Louisville Confident in QB Domann if Cunningham Unavailable at Virginia

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - If the Louisville football program is able to bounce back from their stunning loss at Boston College when they travel to Virginia this weekend, they might have to do so without arguably their most important player on the team.

Head coach Scott Satterfield announced Tuesday that quarterback Malik Cunningham is listed as "day to day" with "concussion-like symptoms" after taking two separate blows to the head in the 34-33 loss at the Eagles last Saturday.

If Cunningham is unable to go against the Cavaliers, it would a massive blow for the Cardinals on the offensive side of the ball. While he might be having a down year through the air from an efficiency standpoint, he is still a dangerous weapon overall. So far this season, Cunningham has completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 968 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions; but has also rushed for 457 yards and nine touchdowns.

That being said, Louisville is confident in Brock Domann, who won the backup quarterback job in fall camp and has seen some reps over the last two games.

"Part of the reason that he won (the backup QB competition) was by the way that he played," offensive coordinator Lance Taylor said. "He controlled the offense, but also he is a good runner as well in his own right. He is not Malik in the run game, but he is good in the run game and pass game. He can control our offense, he knows where to go with the football. All those things give us confidence not only in him, but the other players around him."

The 6-foot-2, 228-pound quarterback joined the program from Independence Community College in 2021, but didn't get much run in his first season with the Cardinals. His lone appearance last season came in garbage time of Louisville's blowout win at Duke, rushing twice for five yards with no pass attempts.

Domann threw his first in-game passes in garbage time against USF, going 5-of-8 for 73 yards. Three of those passes went for first downs, throwing a 26-yard pass to Chris Bell, as well as 24- and 16-yard passes to running back Maurice Turner out of the backfield.

Against Boston College last week, Domann took the reigns of the offense on their final three drives, but had a tougher time getting the passing game going. He connected with tight end Marshon Ford for a 19-yard completion on his first attempt, but then missed his next seven pass attempts, including going 0-for-4 on Louisville's final drive. He finished the game going 1-of-8 for 19 yards and a Hail Mary interception.

It's not exactly a stat-line that would typically inspire confidence should he be thrust into a starter's role at Virginia. However, Satterfield attributes that performance partly to how Boston College played defense against Louisville's receiving core that has struggled to get separation, and that the game plan/play calling didn't put him in the best spot to have success.

“He was very poised and calm once he went out there. ... I thought he played well," he said. "I know that his stats don't look good. But you go back and watch the film, he did what he needed to do from his position. We had to get guys open, and they were tight. They were man-to-man. They were all over our guys and we did not get free.

"We got to do things that can make it easier on him, to find ways to get some easy throws, easy completions. And to get him comfortable in a running game. It helps that if we can get these back rolling and get the running game going that'll help him as well. He’s got confidence, and we have confidence in him to make the throw."

With Cunningham not being completely ruled out for the Virginia game, and the fact that his skill set is very different from Domann's, Louisville is having to craft two separate game plans based on who is under center for the matchup. These game plans will continue to evolve as the Cardinals continue to scout the Cavaliers, and as Cunningham's injury status becomes clearer.

"Obviously, if you’ve got a Malik plan, or you have a Brock plan, there's a difference," Satterfield said. "There are some different things that we would be doing. Coming up with the plays that we feel good for Brock to run, or plays that we feel good Malik can run offensively, I think that's how you approach it.

"As we get closer to the end of the week, we’ll obviously know a lot more about how we need to approach the game plan with that."

Regardless of who Louisville has to play at quarterback this weekend, the coaching staff is confident that they will get the job done. What it ultimately boils down to for them, is that every person on offense does their job, and not just whoever is under center.

"One of the things that we've really stressed offensively, since training camp, is do your job," Taylor said. "Do your 1/11, don't try to do too much, but do what you're asked to do each and every play, and trust the man next to you to do his job. If everybody does that, we'll have a successful play."

Kickoff between the Cardinals and Cavaliers as set for Saturday, Oct. 8 at 12:00 p.m. EST at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, Va.

(Photo of Brock Domann: Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports)

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