Louisville Expecting to be Challenged by Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos

The dual threat signal caller for the Eagles played a key role in a near-upset of Florida State last week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over the offseason, a large talking point surrounding the Louisville football program heading into their 2023 campaign was how easy their schedule was, particularly in the beginning of the season. While it hasn't been completely smooth sailing to start the season, a 3-0 mark over the first quarter of the season seems to back up that notion to an extent.

Now, the Cardinals returning home to L&N Stadium are setting their sights on Boston College, a team that many fans roped in with what they were expecting to be an easy start. But Louisville has already shown this season that they aren't one to look past an opponent, and they aren't about to do that with Boston College.

"We're excited to get back home to start the conference slate against a really good Boston College team who played their best game last week," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "Found their quarterback, put up yards, and had a chance to win. So we're going to have to have a good week of practice and once again just try to correct the mistakes we made this past game. Continue to find ways to be more efficient in all three segments and see if we can come out and play as clean a game as possible and find a way to win."

As Brohm mentioned, a large reason that the Eagles are going to command respect has been the early play of their new starting quarterback, Thomas Castellanos. While the Eagles might be 1-2 to start the season, including an overtime home loss to Northern Illinois and a win over FCS foe Holy Cross by just a field goal, Castellanos has given Eagles fans a reason to be optimistic.

BC entered the season with Emmett Morehead taking over as the starting quarterback after Phil Jurkovec left for Pitt. But after just two series in the opener against NIU, Morehead was benched in favor of Castellanos. While the game ended in a loss, the sophomore transfer from UCF showed promise, going 13-for-28 for 138 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 67 yards and a score. He built on this performance against Holy Cross, going 17-for-23 with 201 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 69 yards.

But the main reason that Castellanos and the Eagles are commanding respect from Louisville is because of their performance last week against Florida State. Facing the No. 3 team in the nation and one of the top defenses in football, Castellanos had his best performance to date, and it nearly put Boston College over the top. He went 20-for-33 with 305 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for 95 yards and a score. BC eventually fell 31-29, and had they not committed 18 penalties, they could have outright won.

Castellanos' performance against the Seminoles earned his some lofty praise from Brohm, comparing him to one of the best quarterback currently in the NFL. He also believe that an outing like that can help spark a team, and containing him will be of the utmost importance.

"Based on the last game, he looked like a more athletic Russell Wilson," Brohm said. "He can run around and make plays, he can throw the football, he can distribute it. He had a really good football game against a good defense.

"I think that if a quarterback is playing well and confident, it really can carry the team. We're have to find ways to disrupt him, count for him in the run game as well, challenge routes and figure out ways to get after the quarterback. It'll be a really good test for our defense."

The film from the Florida State game shows that Castellanos has a variety of tools in the toolbox. As a passer, he has demonstrated solid decision making and accuracy even with pressure in his face, and certainly has a strong arm for deep shots down the field. As a runner, he not only can extend plays with his legs, his speed on designed runs or scrambles makes him one of the fastest players on the field.

His capabilities as a dual threat weapon certainly make him a difficult player to scheme against. With Louisville struggling at times to set the edge defensively so far this season, this will certainly be a point of emphasis during practice this week. They will have to play incredibly disciplined football so that Castellanos won't burn the Cardinals for chunk plays with regularity.

"It's very challenging," linebacker/safety Benjamin Perry said in regards to how difficult it is to stick to assignments when facing a dual threat quarterback. "You can't play too much man, then he gets a running lane and he's gone running.

"I think for us, coming up with a good scheme around him, and then coming up with a scheme around the other weapons throughout the offense is going to be big for us. Staying within our keys, and running to the football like we do. Running to the football is going to be a big key for us."

Kickoff against Boston College is set for Saturday, Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. EST from L&N Stadium.

(Photo of Thomas Castellanos: Paul Rutherford - USA TODAY Sports)

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