Notes and Observations from Louisville's Fourth Open Spring Practice of 2024

Here is our notebook of everything that transpired during the fourth of six open practices for Louisville football's spring ball.

Louisville’s Caullin Lacy (5) catches the ball during Spring Practice on Thursday, April 4, 2024 / Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Spring ball is just past the halfway point for the Louisville football program. Currently in their third week of their five-week long spring practice, the Cardinals now have nine of their 15 sessions already in the books.

Their ninth practice, which took place on Thursday, was the fourth of six practices that were open to both the fans and media. Like we were for the first three open practice, Louisville Report was there for it all to watch the fourth open practice of spring ball.

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

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

• As far as the individual position drills go, for this practice I spent most of my time watching the offensive position groups. The first drill I saw was one where the offensive line worked with the running backs and wide receivers on blocking in variations of screen plays. They mixed in your standard halfback screen, wide receiver screens from the slot, as well as jailbreak screens.
• After that, I paid most of my attention towards the wide receivers. There was a segment where the wideouts were working on their short area agility by running short comeback and slant routes against practice dummies. Ja'Corey Brooks, Caullin Lacy, Jimmy Calloway, Jadon Thompson and Joseph Stone stood out the most here.
• There was then a five-minute period where the wide receivers and quarterbacks worked on their timing and footwork by running 15-yard comeback routes. Brooks, Lacy and Stone impressed me the most with their ability to quickly stop and change direction, as well as Cataurus Hicks and Chris Bell.
• Following position drills, they transitioned into the first 11-on-11 period of the day. Early on, the defense seemed to be primed to be the side of the ball to "win" the practice. Ashton Gillotte had what would have been a sack on the first play of the period (which then resulted in an impressive snag up the right sideline). D'Angelo Hutchinson stood up running back Peny Boone on the next play, and had a QB pressure later one. Wesley Walker also met Donald Chaney at the line of scrimmage. Tamarion McDonald made a fantastic break on the ball to jump a route and pick off Harrison Bailey. Micah Carter blew up a screen play, and Trent Carter had an impressive stop on Boone.
• However, after a while, the offense really started to settle in. In fact, after the defense "won" the third open practice of spring, I'd say it was the offense that looked the best today. Midway through this period is when I started to pick up that, when they did throw the ball, they were getting in a lot of screen and short passing work. Although there were a few reps mixed in that stretched the field vertically.
• This first 11-on-11 period had plenty of standout plays. Maurice Turner hit a gap in the middle of the line and came out firing on the other side for a long run. Isaac Brown showcased some insane burst on a toss play. Pierce Clarkson uncorked a long bomb to Hicks (although it was a tad behind), and also had a dart to Jaleel Skinner. Harrison Bailey also demonstrated some good zip on the ball.
• Following the first 11-on-11 period was the only 7-on-7 segment of the day. Of course, in periods like these, the wide receivers are who stood out the most. Lacy found a hole in the zones to snag a ball with two defenders closing in on him towards the left sideline on a good pass from Bailey. Thompson high-pointed a ball up the right sideline. Antonio Meeks made a couple chain-moving plays on drag routes. Keep in mind that Brooks is a bit dinged up, so he was limited to position drills.
• During this period is when I started to notice a slight change to Clarkson's throwing motion. As I noted from the first set of practice notes, his motion seemed like it was carrying a lot of effort in his throwing arm, shoulder and load leg. While this was still the case with longer throws, it did seem like he was back to delivering snappier passes on short-to-intermediate routes.
• While this was going on, the offensive and defensive lines were doing one-on-one drills on the other side of the field. While I didn't watch a lot of reps from this, I did happen to glance over and see a great bull rush from Micah Carter and an effective swim move from Tawfiq Thomas. There was also a slight brouhaha, but nothing too noteworthy.
• After that was the final 11-on-11 of the day. While the run blocking from the offensive line in the first three open practices was pretty hit-or-miss, they were downright dominant today - especially in this period. Turner made the most of this, exploding for a pair of long runs. Boone took one cut and was off to the races. Chaney was a bit more north-south, but he was able to generate some yardage. Isaac Brown had an off-tackle run that put on display his shiftiness. Keyjuan Brown actually had his best practice that I have seen so far, and his open field speed seems to have increased from what it was last season and in high school. There was even this nifty play with Keyjuan that started as a read option, then turned into a pitch play.
• There were also plenty of plays made in the passing game too during this period. Clarkson put on display his ability to stand in the pocket with a pair of red zone touchdown throws to both Hicks and Thompson with pressure in his face. Brady Allen settled in some after having a shaky first half of practice. Lacy gained some ground on a reverse play. Clarkson and Shough both got involved with designed runs and impromtu scrambles - Clarkson even got horse collar tackled on one run, which of course he took exception to. The one defensive play that caught my eye here was a goal line pass break up from Corey Thornton on a slant route.
• Someone who really stood out during this practice, as I've mentioned a couple times already in this article and in some prior practice notes, was Cataurus Hicks. In fact, he made the play of the day towards the end of practice, and arguably the best play of the spring. Going up the left sideline with Allen under center and Jaden Minkins in tight coverage, Hicks absolutely 'Mossed' Minkins. He jumped over the top of him, grabbed the ball right over Minkins' head, and was able to gather himself on the landing to run up the sideline for the touchdown. The entire offense absolutely exploded with excitment.

(Photo of Caullin Lacy: Scott Utterback - Courier Journal / USA)

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