Louisville's Backup QB Spot Still Up for Grabs Following Fall Camp
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program isn't exactly heading into the 2022 season with starting quarterback controversy. Malik Cunningham is one of the top returning signal callers in all of FBS football, coming off of a 2021 season where he totaled 3,972 yards and 39 touchdowns through the air and on the ground.
That being said, the quarterback room for the Cardinals isn't completely devoid of controversy. It just happens to be right behind Cunningham.
With Louisville's preseason fall camp in the books and the upcoming season now just two weeks away, head coach Scott Satterfield has yet to pencil in who the backup quarterback is. In fact, following the final scrimmage of fall camp on Friday, Satterfield said that three players are in the mix for the No. 2 spot: Evan Conley, Brock Domann and walk-on Nathan McElroy.
Conley has the most experience out of the three, as he is entering his fourth year with the program. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound signal caller made a name for himself in 2019, throwing for 613 yards and four touchdowns, but has been a bit inconsistent since. He went 4-of-5 with 48 yards in 2020, then 10-of-19 for 79 yards and a touchdown in 2021.
That being said, Conley is also not 100 percent. He has offseason hip surgery not long after the 2021 season ended, was held out of spring ball, and was limited in fall camp. So throughout the preseason, it has mainly been Domann and McElroy getting the backup reps.
"We're trying to work (Conley) back into things slowly, so really, Brock and McElroy have really gotten a lot of the twos," Satterfield said. "We've kind of just been splitting reps with those guys, just giving them equal opportunity. They both got reps with the ones today, they both got reps with the twos."
Domann is a former JUCO product who joined the program last offseason. He didn't get much run last year, with the 6-foot-2, 228-pound quarterback seeing only garbage time in the blowout win over Duke and rushing twice for five yards. However, he isn't short on experience, completing 108 of his 190 pass attempts for 10 touchdowns to five interceptions in the 2020 season for Independence Community College.
With Class of 2022 signee Khalib Johnson still dealing with an injury of his own, that has allowed McElroy to take advantage of the opportunity for reps in the offseason. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound signal caller from Trinity High School is a quality walk-on, going 104-of-163 for 1,375 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games for the Shamrocks last year.
With the season fast approaching and the program about to phase from fall camp to game prep, Satterfield is hoping to name a backup sooner rather than later.
"Just seeing who's the most consistent, and we'll continue to do that this next week," Satterfield said. "Then we'll really kind of zone in on the guy that's gonna get most of the rest with the twos. I think we'll know that more by the end of next week."
Louisville will begin the 2022 season when they travel to upstate New York to face Syracuse on Saturday, Sept. 3.
(Photo of Louisville quarterbacks: Matthew McGavic - Louisville Report)
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