Notes and Observations from Louisville's 2024 Spring Game

The Cardinals concluded spring ball with the second spring game of the Jeff Brohm era.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Spring ball is now in the books for the Louisville football program.

Friday evening, the Cardinals gathered at L&N Stadium and held their second spring game under head coach Jeff Brohm, which was fully open to the public and fans. The program had the offense go against the defense for two halves like a normal games, with the exception of a running clock used in the second half. The offense came out on top with a come-from-behind 45-37 win over the offense.

Considering a handful players were out due to injuries and a lot of the first team or other impact players were held out during the second half, there is bound to be an overreaction or two. But that being said, below is our notebook of the more notable happenings that transpired during the chilly evening at L&N Stadium:

• As far as who was getting the majority of the reps with the first team, it was mostly what was expected. Micah Carter and D'Angelo Hutchinson both got first team reps at defensive end and safety, respectively, due to injuries at the position, Stanquan Clark slid in to replace the recently-departed Jaylin Alderman, as did Maurice Turner in place of Peny Boone, and Chris Bell got regular run with the ones. Outside of that, the first team offense and defense was consistent with what it has been all spring.
• Brohm has noted multiple times throughout spring how banged up Louisville, and from what I could tell he wasn't wrong. These are who were on the sideline not dressed or in street clothes (from what I could see): Ja'Corey Brooks, Jimmy Calloway, Renato Brown, Selah Brown, Mason Reiger, Adonijah Green and Jared Dawson.
• While it was the offense who won the spring game, to be quite honest, I thought that it was the defense who played an overall better game. Despite going down 14-0 after the first couple drives, the defense the strung together multiple stops in the rest of the half to take a 23-21 lead at the break. They were even leading 37-24 midway through the fourth quarter until the offense scored three straight touchdowns. Of the 20 drives on the night, the defense allowed the offense to get points on seven of them, and just six were touchdowns.
• Having said that, I'll start with what I saw from the offense first since they won. Quarterback Tyler Shough, like he has all throughout spring up to this point, showed that he is the clear QB1. His arm strength is incredible, he can make plays on the run, and he shows that he's fearless and not afraid to take some risk. He ended the night going 8-of-12 for 177 yards, two touchdown and one pick to Quincy Riley, who made a phenomenal play on a seam route.
• I went into the spring game thinking that Harrison Bailey had the slight leg up on Pierce Clarkson in the battle for the backup quarterback spot. Now, I think Clarkson seems to be the favorite. For starters, he got the first reps after Shough did. Secondly, he flat out looked better than Bailey, who looked shaky early on in the spring game before settling in. Clarkson's mobility is a clear strength of his that the coaching staff wants to utilize, and it seems that he has continued to develop his arm strength, as evidenced by his 62-yard touchdown to walk-on receiver Jaeden King. Clarkson went 9-of-14 for 117 yards, a score and a pick
• Speaking of walk-ons, one who could very well be working towards earning a scholarship (if there's room) is Kris Hughes. He made several plays all night, hauling in five catches for 63 yards, as well as a 70-yard run on a reverse to end the night.
• While Hughes was the walk-on star of the game, the true MVP of the night in my opinion was wide receiver Chris Bell. He had an 80-yard touchdown in single coverage up the left sideline on the first play of the night, then later had a 45-yard score in which he beat what looked to be Cover 3 deep up the seam. He had just three catches, but they were good for 126 yards and two touchdowns. While Books and Caullin Lacy should be penciled in as starters, I'm thinking Bell should join them in the starting wide receiver group this fall.
• As far as other pass catchers go, Antonio Meeks had a couple nice plays, Jaleel Skinner had a 36-yard touchdown up the seam in the fourth quarter, converted quarterback Sam Young had a 70-yard score that came off of a tipped pass, and Cataurus Hicks got in the mix a few times.
• While there were a handful a solid runs on the night, the rushing attack was mainly bottled up for most of the night. In fact, Louisville's three main running backs - Turner, Donald Chaney, Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown - had just 112 combined rushing yards. Though I attribute this more so to the playmakers in the front seven and how this area of the field was always swarming to the ball vs. the offensive line not doing the RBs any favors. In fact, I thought the pass protection all throughout the night was very good.
• Speaking of which, as you can imagine, several defensive linemen and linebackers made plays throughout the evening. Stanquan Clark made plays all over the field with his relentless tackling style, and he also got a pick early in the fourth quarter on a late pass from Clarkson. Trent Carter, who has stood out in some recent open practices, made a couple stop. At the LEO spot, Maurice Davis had a sack, then later in the game actually dropped back into flat zone coverage and was able to close out on a swing pass for a fourth down stop. Dezmond Tell had a sack. T.J. Capers played well against the run, as did most of the linebacking corps. Even walk-on M.J. Campbell made a couple plays on the edge.
• Something I personally was looking for was the depth in the secondary, and they did not disappoint. Of course, Riley looked as great as I expected him to be, but Devin Neal continues to look like an All-ACC caliber safety, Marcus Washington appears to have made some progress, and both Aaron Williams and walk-on Jadon Minkins *should* have had interceptions.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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