Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. USC

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Taking on USC in the Holiday Bowl to wrap up their 2023 season, the Louisville football program struggled in all three phases of the game, suffering a 42-28 defeat from Petco Park in San Diego, Calif.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the Cardinals' offseason, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game against the Trojans:

First of all, what an incredibly disappointing end to the season. Sure, Louisville most certainly over-achieved in year one of the Jeff Brohm era based on what the preseason expectations were. Anytime you go from being picked to finish eighth in the conference to finishing as the league's runner-up, it was most certainly a successful season. But the Cardinals find themselves in the unique position of both overachieving and disappointing at the same time. Their woes against Kentucky are still lingering, they wasted a golden opportunity against FSU in the ACC Championship Game, and then looked almost wholly unprepared against USC in the Holiday Bowl. This was still a great first season under Brohm and lays a good foundation of what should be expected for the remainder of his tenure, but one can't help but wonder what could have been even if the Cardinals had won just ONE of their final three games.
I'm not going to waste anytime and I'm just gong to get right to it: Louisville's efforts and execution - both among the players and coaches - were flat out unacceptable. What's maddening is that the defense actually looked solid over the first two drives. The Cardinals were getting some pressure on USC QB Miller Moss, plus Moss' first few throws were not all that great. But then after the fumble from Jack Plummer gave the Trojans great field position to get on the board, the wheels completely fell off. Of the next seven drives from USC, six of them went for touchdowns.
Watching the game live and then rewatching the game, it's pretty easy to identify why USC was able to go up and down the field: With the exception of starting cornerback duo Quincy Riley and Jarvis Brownlee, Louisville's secondary was atrocious. Safety duo Cam'Ron Kelly and Devin Neal put together great seasons heading into this game, but they were tremendous liabilities not only in coverage, but when it came to tackling as well (each had three credited misses tackles). Additionally, while cornerback Storm Duck has been a crucial part of Louisville's defensive efforts in the back half of the season with Brownlee being injured, he was picked on by Moss almost ever time he got on the field. Even the coverage efforts in the middle of the field by the linebacking corps, in particular from Jaylin Alderman, was severely lacking. For some reason, everyone except Riley and Brownlee seemed to be a step or two way too slow when dropping back into coverage. I get that USC has plenty of athletes at wide receiver, including a stud in Tahj Washington. But considering they were, yet again, facing a quarterback making his first career start, it was incredibly frustrating to see this play out. Could Ron English have made some changes to play more zone coverage instead of man? Sure, but considering the lack of execution, I'm not sure it would have made that much of a difference.
The secondary wasn't the only aspect of the defense that fell well short. Outside of the first two drives, the defensive line and front seven as a whole was essentially a non-factor when it came to the pass rush. Far too often, Moss had too much time in the pocket and was way too comfortable. Despite earning All-American honors for the season, Ashton Gillotte had next to zero impact on the game. Other linemen like Stephen Herron, Mason Reiger and Ramon Puryear were no shows as pass rushers as well. While this unit might have done well when it came to bottling up the run, they were performed so poorly against the pass that USC was perfectly fine almost completely abandoning the run.
Staying in the front seven, the only linebacker to be a somewhat reliable force in this game was T.J. Quinn. Alderman, Benjamin Perry and Gilbert Frierson either were a tick too slow when it came to coverage in the middle of the field, or were not consistent with tackling angles.
Alright, now let's address the offense, which certainly was not perfect either. Was Plummer perfect in this game? No. While he did go 21-for-25, several of his throw were very off the mark to the point that made it next to impossible for the receiver to advance the ball further up the field. His pass to Jadon Thompson on fourth down late in the game is a perfect example. His early fumble inside Louisville's own 25 is what ultimately got the ball rolling for USC. However, there's a reason that only three of his throws went more than 10 yards downfield. Louisville's receivers and tight ends struggled immensely with trying to get separation against the USC secondary. Considering this has been a bit of a problem all season long, and especially in the second half of the season when it was clear that Jamari Thrash was not fully healthy, it would have been nice to see this group end strong since they were facing a USC defense that was among the worst in college football. Instead, this same issue continued to rear its ugly head, to the point where the leading receiver by both yardage and receptions was running back Isaac Guerendo.
Speaking of which, Louisville is lucky that Guerendo had the game that he did, otherwise this might have been a complete and thorough ass kicking. Whether it was running inside or outside the tackles, he routinely made USC pay with his unique blend of speed and power. The Wisconsin transfer also was able to showcase his ability as a downfield pass catcher, too.
With the exception of the whiffed block from Josh Lifson that led to Plummer's strip sack, the blocking up front wasn't really all that bad. The other two of USC's three sacks were essentially coverage sacks, and more often than not, Plummer had some time to throw the ball. It's just that no one could get open downfield. The run blocking, like it has been for most of the season, was good but not great.
When it comes to offensive game plans and decisions, Brohm has - for the most part this season - been putting his players in the right positions. But this game against USC was one of just a few games where Brohm didn't call his best game. When it was evident early that the passing game wasn't going to be firing on all cylinders, he should have dialed up Guerendo's number more often and shifted to a more run-heavy approach. Plus, after Plummer suffered an injury to the pinky on his throwing hand, I'm a little bit surprised that Brock Domann didn't get more run under center. Plummer said that he was able to manage the pain and that the injury didn't impact his throws, but I'm not sure I 100 percent believe that.
I've mentioned this before in recent weeks, but Brohm and special teams coordinator Karl Maslowski need to have a "come to Jesus" meeting. Special teams has fluctuated all season long, and they didn't look great against USC. The blocked punt is one thing, but actively kicking to Zachariah Branch - who is one of the best return men in college football and nearly took a kick to the house - and getting a chop block penalty as the kicking team just should not happen.
I'll close with this thought: Don't let anyone tell you that this was not a successful season, because it was. But that being said, there are certainly a lot more questions surrounding the Louisville football program right now than there were a month ago. The coaching staff has gotten off to a hot start when it comes to recruiting the transfer portal in this cycle, but now that the bowl game is out of the way, they need to continue to address certain roster needs facing the team. Especially since there is a high likelihood that there will be more roster movement between now and the end of the winter transfer portal window next week.

(Photo of Jarvis Brownlee, Devin Neal, Ja'Kobi Lane: Kirby Lee - USA TODAY Sports)

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