Also Hitting a Midseason Slump

After head coach Jeff Hafley left for the NFL this past offseason, Boston College made a home run hire when they brought in former Penn State and NFL head coach (plus Boston native) Bill O'Brien to take over.

Over the first month or so of the season, the Eagles looked to be a formidable foe. They opened the season with a road takedown of then-No. 10 Florida State, nearly pulled off a road win over top-ten Missouri, and squeaked out a come-from-behind victory over Michigan State. Put it all together, and BC started the season at 4-1 with a brief spot in the AP Top 25.

But over the last few weeks, Boston College has hit a bit of a speed bump. Prior to heading into their bye week, the Eagles traveled to Virginia - where they proceeded to give up 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and fall 24-14. Most recently, on the other side of their bye week, BC looked anything but prepared at Virginia Tech. They fell 42-21, with all of their points coming in a wacky third quarter.

While Boston College has certainly looked vulnerable in recent week, Jeff Brohm knows that the Eagles are a threat to knock them off - especially in a weeknight environment.

"You know they’re well coached, Coach O’Brien has been there and done that and coached at the highest level," he said. "They play hard nose football; they’ve got a quarterback that can run and throw. That’s presented us problems. They’ve been better on defense than they have been in the past so it’s a good football team and you know a lot of guys we got to contain, and it starts with the quarterback, and we’ve got to find ways to have some balance on offense and score points.”

BC's Thomas Castellanos Progressing as a Passer, Regressing as a Runner

Louisville has faced a dual threat quarterback in nearly every game they have played up to this points, and that trend will continue when they face Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos. This season, Castellanos has made great strides as a passer, but taken a significant step back as a runner.

Last season, the transfer from UCF had a breakout season for the Eagles. He passed for 2,248 yards and 15 touchdowns, but that also came with a 57.3 completion rate and 14 interceptions. However, he also ran for 1,113 yards - the second most by a quarterback in the FBS - and 13 scores.

So far this season, he has looked much better as a passer. In six games, he has completed 66.7 percent of his throws for 1,188 yards and 14 touchdowns to just four picks. Conversely, he has not been nearly as prolific of a runner, rushing for just 161 yards and one TD.

While Castellanos is a much different player than he was last season, Brohm knows what he is capable of. In last season's matchup, Castellanos went 17-of-31 for 265 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 49 yards and a TD.

“He presents challenges so we’re going to have to have a really good plan and execute it," Brohm said. "We have to be conscious of his athleticism with the ball the in his hands. They do a great job with him. He can run it, pull it down on a zone read and scramble. Even though we had one of our better games last year against Boston College because we were hitting on all cylinders on offense, but he still made a lot of plays. If the game would’ve been closer, it would have been a different story."

Louisville's Defense Continuing to Struggle

At this point in the season, it's easy to point where Louisville's main area of concern is: defense. Billed as a unit that should be the strength of the team in the preseason, the Cardinals' defense has been a liability since play against power conference teams started for them.

Over their last five games, Louisville is giving up an average of 431.6 yards per game. The only team not to put up 400 yards on the Cardinals during that span is Notre Dame. Over the last three games, they've giving up an average of 303.7 passing yards per game.

These defensive issues were put on full display against Miami this past weekend. Up front at the point of attack, the Cardinals were bullied and bulldozed, giving up 219 rushing yards - the most by a UofL opponent at home since Kentucky ran for 362 back in 2021.

Louisville's pass rush also struggled to bring down Miami QB Cam Ward. Add in some untimely coverage busts - especially in the middle of the field - and Ward was able to throw for 319 yards and four touchdowns as part of the 52-45 Canes win.

"I think we can play better so that is disappointing," Brohm said after the Miami game. "I think we can challenge things more. They were able to move the ball at will for the most part. We had a couple good stops there in the middle of the game, that was good. We were able to get a couple sacks but we are giving up way too many big plays. We gave up way too many big rushes. We weren’t able to tackle people to the ground late in the game. We weren’t able to bring people down when we needed to. So those are things we have to get fixed if we want to try and win football games.”

(Photo of Jawhar Jordan: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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