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Louisville Slowly Making Strides in Passing Game

The Cardinals' efforts through the air have been far from perfect, but it has started to trend in the right direction over the pass two weeks.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Heading into this season, many expected the passing game for the Louisville football program to take a step forward.

While the wide receiver room had to be retooled after losing three of their four most productive players at this position, the Cardinals still returned guys like wide receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce and tight end Marshon Ford. Not to mention that the staff was high on transfer wideouts Tyler Hudson and Dee Wiggins, and that a lot of offseason work had gone into progressing quarterback Malik Cunningham's pocket passing abilities.

As many Louisville fans know by now, among all the things that went wrong in the Cardinals' season-opener against Syracuse, the passing game was one of them. Cunningham keyed onto Hudson far too much, he looked uncomfortable sitting in the pocket and forced some throws the resulted in two interceptions, and most of the wideouts struggling to create separation.

Even in Louisville's win at UCF, it was in spite of the offense as whole, with the defense willing the Cardinals to a win. But since their matchup with Florida State - even though that game was a loss - Louisville has started to see some improvement in the passing game, and it is slowly started to make them a much more complete offense.

"We're kind of settling in as an offense to see where we're at," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "We would like to hit a few more throws down the field, we'll keep working at it, we'll keep trying to find ways. Obviously, the bottom line is to move the ball and score points. We just started out early in the season just not doing as well scoring points. The last two weeks, we've done a much better job with it."

Of course, Louisville still is only averaging 225.0 passing yards per game, which is good for 84th in FBS. But, that is largely due to the lack of success through the air they had they first two weeks, and the fact that the Cardinals have a dynamic rushing attack that they can rely on. Though four games, Louisville's 224.5 rushing yards per game ranks 14th nationally.

Even still, there is tangible evidence that the passing game is, slowly but surely, improving, and has better days ahead. Cunningham has done a much better job at spreading the ball out over the past weeks, getting guys like Smith, Huggins-Bruce more involved, as well as the running backs. While the occasional overthrow and really bad read still pops up from time-to-time, Cunningham has been a lot more decisive with his throws over the last two games.

Over the Syracuse and UCF games, Cunningham was 30-of-51 (58.8 percent) for 353 yards and two interceptions. Against Florida State and USF, he was 35-of-56 (62.5 percent) for 429 yards, two touchdowns and one pick.

Another factor to consider is that the wide receiver room, which sports a high amount of transfers and inexperienced guys thrust into bigger roles, is starting to find ways to generate more separation and get open for Cunningham. Part of that is the progression of the players themselves, and added wrinkles to the game plan by the coaching staff.

"As far as the receivers go, we're trying to find ways to look at the game plan, free them up and to get them open," Satterfield said. "Obviously, it's the quarterback's job when they are open to hit them. The line's got do a great job in protections. It's all those things. I do think our guys have done a decent job of getting open. I think, at times, we got to do better if we can.

"We had a few more Saturday that we got out there, we just got to be able to make a throw and catch. I think it's continue to practice, continue to look at it and find ways to get some of these playmakers in space."

However, the passing game did take a huge blow in the Florida State game. Dee Wiggins, a transfer from Miami who was expected to play a major role in the offense as a deep threat, suffered a toe injury that will sideline him for the rest of the year.

USF was Louisville's first opportunity to get guys behind Wiggins on the depth chart some more run, and for the most part, it was a success. Jaelin Carter hauled in his first catch as a Cardinal on a spectacular 26-yard diving catch for a touchdown. True freshman Chris Bell had an impressive 26-yard catch. Even true freshman running back Maurice Turner had a pair of catches out of the backfield, and was third on the day in receiving yards with 40.

"I'm really proud of the receiver group and how they played this week," offensive coordinator Lance Taylor said. "Thought we had some young guys, and some guys who hadn't gotten as many opportunities in the first several games, really step up and play really well."

Was the passing game perfect against USF? Absolutely not. Cunningham's first pass of the day should have been intercepted, and he had two bad overthrows on the same drive later in the game. Ford, who is an All-ACC tight end, only had two receptions in the game, and needs to see the ball more moving forward. 

Regardless, there is some optimism that Louisville's passing game is starting to turn a corner, and that they can be a lot more efficient when throwing the football. Players and coaches just have to continue working to make sure it gets to that point.

"We're going to take what the defense gives us and if we can run it, we'll run it, if they're going to give us a throw, we'll try to take that as well," Satterfield said. "Last week there were a couple of times, we had some guys there, we'd love to be able to complete those balls. We just got to keep working on it."

(Photo via Jared Anderson: State of Louisville/Louisville Report)

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