Final Thoughts and Observations on Louisville vs. Virginia Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite digging themselves into a 16-7 halftime hole at Virginia Tech, the Louisville Football program was still able to escape Lane Stadium with a victory, capturing a 28-16 victory this past Saturday in Blacksburg.

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

First of all, is it concerning that Louisville still can't get both their offense and defense executing at a consistent level at the same time? Sure it is. But in the same breath, I can't say enough about the mental fortitude this team has. Last season, Louisville found a way to come up short in these one-score games, or didn't find a way to execute down the stretch at times. This year's Cardinals squad, no matter what the situation and no matter how much they may be down by, they still keep their composure and avoid spiraling. It would be nice if they would stop having slow starts, but good teams find a way to win in the end, and Louisville keeps doing just that. Especially considering that, in the preseason, this was a game that I was extremely nervous for.
Don't get me wrong, the early execution in this game wasn't great. But some of the first half woes (or most of them) had to do with the fact that that game plan on both sides of the line of scrimmage was less than ideal. Offensively, Brohm didn't utilize Isaac Brown hardly at all in the first half following his explosive touchdown run. Plus, the end of first half clock management, once again, was awful. Then on defense, English and Co. were simply confounded by a Virginia Tech offense that was almost exclusively inside read options and RPO's - many of which ran either out of the same formation or were quite literally the same play. That being said, to the credit of the entire staff, both the offensive and defensive game plan eventually was able to adjust in the second half.
I'll touch upon the offensive players first. I got to be honest here, I expected a lot more from both quarterback Miller Moss and Louisville's pass catchers as a whole. This Virginia Tech secondary, quite frankly, has been putrid since day one of the season. I do want to give some credit to the Hokies for doing a good job of sitting on routes in the short/intermediate areas of the field, but Louisville should have had a lot more success through the air than they did this past Saturday. Moss did eventually find a rhythm, greatly assisted by utilizing some of the spacing concepts we saw in the Pitt game, but his accuracy was just a tick off all game. Not to mention his pick was to a receiver where the defender who was right at his hip, and he seems to choose the worst moments when or when not to tuck the ball and run/scramble. Though I will say that his touchdown throw to Caullin Lacy was one of his best throws of the season.
Moss isn't the only one to blame for the passing game not having a ton of success. Again, credit to VT for having and executing a good game plan. But outside of a handful of reps from Lacy and Chris Bell, Louisville's collective group of wide receivers and tight ends didn't do a great job at gettng separation early on. This got better as the game went on, but they should have had an much easier time dissecting the VT secondary.
One area where they didn't struggle was on the ground and in the trenches. Getting Trevonte Sylvester back has been a godsend for this offensive line, because they have looked so much better in recent weeks. While the running blocking was touch-and-go, the pass blocking was very good against the Hokies. Because the O-line is trending upwards, Isaac and Keyjuan Brown were able to have fantastic days - especially the latter after the former went down with an injury. Keyjuan is starting to develop a reputation as "the closer" for Louisville, which is a great role to have.
Now onto the defensive side of the ball. Was it frustrating in real time watching them struggle early on to defend the option game and the left-side RPOs? No doubt. But on my rewatch, they actually did a much better job early on than I realized. The only reason that VT even had a pair of touchdowns was because one starting on Louisville's 37, and the other around midfield. The front seven did have some issues setting the tone early, especially on the inside, but they eventually were able to start enforcing their will as the game went on. Kyron Drones is an incredibly athletic quarterback, so it's easy for him to rack of rushing yardage, but Louisville didn't really allow any game-breaking runs from him, or any of the running backs for that matter. There were six Tech rushes of ten or more yards, and their other 34 attempts went for just 88 yards. That's a recipe for success right there. Linebacker T.J. Quinn did a great job swarming to the football, as did a few others like fellow 'backer T.J. Capers and safety Corey Gordon Jr., while guys like defensive end Wesley Bailey and defensive tackle Rene Konga wound up having great days in regards to pursuing ballcarriers.
As good as the front seven playing when it comes to run defense and pass rush, the secondary's pass coverage efforts were just... meh. Louisville's defensive backs got bailed out several times simply because Drones has absolutely zero touch to his passes. Don't get me wrong, guys like Gordon, Quinn and Jabari Mack did have good overall days in pass coverage. But there were a few reps were a corner of safety was flat out beat, but was bailed out by a bad throw. The main one that comes to mind is when Justin Agu flat out stopped following his receiver, and the guys flat out dropped it.
Special teams has largely been a strength for Louisville this season, and while Lacy did do very well as a punt returner (again), every other aspect here left a lot to be desired this past weekend. There was the blocked punt that gave VT the safety and completely swung momentum in their favor, and the punting from David Chapeau was... shall we say, not ideal. This was far from Louisville's best day in the special teams department.
Side note before I wrap up: if you ever have the chance to go to Lane Stadium for a game, do it. It was on my bucket list in terms of stadiums to visit, and it did not disappoint. Plus Virginia Tech's campus is absolutely beautiful, especially in the fall.
I'll close with this thought: Louisville is in a fantastic position moving forward. With the losses to by Miami and Georgia Tech this weekend, the dream of getting back to the ACC Championship Game and potentially even getting to the College Football Playoff is very much alive and well. But if Louisville is to realize this dream, they have to find a way to either avoid these slow starts, or get their offense and defense on the same page for once.

More Cardinals Stories: