Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Murray State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Playing in their first home game under head coach Jeff Brohm, the Louisville football program left little doubt against in-state FCS foe Murray State, cruising to a 56-0 victory at L&N Stadium to move to 2-0 on the 2023 season.

Before we close the book on the game and transition to the matchup vs. Indiana, I wanted to provide some closing thoughts and observations from the game:

First of all, I'll go ahead and say right now that it's hard to have a ton of meaningful takeaways from a game against an FCS opponent. I mean, Louisville closed as a 43.5-point favorite against Murray State, and still covered the spread by almost two touchdowns. Anything short of a complete and total domination would have been an abject failure from both the players and the coaching staff. That being said, the coaches mentioned earlier in the week the importance of not looking past an opponent like Murray State and staying locked in for all four quarters, and to Louisville's credit, whether it was the starters, the backups or the third and fourth stringers, they did exactly that.
Like last week, we'll start with the offense first. While quarterback Jack Plummer did have a completion percentage of over 70 percent, he was very up-and-down with his throws. Unlike last week, it wasn't because of his jitteriness or bad decision making. early in the game, he had a handful of throws where he made the correct decision, but was either just a tick too late at getting the ball out or put too much air under the ball. Albeit while it was a difficult throw to make, that's how he threw his first interception (his second I won't fault him for because it was a Hail Mary). That being said, as the game went on, he ended up making a few really good throws. That ball to Jamari Thrash, where he had to deliver a bullet through a maybe five-foot window, was absolutely beautiful.
As for the other quarterbacks, it's hard to have any sort of meaningful takeaways considering they each played for only a drive or even a single play. But, considering the depth chart for the position lists a bunch of "OR's" for the backups, we now have a glimpse as to what the depth chart actually is considering the order they were inserted into the game after Plummer's day was done. It went: Brock Domann, Evan Conley, Harrison Bailey, Pierce Clarkson, Brady Allen and then the three remaining other walk-ons.
As much attention and buzz as the passing game received over the offseason, Louisville's rushing attack looks to be just as deadly. At the current rate that running back Jawhar Jordan is going at, it's not inconceivable that he could have a legitimate shot to win the Doak Walker Award. Rushing for over 100 yards and two scores on less than ten carries is absurd. He could have had over 200 yards rushing had another 70-yard run not been wiped out by a holding call. Not only does he has insane open field speed, it's very obvious that he has gotten better at absorbing blows from would-be tacklers and improved his overall elusiveness. Not to mention that he is delivering with more chances as a pass catcher. His catch up the seam adds a wrinkle to his already impressive arsenal.
With Maurice Turner being held out, we got both an extended look at Isaac Guerendo and a first look at Keyjuan Brown. After last week, I questioned why Jordan wasn't getting more carries (which he still should), but now, I can see why Louisville wants to spread the wealth around the running back room. Being the biggest running back at the position, Guerendo is an incredibly hard runner and refuses to go down at first contact, and displayed that against the Racers. Not only that, he is oncredibly consistant as a pass catcher, as was evidenced on his screen to end the half. As for Brown, he has a similar running style, but is way more adept at gliding through the line of scrimmage. He could have a bright future ahead of him.
It's only two games into the season, but it's starting to be apparent who Plummer's two favorite targets in the passing game are. Of course, No. 1 is still Jamari Thrash. His concentration and open field speed on that 73-yard touchdown off a slant route was incredible. But, Plummer is also building a repertoire with Kevin Coleman Jr. He set the tone early with that incredibly difficult one-handed over the shoulder catch, and has now had back-to-back games with a huge gain through the air.
Speaking of the receivers, it's an interesting playcalling wrinkle to get them as involved with the running game as Louisville has early this offseason. It's not just the calls themselves, but the timing of them has had defenses caught off guard and on their heels.
Another very good outing by the offensive line. While they didn't post back-to-back games of allowing no sacks or tackles for loss, 90 percent of the night, they gave the quarterback plenty of time and opened up massive holes for the running backs. Those post-spring additions to the line to help bolster competition and production in this area have paid huge early dividends for this team.
As efficient as the offense was, this is now back-to-back weeks where Louisville got minimal production from their tight end position. Literally the only catch all night was a 34-yard touchdown to Joey Gatewood in garbage time, which honestly, might be enough to get him to climb the depth chart. The numbers on Pro Football Focus also show that blocking from this group hasn't been super sharp, either. There's some time to develop this spot before the competition ramps up, but someone has to take advantage of the competition.
Now onto the defensive side of the ball. From the line to the linebackers and the secondary, the defense looked much more consistent than they had the previous week. Of course, it helps when you're playing Murray State, but it was great to see them not let up off the gas at all no matter who was in the game.
The defensive line was amazing in one regard, and left some to be desired in another. The middle of the line did a fantastic job of generating pressure right up the middle, even though the stat sheet doesn't suggest that they did much. It was also great to Jermayne Lole make his first start as a Cardinal and have a meaningful impact. The defensive ends were mostly great, and Ashton Gillotte got his first sack of the season, but the ends as a whole were very hit-or-miss with setting the edges early in the game. There were times where Murray State QB D.J. Williams would have to roll out of the pocket because of the pressure he was facing right in his face, but was able to pick up the first down with his legs because the edges were a bit too slow coming off of their blocks. Something to monitor moving forward.
As much as the linebacking corps was criticized over the offseason for a lack of relative depth (by myself included), so far, they have performed well to start this season. Two of the three leading tacklers against the Racers were the starters at inside linebacker in T.J. Quinn and Jaylen Alderman, and true freshman Stanquan Clark notched a forced fumble late in the game. Plus, Benjamin Perry in his new role as the STAR showed that he can be an X-Factor for the defense.
Anytime you allow less than 100 yards passing on the day, regardless of the opponent you are facing, it was a good day for the secondary. While losing M.J. Griffin is absolutely a brutal blow for the defense, Devin Neal has risen to the occasion as the Cardinals' new starter at free safety, looking good both around the line of scrimmage and deep in zone coverage. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. continues to look much better in coverage compared to last year, and Quincy Riley does look more physical than he did last year.
Unfortunately, it has now been back-to-back games where Louisville has committed a fair amount of untimely penalties. You can get away with this against the Georgia Techs and Murray States of the world, but when Notre Dame comes to town? This better be cleaned up.
I'll close with this thought: While we were never going to learn a ton about this team from a matchup like this, it was good to see Louisville not treat Murray State like a pushover. There are some things Louisville has to clean up still, but for the most part, they executed at a high level and operated with decisiveness. It was even good to see them practice a two-minute drill at the end of the first half. Fine tune a few things here and there, and Louisville could be on their way to a special season.

(Photo of Isaac Guerendo: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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