Louisville 'Disappointed' with 'Disheartening' Tackling Issues vs. Syracuse
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As many fans of the Louisville football program know by now, not a lot went the Cardinals' way in their season-opener at Syracuse. Neither side of the ball performed well in the slightest, resulting in Louisville falling flat on their face and suffered 31-7 loss at the hands of the Orange this past Saturday night.
When looking at what plagued the defensive side of the ball, you didn't have to watch much of the game to understand what their biggest issue was. Louisville struggling all night long with one of the basic elements of playing sound, fundamental football: tackling.
Far too often, the Cardinals struggled with bringing down Syracuse ballcarriers. Head coach Scott Satterfield noted in his post-game press conference that players were either failing to sufficiently wrap up, or were content with throwing a shoulder tackle. By the end of the game, Louisville had wracked up 15 total missed tackles - the third-most from that week's slate of college football games.
"It was disheartening to see it on game day," defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said Tuesday. "But then you see it on film, and you're like, 'man, if we make these four or five tackles, we're probably up seven or three going into the fourth quarter just making those tackle.
It was disheartening, but I think our guys responded the very next day, as well as yesterday in practice. Today will be in pads, and so we'll do some more tackling there and try to correct those mistakes."
What accentuated Louisville's tackling issues was the fact that even some of their top defensive assets also struggled. Guys like Monty Montgomery, YaYa Diaby, and even Yasir Abdullah had moments where Syracuse players seemed to just bounce right off of them.
"I was just disappointed that we didn't make those plays. Those guys are capable of making those plays," Satterfield said.
To Syracuse's credit, the two players who forced the most missed tackled, running back Sean Tucker and quarterback Garrett Shrader, have an established repertoire when it comes to this. Tucker is an All-American who rushed for 1,496 yards last season, with Shrader tallying 781 that season, which was the second-most rushing yards in the ACC by a quarterback.
Still, there were several tackling opportunities during the game that Louisville should have capitalized on. On Tucker's 55-yard screen pass reception for a touchdown, the Cardinals missed two or three tackles on this play alone. Shrader converted two long third downs with his legs, including one where Syracuse was backed up on their own goal line and Shrader appeared to be dead-to-rights in the backfield.
"I think they had a little something to do with it," Satterfield said. "Tucker’s a really good back, runs low to the ground. We didn’t wrap up there a couple of times. They did a good job on a couple of their plays where they moved him out, and now there’s one guy. One guy misses, and you don’t have the rest of the team to rally.
"We missed on the screen-play, it was about a 54-yard play for a touchdown. The other thing that really hurt us was the scrambling of the quarterback. We had him in the backfield several times. He’s a big kid, but we just didn’t wrap up, so we’ve got to do a better job of wrapping up."
It won't get any easier for Louisville moving forward. The Cardinals are staying on the road and heading to Orlando, Fla. this weekend for a showdown with UCF. Like Syracuse, the Knights are also incredibly efficient running the football, but are also underrated from a physical standpoint.
Quarterback John Rhys Plumlee is like Shrader in that he also is a proficient runner, showing that in UCF's first game against South Carolina State when he rushed for a team-best 86 yards and a touchdown. Plumlee brings the speed, but running back Isaiah Bowser brings the punishment. He is a bruising, physical back for the Knights, rushing for 703 yards last season and 83 yards in their opener.
It also doesn't help Louisville that they are having to face UCF on a short week, with kickoff slated for Friday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. EST. Because of the short week, and Louisville has to keep guys fresh for the game, they can't tackle as much in this week of preparation. Heading into the game, to make up for the tackling issues, Satterfield says the main focus is simply improving their mindset ahead of the game.
"You got to get your mind made up that it's going to be that way," he said. "That you're going to be having to tackle a big back right there that's running hard every time he runs. He's a very hard runner. You got to have your mind made up before you even get on the plane. We got to play physical, and we got to come bring it. We got to bring energy and the physicality every single play. That's got to be the case, because we can't just strap it on full and go tackle this week, you just can't. You want to be fresh, but I think you have to have your mind made up that it's going to be a physical football game. You have to bring it every single play."
Fortunately for Louisville, it seems that the change in mindset ahead of their matchup at UCF isn't going to be a problem. Considering that the direction of the season, and perhaps the program, could be on the line should the Cardinals lay another egg, a more aggressive approach and dedication to being a fundamentally sound defense is going to be needed.
"The biggest thing is, with our guys understanding that they missed those tackles, especially the veterans, they took it to heart," Brown said.
"I got a text message from one of our veterans just earlier this morning, saying 'hey, sorry coach. That won't happen again. We're gonna go out there and compete today in practice, and believe me, I'm gonna put this team on my back.' That was great to hear from one of the veterans that had some missed tackles this past game and he's ready to roll. I think the rest of the guys are gonna follow his lead."
(Photo via Mark Konezny - USA TODAY Sports)
You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:
Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report
You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter
