Five Questions Heading Into Louisville's Fall Camp

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At this point in time, it seems like Louisville football's Sun Bowl win over Washington to end the 2024 season was years ago. But the long and torturous offseason is almost in the rear view mirror.

The Cardinals are set to begin fall camp, their third one under head coach Jeff Brohm, on Wednesday, July 30, ahead of their 2025 season-opener against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, Aug. 30.

Heading into Brohm's third season at the helm, there are no shortage of storylines. Here are five of our biggest questions surrounding the Louisville football program heading into the start of fall camp:

Will Miller Moss get his redemption season?

There's no question that Miller Moss was Louisville's biggest transfer portal acquisition this offseason. Coming over from USC, the quarterback started the started the first nine games of the 2024 season, completing 64.4 percent of his passes for 2,555 yards and 18 touchdowns to nine interceptions.

However, Moss certainly had his ups and downs during the month of October. In his final five starts with the Trojans, he completed 63.5 percent of his throws for 1,357 yards and 10 touchdowns, but also threw seven interceptions. Following a three-interception performance in a 26-21 loss vs. Washington, he was benched for the final three games of the year.

Was Moss a scapegoat for USC's larger problems as a whole? More than likely. The Trojans had an atrocious offensive line, and their defense played a big role in blowing five fourth quarter leads. That being said, Moss certainly did not play his best football at times.

But there is reason to believe that Moss can conclude his time in college on a high note. He put together a fantastic spring ball, regularly showcasing his ability to command the offense and their litany of playmakers. Not to mention that head coach Jeff Brohm was able to take transfer QB Tyler Shough and mold him into the No. 40 overall pick in this past NFL Draft.

"We have high expectations, and I feel confident he can do that." Brohm said of Moss at the ACC Football Kickoff. "I think he's a talented young man, he's played a lot of football For us, when we go try to bring someone in that position, if they've got experience, if they've been battle tested, if they've had some ups and downs already, that's beneficial, because he's already gone through that process."

Can the secondary have a bounce back year with so many new faces?

While Louisville's defense as a whole was certainly disappointing last year, the biggest thing holding them back from a potentially special 2024 season was the secondary. Their 236.2 passing yards allowed per game was 100th in the FBS, and they gave up 250-plus passing yards six times.

Since the 2024 season ended, both the cornerback and safety rooms have seen a lot of turnover. In fact, five scholarship corners and three scholarship safeties have moved on, whether that be because of graduation, the portal or the draft.

At corner, the program did recently reinstate Tayon Holloway and Southern transfer Rodney Johnson Jr. seemed to look the part after a dominant spring ball, but there are still a lot of questions here considering almost every player is either making a jump in competition, or a young player taking on a bigger role.

The Cards are a little better off at safety, as FIU transfer JoJo Evans shined in the spring and D'Angelo Hutchinson had a breakout 2024. That being said, it's a position group that has to limit the explosive plays given up, as the Cardinals ranked 120th in passing plays on 30+ yards allowed (25), 121st on passing plays of 40+ yards (14) and 127th in passing plays of 50+ yards allowed (8).

What is in store for year two of Isaac Brown and Duke Watson?

While Moss and his crop of wide receivers and tight ends are sure to light up the scoreboard this season, Louisville's offense in 2025 will likely be led by the dynamic running back duo of Isaac Brown and Duke Watson.

Both backs burst onto the scenes last year as true freshmen. Brown rushed for 1,173 yards and 11 touchdowns, breaking Lamar Jackson's true freshman rushing record at UofL, and was named the ACC Offensive and Overall Rookie of the Year. As for Watson, he was able to rush for 597 yards and seven scores, with his 8.91 yards per carry leading all of the FBS (75 percent of games played, minimum of 4.0 rushing attempts per game).

These prolific seasons came despite the fact that they started the 2024 season at third and fourth on the depth chart. Brown did not become the starter until a month into the season, after Maurice Turner went down with an ankle injury and Donald Chaney Jr. underperformed, and Watson didn't get double digit carries until the 10th game of the year.

"Isaac has been great, and we have a guy with him in Duke Watson that's been great," Brohm said at ACC Football Kickoff. "They're a great combination. These guys just make guys miss. If they walked through here and you looked at him like, you'd be like, 'I don't know if he can withstand all these hits,' but they can't hit him. He's just quick, and he's really explosive in the hole with his moves, and just really lucky to have him on our team."

Brown and Watson have already inserted themselves into the mix as one of the best running back tandems in the sport. On top of the natural year-over-year progression, now that these two will begin 2025 at the top of the depth chart, the sky could be the limit when running the ball.

Will the defensive front be able to set the tone early this season?

On paper, Louisville's defensive line had the potential to be one of the most disruptive in all of college football last season. Ashton Gillotte was coming off of an All-American campaign, Thor Griffith was a prized portal pickup, Dezmond Tell, Jared Dawson and Ramon Puryear were longtime veterans, and several others bolstered the depth up front.

However, this unit couldn't generate consistent push at the point of attack to start the year, and also struggled to contain mobile quarterback. In Louisville's first eight games against FBS opponents, defensive linemen averaged just 2.8 tackles for loss and 1.3 sacks per game. While they were able to round into form down the stretch, living up to their potential could have earned wins against Notre Dame, Miami or SMU.

Once again, on paper, the line has a chance to be one of the better ones in the ACC. Tackles Rene Konga and Jordan Guerad are running it back, the middle of the line was bolstered with the additions of Jerry Lawson and Denzel Lowry, and portal edge rushers Clev Lubin and Wesley Bailey looked good in the spring - as did returner Adonijah Green.

Backing up the line, the Cardinals' linebacking corps - anchored by T.J. Quinn and Stanquan Clark - have more the proven themselves against the run. However, this is a unit that, collectively, struggled against the pass. In Louisville's 12 games vs. FBS competition, on throws between the numbers and less than 20 yards downfield - which is primarily covered by the linebackers - opposing quarterbacks completed 71.1 percent of their throws for 1,245 yards.

Yes, the secondary for the Cardinals' defense has to get better. But add in the fact that the line struggled at the point of attack at times and the backers had trouble with underneath routes, this side of the ball struggled to play complimentary football. All it takes is for one of these areas to take meaningful steps forward, and it could create a domino effect of positive defensive developments.

Can Jeff Brohm finally avoid that inexplicable loss?

At this point in time, we know that Jeff Brohm is one of the most underrated coaches in college football. Louisville is 19-8 in their first two years under Brohm, and guided them to their first ACC Championship Game appearance. Not to mention, just look at the tailspin that Purdue has been on since he left them to go back to his alma mater.

As good as a coach as Brohm is, there is still one thing that continues to haunt him: inexplicably dropping a game that he had no business losing.

We've already seen that play out twice in Brohm's tenure at Louisville. In 2023, coming off of a decisive win over Notre Dame to remain undefeated, they promptly suffered a 38-21 loss to a Pitt team that finished the year at just 3-9. Last season, coming off of taking down Clemson in Death Valley *and* a bye week, UofL then lost 38-35 at Stanford - who was arguably the worst FBS team in the country.

This season, there are three games marquee games against Clemson, at SMU and at Miami. Even the games at Pitt and at Virginia Tech are bordering on coin flips. But for the remaining seven games on their schedule - EKU, James Madison, Bowling Green, Virginia, Boston College, Cal and Kentucky - Louisville is expected to be the clear favorite, especially because all seven of these games will be at home.

If Louisville has legitimate aspirations to make a run at winning the ACC or making the 12-team College Football Playoff, quite simply, Brohm absolutely cannot have a stinker against the bottom seven teams on the Cards' schedule.

More Cardinals Stories