Season Two of the Weekly Newsletter covering the Cards most recent contest. Double clicking on the newsletter will allow for full screen viewing and zoom functionality on mobile device.
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If you wanted to see an old school Louisville offensive juggernaut walk into the building, take control early, and then just dominate the majority of the night….you were in luck last weekend. The Yellow Jackets holding the Cards to a field goal on the opening drive was the preeminent “bend” before the defense officially “broke” and then subsequently gave up touchdowns on the Cards next three drives. In fact, if you take away end of half drives the Cards scored on eight of ten possessions and put up over 450 yards of offense on their way to a four score margin of victory. Tough to ask for much more from a unit that displayed its versatility in both the passing game and the run game, and had guys step up in the absence of others due to injury. This is what many expected the offense to look like for the majority of the season, and frankly, they have not been that far behind with a couple notable exceptions. The weapons are there, and the playbook is there is compete with anyone, they just need the rest of the squad to rise to the occasion and do their jobs. Defense wasn’t perfect, but a late 98 yard drive against mostly backups padded the stat sheet some, and the pressure applied up front was encouraging to see. Maybe I’m being a bit soft on the defense this week because there is a fire that has been burning for far too long with no one seemingly looking to extinguish it. Truthfully, I’m tired of watching us just be okay with multiple special teams blunders each week. Enough is enough. I’m publicly calling for a change.
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OFFENSE We’re spoiled. I know the offense hasn’t been perfect, and the competition has taken a step down in recent weeks, but I honestly believe if we had a chance to push a game or two of those first four weeks to the back end of the schedule….we are likely undefeated heading into the last couple weeks. Playing three of the most challenging games on the schedule in the first four weeks, with a QB who had never started a game in his career, was a difficult ask. I was frustrated with the 2-2 start, but those two losses are currently both ranked inside the Top 20 in the CFP rankings, and we got both teams fully healthy, with a dinged up Isaac Brown. Revisionist history always comes out on the positive side of your argument, but I believe in this offense to handle Wake, SMU, and Ole Miss as we sit today. I know, Georgia Tech has not looked good in recent weeks, so I’ll tone down the hyperbole a bit, but the stats bear out my hubris with a Top 10 offensive nationally, and a group perched atop the ACC in numerous categories on a per game basis. Coming into the year, questions about Kienholz have been answered, bravado about depth at RB has been confirmed, and questions about depth at wideout have been put to rest, with Treyshun Hurry answering the call most recently and going for over 100 yards and a touchdown in the absence of McCoy. This unit is special, let’s treat them as such
DEFENSE Just like the offense last year; no unit is getting flowers from me when you have multiple national rankings in triple digits. The only time a statistical ranking should be led by a “1” is if there is only a single digit behind it. Playing P4 football you can’t field a team over three quarters of the way through the season that is giving up more yards in the air than 94% of all other Division-I programs. They should be embarrassed every single week until they start locking people up consistently. I like the added pressure, I like the aggressiveness outside, and I like the fact we didn’t give up a 50 yard play for the first time in what seems like the entire season. Baby steps towards fielding an average team is ridiculous, but its where we are currently. Build on the success and get ready when your number is called.
SPECIAL TEAMS If it seems like the special team’s section of this weeks newsletter is slightly larger than normal, you have keen eye for the details. You were able to pick up on something pretty quick and then adjust your thoughts to decipher what was odd or out of place in mere seconds. Can I interest you in coaching the University of Louisville Special teams? The job is not officially open, but I’m starting to think it might be. I’m a firm believer as a grown man I should not call for another grown mans job publicly, but may I make a case for the jury to decide? Every week now for multiple seasons we have consistently underperformed across many areas. Outside of place kicking, which has had some studs of late, the unit has done little to bring added value in assisting to win football games, but has repeatedly done things to contribute to losing them. Go back and look at my stats from last week, and then pair that with a fumbled punt, and a roughing the kicker call before GT had even earned a first down. Louisville has lost three games this year by total of 9 pts. Do we not think field position on punts, higher success rate on FG and XP, less penalties on kicks and returns, could have all contributed to winning those games? In 2025 Louisville lost two games by 6pts total, in 2024 four games all by less than one score. They must start taking this phase of the game seriously and hire people who will do the same.
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