Defense goes into Miami with momentum
Louisville football’s defense has some momentum following a bye week as it prepares for Miami Nov. 9.
The Cardinals put together one of its best defensive performances against Virginia in a 28-21 victory Oct. 26. Louisville allowed 311 yards and held Virginia scoreless in the second half until a touchdown with less a minute left in the fourth quarter.
“Our guys did a really good job, especially the second half playing their responsibility and executing our game plan,” Louisville defensive coordinator Bryan Brown said. “One of the best, close to complete games we have played. The guys competed and played hard, they executed the game plan almost to a T.”
Brown said the defense made the third-fewest mental mistakes against an opponent this season in the Virginia game. Louisville held Virginia to 78 rushing yards and forced two turnovers.
Louisville’s defense turns its attention to Miami, a team averaging 26.8 points and 380.7 yards of offense. Quarterback Jarren Williams completed 21 of 37 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns against Florida State last week in Miami’s 27-10 win.
Williams has completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 1,449 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Brown thinks the redshirt freshman is poised
“You see a guy that is coached well, it seems like he has been there and been through the fire,” Brown said. “He is a guy that is poised under pressure, he throws the deep ball well.”
Miami has changed their pass protection to set up throws for Williams and prevent sacks.
“They have been more max protection, keeping more guys in to protect, getting the ball out quicker as well to help offset some of that efficiency,” Brown said.
The Cardinals’ secondary has added talent in recent weeks with the emergence of Marlon Character. The junior cornerback made his first career start against Virginia, finishing with seven tackles and a sack.
Character started to understand the defense the past several weeks and performed better in practice, which earned him a start.
“Marlon is the most talented corner we have,” Brown said. “He was learning a new defense. When you have had a couple defensive coordinators in the past couple years, it’s tough for some guys to pick it up really quickly.”
