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Why Louisville Should Dial Up The Pressure Against Boston College

The Cardinals have been one of the top teams in the nation in terms of getting in the backfield.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For all the early season struggles that the Louisville football program had to start their 2022 season, Boston College's issues have been even greater. The third year of the Jeff Hafley era hasn't exactly gone as many have hoped, with the Eagles sporting just a 1-3 record on the season, and that one win coming against an FCS opponent in Maine.

Louisville and Boston College are coming off of two very different games. The Cardinals blasted USF to the tune of 41-3 in what could be a "get-right game" for them, while Eagles themselves were the ones who were blasted 44-14 at Florida State.

Ahead of the Saturday showdown in Chestnut Hill between the two, not only is there a very clear position group mismatch that favors the Cardinals, but it's one that Louisville can single-handedly use to take over the game. Boston College's offensive line is not only one of the worst in the Power Five, but one of the worst in all of FBS football, period.

"They struggle a little bit protection wise, and they've given up some pressures there," Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield said. The issue of protection, I think, is probably one thing that has hurt them the most this year offensively."

How badly have the Eagles been in the trenches offensively? They currently rank 126th nationally in sacks allowed per game at 3.75, and are 118th in tackles for loss allowed per game at 7.75. For context, there are only 131 teams operating at the FBS level; and only Stanford, Akron and Colorado State are worse than Boston College in both categories.

It has been the catalyst for some pretty bad offensive numbers for BC. The Eagles are only averaging 283.2 yards per game and putting up 20.8 points per game, both of which ranks outside the top 100 national. Boston College's run game, which has traditionally been their M.O., is only averaging 59.8 yards per game. The only two teams in FBS worse than the Eagles at running the football? Akron and Colorado State.

Here are some more stats to further drive home the point, courtesy of ESPN's David Hale: 35.4% of BC's running back carries have gone for a loss or no gain, which is the most in FBS. Additionally, 42.4% of their QB dropbacks have been pressured, the second-most in FBS.

It would be one thing if the Eagles had an absolute gauntlet to start the year. But their first four opponents have been: Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Maine, and then a good team in Florida State. BC's strength of schedule ranks 10th in the ACC and 94th nationally.

This is a chance for Louisville to strike while the iron is hot. Sure, they can probably already get a fair amount of pressure on BC without sending the kitchen sink at them. But if they dial up the pressure on the Eagles, they have a chance to dominate them, and only build more confidence moving forward.

"I don't want to give away our game plan," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown quipped when asked Tuesday if they would apply additional pressure against Boston College. "But I think we just got to do a great job of being able to read our keys and play fast like we did this weekend.

"When we're able to pin our ears back and get after the passer, we're really, really good. ... If we can do that, and get those guys to be one dimensional, I feel pretty good about our matchups, and things of that nature. We just got to go play, and see what see where the chips fall."

Louisville's run defense for the year still isn't great, allowing teams to rush for an average of 163.2 yards per game (94th in FBS), but is coming off a phenomenal performance against USF. Facing a Bulls squad that had ran for 286 yards in a near-upset at Florida, the Cardinals held them to just 48 yards on the ground.

Plus, Louisville has already done a good job at applying pressure to begin with. They rank 13th in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss per game at 3.25 and 8.0, respectively.

"We’ve put more pressure on teams this year, which I think is awesome. Trying to kind of knock them off the sticks to create these third and long situations, and the defense does a much better job with that. We got to continue that as well this week.”

Sending more pressure will not only stifle BC's run game, but further disrupt their ability to pass the ball. The lack of pass protection has started to impact quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who entered this season with potential high-round NFL Draft pick buzz. He's 78-of-129 on the year with 843 yards and seven touchdowns, but has already matched his career-high in interceptions with five.

Not to mention that disrupting Jurkovec's timing will be tantamount to containing one of deadliest weapons in the ACC: wide receiver Zay Flowers. His 330 receiving yards is 33rd in all of FBS, and is also the best mark in the ACC.

"(He's) probably one of the best receivers in ACC," Brown said of Flowers. "He has speed, he's very quick. They're going to try to get him the ball in any way possible. We got to make sure we know where he is each and every now. If we can do that, and tackle well, again like we showed this past Saturday, we should be in for a really, really good fight."

Sure, you can make a case that Louisville doesn't need to send a bunch of pressure to be effective against Boston College's line. Using another stat provided by Hale, Louisville ranks fourth in nationally in non-blitz sack rate so far this season. YaYa Diaby has had a sack in every game. Ashton Gillotte has three on the year. Yasir Abdullah is continuing to look like an All-ACC defender and Dorian Jones is coming into his own as linebacker as well.

But if that side of the ball wants keep building confidence, as well as continue playing solid complimentary football, a consistent blitz against Boston College could be the answer.

Kickoff against the Eagles is set for Saturday, Oct. 1 at 12:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Marvin Dallas: Jared Anderson: State of Louisville/Louisville Report)

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