Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. NC State

The Cardinals grit out a defensive victory against the Wolfpack in a battle of backup quarterbacks.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their final home game of the regular season, the Louisville football program was able to get back to their winning ways after falling at Clemson the previous week, using a gritty defensive performance to hold off NC State 25-10 victory this past Saturday at Cardinal Stadium.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the rivalry matchup at Kentucky, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game:

• First of all, this was one of the most well-rounded games that Louisville has played all season long, at least when it comes to playing against Power Five opponents. On top of that, this came on the heels of suffering their first loss in over month, and had their rivalry matchup against Kentucky waiting immediately after. This was a game where they could have either let the loss at Clemson still linger around, or where they could have looked ahead to the Wildcats. From the jump, neither seemed to be the case, and they were locked in from the jump. The strides this team has made not only from an on-field product standpoint, but a mental one as well have been tremendous.
• I know Louisville has already established that they have finally gotten over the hump when it comes to performing in the second half and fourth quarter, but it still bears mentioning when it happens, especially against a top-25 team. They had just a three-point advantage entering the fourth quarter, so it was still anyone's game. Once it got to the fourth, Louisville flipped a switch on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Their offense scored on their first three drives of the fourth, whereas their defense forced a turnover on downs on each of NC State's first three drives of the quarter. Once again, Louisville stepped up when they needed to the most, and that is arguably the biggest indicator that they have made this season.
• I've made a habit of breaking down the defense first, but I'm actually going to start with the special teams. While the win was fueled mainly by the defense, special teams played just as big of a role. James Turner was automatic and connected on all four of his field goal tries. Jawhar Jordan gave the Cardinals a much needed spark with his 98-yard kickoff return touchdown. Mark Vassett is apparently an ambidextrous punter. Not to mention the tackle from K.J. Cloyd that pinned NC State inside the five yards line, helping contribute to great field position on the next Louisville drive to result in their first points. This was one of their best special teams games all season.
• Now onto the defense. Yes, I know that NC State had to go to their third and fourth string quarterback, and had a variety of other injuries on that side of the ball. However, the defense still did what they needed to do, and did blow the opportunity to make plays. They set the tone almost immediately, and made it tough for either Jack Chambers or Ben Finley to get comfortable. Not to mention that they were having a lot of success at getting pressure on just three- and four-man rushes, and not just when they decided to blitz - which is a far cry from what happened the week before at Clemson. Not only that, this was by far their best tackling performance of season, missing only three tackles all game according to PFF. Sure, NC State doesn't have a ton of breakaway speed at the skill position, but the inability to wrap up and tackle had been an issue at times this season.
• Once again, linebacker Yasir Abdullah deserves a shoutout. He is in the middle of one of the best individual seasons by a Louisville defender, and he made his presence known early against NC State. He abused their tackles all game long, finishing with an impressive 2.5 sacks and 3.0 tackles for loss.
• The rest of the front seven also performed exceptionally well. All three starting defensive linemen - YaYa Diaby, Ashton Gillotte and Dezmond Tell - got somewhat consistent pressure, and the linebackers - specifically MoMo Sanogo and Monty Montgomery - did a really good job at both adding pass rush and plugging up holes in run support.
• As for the secondary, I though they performed moderately well. They benefitted a lot from the fact that Finley had his fair share of overthrows in the game, but every once in a while Finley was able to catch them off guard or out of position with a solid through, especially on NC State's lone touchdown drive. Fortunately, the entire unit made up for it by being fundamentally sound when it came to tackling and pursuing ball carriers, so it evens out. Even with his misplay on the ball that resulted in an NC State touchdown, Kei'Trel Clark still played well.
• I don't think I've ever seen a defensive player who can epitomize Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a single game more so than Jarvis Brownlee Jr. Yes, he led the game in tackles with 11 and tallied a whopping four pass break ups, but that's because NC State kept targeting him. He ended up being a net-positive, thankfully, but he was very boom-or-bust in coverage, and his tendency to be overly aggressive bit him a couple times. According to PFF, he was targeted 13 times, giving up seven catches for 96 yards. Finley only completed 16 of his 35 passes for 201 yards. You do the math.
• Okay, now onto the offense. Let's get this out of the way now: yes, it very much was not pretty. However, considering the defense they were facing, it's pretty impressive what they were even able to do considering they also had to go to their backup quarterback and were relying heavily on their fourth- and fifth-string running backs. NC State was only allowing 18.1 points, 321.2 total yards per game and 92.3 rushing yards per game. Louisville put up 25 points, 345 total yards and more than doubled what NC State had been allowing on the ground at 192 rushing yards. Plus, the injury bug hadn't bitten the NC State defense nearly as bad as it did the offense. A great showing, all things considered.
• As for the play of backup quarterback Brock Domann, I thought he played well. Not great, not terrible. He played well enough to steady the ship, and didn't lead the ship aground, so to speak. Could he have been better? Sure. he did miss a couple throws, and there were a few plays where he didn't even see wide open receivers for easy chunk plays. But, he didn't have any turnovers, looked good standing in the pockets and delivered consistent catchable balls (although could have led his receivers a bit better), and demonstrated good on-field awareness. Not to mention that I thought the staff put together a good gameplan for Domann, with the exception of inside the red zone, which has been a problem all season long regardless of quarterback.
• Jawhar Jordan and the offensive line deserves some major praise for what he did. NC State's front seven is arguably the best in the ACC, and he was able to dice them up on the ground. Not only did he get the gritty between the tackles yardage, but put on full display his agility and speed on a couple off-tackle runs. Even true freshman Maurice Turner looked somewhat solid at times. This was a great game plan and execution by both backs and every offensive lineman that saw action.
• Tyler Hudson continues to look like a much better wide receiver than he did in the first half of the season. His ability to catch the ball in traffic, sometimes even with a badly placed ball, and fight for extra yards continues to impress. He's very much within reach of a 1,000-yard season.
• Marshon Ford continues to show how valuable of an asset he is on third down. Also, get Ahmari Huggins-Bruce the ball more. He's too good to have just four targets. That is all.
• I'll close with this thought: This was a game where Louisville could have easily not been in the right mental space due to either the loss to Clemson the week before or the Kentucky game the week after. Instead, they left no doubt that they were concentrating on NC State and NC State alone, and were able to pull out a top-25 win for the second time this season. Momentum is back in their favor heading into the Kentucky game, and they just need to finish strong.

(Photo of Jawhar Jordan: Jamie Rhodes - 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