Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville's Emphatic Loss at SMU

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program was thoroughly embarrassed this past weekend in Dallas, falling 38-6 to SMU in what was their final road game of the season. It marked their worst margin of defeat since dropping a 45-13 decision at Kentucky on Nov. 30, 2019.

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

First of all, I know that Louisville was dealing with several noteworthy injuries heading into this game, and then subsequently added to that as the afternoon went on. I acknowledge that it's hard to win when a good chunk of your top playmakers aren't available for you, especially on the road against a team that's in the thick of the conference title race. The deck was most certainly stacked against them. But even with that in mind, that was one of the most disappointing and borderline disgraceful performances I have seen in quite some time - and I saw several of those during the Satterfield era. It didn't matter who took the field for Louisville, whether they were a starter, backup, injured or not, this team looked like they didn't even belong on the same field as SMU. Not too long ago, the Cardinals were legitimately in the midst of both ACC title and College Football Playoff talks. Now they're struggling to even get to the finish line. I won't venture as far to say that this team has quit, but man, there were times on Saturday where it sure looked that way.
Don't get me wrong, the actual players on the field bare some responsibility for that result. But make no mistake: at the end of the day, this falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff, and especially head coach Jeff Brohm. Again, I know that Louisville was banged up to hell and back and they had to face a good team on the road. But guess what? Every team in college football is hurt at this point, and the Cardinals were previously 3-0 on the road - with two of those three wins coming against good squads in Pitt and Miami. Brohm and his coaching staff, between the week of preparation and the actual game day adjustments, flat out failed to put the team in a position to succeed - much less win. Brohm's opening offensive script, while it didn't result in a touchdown, was fantastic. It was the best the offense had looked in a few weeks, and I don't think I'm being hyperbolic. But where was that creativity literally throughout the rest of the game? Also, with Deuce Adams starting to get in a rhythm, why put Brady Allen out there on drive No. 3 and completely derail all momentum? Especially when Allen didn't return until the game was well in hand? Defensive coordinator Ron English, while he's had a great season up to this point, isn't absolved of any blame here, either. Why opt to play in soft zone coverage, that kept getting picked apart down-in and down-out, almost all day? Where were the blitzes to create pressure on Kevin Jennings and clog rushing lanes? This was a super conservative game plan, and considering how hamstrung the offense was, I'm not sure this was the time to do that.
I'll address the offensive players first, starting with quarterback Deuce Adams. Sure, statistically he did not have a game that jumps off the page, and he did have a handful of overthrows (which is something I saw a lot of in spring ball and fall camp). But he made a few good downfield throws, and he adds a mobility dynamic that simply didn't exist under Miller Moss (or any other QB on the roster for that matter). Considering how much SMU's secondary has struggled this season, I would have liked to see Brohm and Co. take off the training wheels a bit and let Adams show off his arm a bit more, instead of simply calling a lot of short passing plays like screens, swings and dumpoffs. If you're going to do that, you might as well put Moss back in. But I saw enough from Adams that, even if Moss is healthy, I think he should start against Kentucky and in the bowl game.
Full disclosure: what I'm about to say is going to sound cold and heartless. But Brady Allen should not touch the field ever again for Louisville. Between the struggles in his limited reps both in this game and vs. EKU, plus what I have seen from him in two different offseason, it's clear that he just doesn't have the skill set to compete at this level.
With the receiving corps, it's hard for me to have much issue with them in this game. Sure, there are still issues with generating separation from players not named Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy, and that came up several times that afternoon. But Brohm, outside of the opening script and a few plays in the second quarter, didn't really draw up plays that allowed the wideouts to show what they could do against a secondary that had gotten torched all season. But again, at the end of the day, it's up to the coaching staff to develop and prepare, and they didn't do that this week - again.
This was a game where I personally would have like to see much more throws than runs, but considering the quarterback situation, it's understandable that the offense was slanted in favor of the ground attack. It's also not surprising that they didn't have more success here considering both the injuries at running back and SMU's proficiency with containing the run. It was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" type situation. That being said, the offensive line didn't exactly do the running backs any favors with opening up rushing lanes, which has been an issue all season long at this point. Pass protection was at least pretty good, so at least there's that. But even that once again begs the question... why not throw it more?
Alright, now onto the defense. Without question, they certainly did not look good in the first half of the game, and put Louisville behind the eight ball pretty quickly. But this unit actually looked much better in the third quarter than I remembered when watching live - at before they completely let go of the rope in the fourth. If the offense can get out of their own way during that third quarter, there's a world in which Louisville at least makes thing interesting heading into the final quarter. Though they still probably would have lost.
As any well-versed football fan knows, games are won and lost in the trenches. Well, Louisville's front seven did not do a good overall job with winning at the point of attack. The defensive line was hit-or-miss when it came to playing against the run, although through the first three quarters they were simply "fine" in this regard. However, the pass rush was almost completely non existant. I get that Kevin Jennings is mobile, but he had way too much time in the pocket, and even when he was pressured, Louisville's defensive linemen couldn't finish the job. Clev Lubin wasn't a gamebreaker like he normally is, plus Wesley Bailey and Rene Konga didn't provide a ton of push. A.J. Green and Jerry Lawson looked solid, but that was really it on the line.
With the linebackers, on one hand, they were told to operate in a very conservative scheme in which they dropped back and played almost exclusively zone coverage. But at the same time, they made it way too easy for Jennings to find holes in the zones and get easy completions. That was the biggest reason why SMU finished 9-of-13 on third down, which is completely inexcusable. The scheme was questionable, and the execution certainly was as well, which led too way too many missed tackles. Stanquan Clark looked like he was still shaking off rust, and Kalib Perry just kept getting out of position.
With the secondary... yeesh. Sure, the front seven did not do a great job of getting to Jennings, but the corners and safeties didn't exactly provide much resistance either. Corner Jabari Mack was picked on early in this one, plus Corey Gordon and JoJo Evans had trouble reading Jennings and tracking the ball from their safety spots to try and make a play. There was not an ounce of complimentary football played on the defense.
As far as the penalties go, I don't know what else I have to say at this point that hasn't already been said. I still remember three years ago mentioning this very subject when writing about the pros and cons of Brohm's hiring at Louisville. There was a stretch in the middle of the season where the team seemed to refocus in terms of not committing infractions, but as of late, the Cardinals have fallen back into old habits. Considering Brohm-led teams have long had penalty issues going back to Purdue and WKU, I'm really not sure how they go about even fixing this.
I'll close with this thought: This season was already going to go into the books as a "what if" season considering they dropped their previous two games by a grand total of four combined points. But a result like this, regardless of the injury circumstances, is something that should be the flashpoint to spur some sort of changes in the offseason. Whether that be a shift in philosophy, or showing an assistant (or two) the door, I'm not sure. But at this point in time, it's clear that Brohm needs to have a come-to-Jesus meeting with himself and shake something up once the offseason gets here. Especially if they go out and lose to Kentucky.

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