QB Tyler Shough Impresses in First Game at Louisville

The transfer quarterback put on a dazzling display during his Cardinals debut against Austin Peay.

Aug 31, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Tyler Shough (9) looks to pass against the Austin Peay Governors during the first quarter at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. / Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the biggest questions marks surrounding the Louisville football program entering the 2024 season revolved around the ability and availability of Tyler Shough. Could his play on the field help elevate the Cardinals to the next level? Can be play an entire season given his injury history?

Admittedly, we are still a while away from getting concrete answers to both questions. That being said, the Texas Tech/Oregon transfer quarterback took a fantastic first step in Louisville first game of the season, and looked fantastic in his first game as a Cardinal.

“It’s such a blessing," Shough said. "I’m really grateful for the opportunity, and that was kind of my thought process the whole time: just go out there and have fun. Really no nerves. You only get so many opportunities with this game, and you never know what is going to happen. I was really proud of the way we played and how the team performed.”

Squaring off against Austin Peay to kick off their 2024 campaign, Louisville raced past the Governors for a dominating 62-0 win at L&N Stadium, which included a 38-0 advantage at halftime. While it was a total team effort on the day, Shough played a large role in Louisville's fast start.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound signal caller played in just one half, but he made his time count, finishing the day going 18-of-24 for 232 yards and four touchdowns. Of the seven drives in which he saw action, six of them ended in points, including five touchdowns.

“He has been consistent and steady since last spring and at camp," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "He played pretty much like I thought he would. He can throw the football. He can stand in there until the last minute when things develop, and his guy gets just a little bit more open. Even when he has guys coming at him, he can see the field and he can spread the boundary to the middle to the outside, short … all those things.

"He has been a great leader. We need to keep him durable and healthy. But I anticipate him playing well as long we can continue to build the team and create some balance and keep giving him numerous choices, I think he can play even better.”

During his time in the game, Shough did a great job of managing the game and making smart throws, as evidenced by his 75 percent completions percentage. On top of that, he made several high level throws over the course of the game.

His first touchdown of the day - a nine-yard toss to Ja'Corey Brooks - came with pressure in his face and off of his back foot, and he still delivered it to where only Brooks could get it. On his third touchdown, he targeted Mark Redman despite a trailing defender right on him, and the pass went through a tight window to drop right into Redman's hands in the corner of the end zone.

Additionally, Shough looked very comfortable delivering off-platform throws. He mixed in some different arm angles, including a couple sidearm throws for completions, and was fairly accurate when his feet weren't planted. While Brohm noted during fall camp that he wanted Shough to work on knowing when to be aggressive, he wants his signal caller to have some freedom in the pocket.

“I was one of those quarterbacks who did too much scrambling when I played, so I allow guys to have some freedom," Brohm said. "We allow them some freedom – he likes to have some gamesmanship to him and throw it underneath and throw it sidearm and riverboat gambler the thing every now and make some decisions. You know what, he’s good at it. Now we’ve worked on being in the pocket and a couple of those deep throws, if he could hit those and stay on top of them and drive them across the field – I think he missed a few of those."

"So we always try to say ‘hey if you’ve got a clean pocket and you’ve got to make the throw, let’s make sure you throw it in your normal motion,’ but at the same time, I want him to have some fun with it. And he’s really good at it, he does in practice, he can get the ball out quick, he can avoid the defender on screens if their hand’s in the way and he can throw at different arm angles. It’s fun to watch, I like watching him play.”

But the biggest takeaway from Shough's Louisville debut was his confidence. While he displayed playmaking ability at his two prior stops, he was never able to play a full season during his time as a Red Raider because of injury. He suffered a broken collarbone in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, and a broken fibula last season.

If Shough was nervous about the risk of re-injury heading into his final season in college, he certainly didn't show it. He had the confidence and poise that you would expect a seventh-year quarterback to have, and didn't look rattled at all when he did take a couple hits.

“I wouldn’t say I’m one of those guys [who needs to take a hit in the first game after a long layoff]. I really was just trying to stand in there and give them a chance," he said. "That was my thought process: to give them a chance to go make a play when they’re bringing pressure. I think it’s always nice when you can go out there and you can take a lick, get your bell rung or get hit. It kind of wakes you up a bit. We do a really good job pregame with getting us going. I was really just out there playing in flow state and trying to give them a chance.”

In 15 games over three seasons with Texas Tech, Shough completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,922 yards and 20 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, while rushing for 432 yards and eight touchdowns. Add in his time at Oregon, and he has completed 63.2 percent of his throws for 4,625 yards and 36 touchdowns to 17 interceptions, along with 714 yards and 10 scores on the ground.

(Photo of Tyler Shough: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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