Louisville Cardinals Preview 2024
This isn’t how it's supposed to work.
You’re not supposed to hire the favorite son head coach you’ve wanted for years, avoid the whole boring get-to-know-you chit-chat, and go win a ton of games right away - ask Nebraska how that worked with Scott Frost.
Jeff Brohm put off Louisville for a bit, but last year he couldn’t resist as he left Purdue to coach his alma matter. His offense was okay right away, but the defense was fantastic as the program enjoyed its first double-digit-win season since 2013 and its first as a member of the ACC.
Okay, so the Cardinals lost to rival Kentucky for the fifth time in a row, and fine, so they couldn’t beat a quarterback-less Florida State team in the ACC Championship - but they were in the ACC Championship - and yeah, they closed losing three straight including a bowl loss to a USC team without Caleb Williams, and …
Brohm has the team to do it all again, and more.
The schedule is quirky-tough - more on that at the end - but Brohm crushed the transfer portal, filled in the gaps and came up with a few upgrades, and now the reasonable expectations are there to remain a player in the ACC.
Louisville Preview 2024: Offense
- The offense was already good in 2022 and better in 2023, but it can do more. It relied on transfer QB Jack Plummer to make it go, and while he was good, Texas Tech transfer Tyler Shough is better if - and it’s a huge, screaming, neon-sign blaring IF - he can stay healthy.
- Shough has all the talent in the world, and he’ll be s superstar if he can stay in one piece. He has the receivers with the Cardinals loading up through the transfer portal getting Caullin Lacy (South Alabama), Ja’Corey Brooks (Alabama) and TE Mark Redman (San Diego State) who should all shine right away. However …
- The pass protection has to be better. Like the rest of the offense, the transfer portal played a bit role with new parts around rock-solid LG Michael Gonzalez.
The rushing offense should be a bit better - Shough will run more than Plummer did - but the 1-2 push of Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo is gone. In comes Donald Chaney from Miami to go along with veteran Maurice Turner.
Louisville Preview 2024: Defense
- Jeff Brohm is known for his offense, but it was the defense under coordinator Ron English that made the season a success. The Cardinals finished No. 1 in the ACC against the run, No. 1 in the nation in red zone defense, and 21st overall in total D. Like the offensive side, the transfer portal will help, but not quite as much.
- The Cardinals have a star pass rusher in Ashton Gillotte. He’s the all-star coming off an 11-sack season, and it’s the job of transfer tackles Thor Griffith (Harvard) and Jordan Guerad (FIU), along with veteran Dezmond Tell, to hold up and let the guys on the outside work. The D front will be a strength again.
- The secondary has the most returning starting parts. 230-pound LB TJ Quinn led the team in tackles - he’ll get to 100 this year - and there’s good depth around him, but it’s the secondary that makes a ton of plays.
The safety tandem of Devin Neal and Benjamin Perry can pop, and corner Quincy Riley is a good veteran on one side with transfers - primarily UCF’s Corey Thornton - on the other.
Louisville Key To The Season
The ground game has to always hit four yards per carry.
Everything worked around a ground attack that controlled the tempo and the clock in game after game. When it stalled, there was a problem.
Throw out the bowl game - parts were missing - but the Cardinals lost to USC even though the O ran well. In the other three losses there was a theme, and this went for the 13-10 brawl of a win over NC State, too.
Against the Wolfpack, Pitt, Kentucky, and Florida State, the offense averaged under four yards per carry. And that’s why …
Louisville Key Player
Donald Chaney, RB, Jr.
Okay, fine, the key player is Tyler Shough, but the passing game should be okay no matter what as long as the ground attack can consistently produce.
Chaney averaged over five yards per carry for Miami last season, but he didn’t get the ball enough. There are almost 2,000 yards and 24 touchdowns to replace with the loss of Jordan and Guerendo and the new guy has to account for a bulk of that.
Louisville Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: QB Tyler Shough
Wide receivers Ja’Corey Brooks and Caullin Lacy were great gets, but to keep playing him up, Shough has the upside to be truly special in this attack. He has all the tools and skills to be a top NFL prospect, but to hammer this home triple-hard, he didn’t have any health luck at Oregon and then at Texas Tech. Let's assume it all works out - expect something amazing.
Top Transfer Out: WR Kevin Coleman
Louisville actually didn’t lose much through the portal. The biggest departures were Tennessee EDGE transfer Tyler Baron (Miami) and Toledo RB Peny Boone (UCF), but neither one of them actually played for the Cardinals - they were the Grandpa Simpson GIF coming into the program and then going right out.
Coleman was third on the team with 26 catches for 362 yards and two scores, and now he’s at Mississippi State.
Louisville Key Game
at Clemson, Nov. 2
Clemson and Louisville have only met eight times. None of those eight went particularly well for the team wearing red.
This is the second game in a run of three straight road trips, and it’s in the midst of four in the final six dates. Pretty much forget about getting back to the ACC Championship without finally getting that first win over the Tigers.
- Louisville Schedule 3 Things To Know
Louisville 10 Best Players
1. Ashton Gillotte, DE Sr.
2. Tyler Shough, QB Sr.
3. Caullin Lacy, WR Sr.
4. TJ Quinn, LB Jr.
5. Devin Neal, S Sr.
6. Michael Gonzalez, OG Sr.
7. Mark Redman, TE Sr.
8. Ja’Corey Brooks, WR Jr.
9. Thor Griffith, DT Sr.
10. Monroe Milles, OT Sr.
Louisville 2023 Fun Stats
- 1st Quarter Scoring: Louisville 104 - Opponents 28
- Time of Possession: Louisville 32:13 - Opponents 27:47
- Rushing TDs: Louisville 31 - Opponents 13
Louisville 2024 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Sort of lost in all of the fun and all of the wins and all the joy last season was how close the team came to biffing a slew of games it shouldn’t have.
Granted, part of being a good team is coming up with wins no matter what, but it took WAY too much work to get by Indiana and Virginia. Five wins came by seven points or fewer, and there was a clunker of a loss to a bad Pitt team along the way.
These Cardinals will be better offensively as long as - everyone all at once here; 1 … 2 … 3 … - Tyler Shough can get some health luck, but the road game run over the second half of the season is unfair.
That doesn’t mean this Cardinal team can’t win at Notre Dame, or at Virginia, or at Boston College, Clemson, Stanford, and Kentucky, but it goes from October 19th to Thanksgiving without a home game, AND - even though there’s a week off before - it has to go to Palo Alto.
Missing Florida State, North Carolina, and NC State helps, and the defense will once again be strong enough to stay in just about every game, but there should be four losses in this bunch despite a 5-1 start.
Set The Louisville Win Total At … 8
Likely Wins: Austin Peay, Jacksonville State, SMU, at Virginia
50/50 Games: at Boston College, Georgia Tech, at Kentucky, Miami, at Stanford, Pitt
Likely Losses: at Clemson, at Notre Dame
- CFN 2024 College Football Preview
Most Popular
Comments / 0