Louisville's Offensive Staff 'Starting to Gel' From Game Planning Perspective
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's no secret that the Louisville football program had their various struggles in the first half of the 2022 season. While a lot of their issues have come on the defensive side of the ball, or have been team-wide problems such a penalties and fourth quarter woes, the Cardinals' offense has still played a sizable role in their 3-3 record at the midway point of the season.
It was even to the point where head coach Scott Satterfield had to announce a shake up in the coaching responsibilities after their stunning loss at Boston College. Satterfield said he would get a lot more involved in the defensive game plan, while simultaneously handing more play calling responsibilities to offensive coordinator Lance Taylor.
Satterfield would later clarify after their game against Virginia that he was still their exclusive play caller, but it's hard to question the results that Louisville had offensively against Virginia. With starting quarterback Malik Cunningham and lead running back Tiyon Evans both out due to injury, and facing a Cavaliers defense that was just outside of the top-50 in terms of production, the Cardinals had one of their most efficient days from an offensive standpoint.
Of course, this wasn't due to play calling responsibilities being handed off, as the buck continues to stop at Satterfield. But if you ask Taylor, this was because the offensive staff as a whole is starting to find their stride when it comes to crafting a game plan together.
"We always collaborate, do it together, put the game plan together in game. ... Overall, we have done that each and every week," he said. "But I think as a new staff with some new pieces, we're just getting to know each other really well. I think that that bond and gel was just starting to gel as a unit and as a staff. I think that's what showed up at Virginia as a coaching staff."
While a lot was made about the amount of new faces at both wide receiver and running back for the Cardinals, the program had just as much turnaround when it came to their offensive position coaches. Out of Louisville's five position coaches on that side of the ball, three of them are newcomers: Taylor took over the wide receiver room, Nic Cardwell returned to coach the offensive line and Josh Stepp is now in charge of the tight ends.
With that many new faces getting together to craft offensive game plan on a week-to-week basis, Taylor says that, just like players on the field, it took a little bit of time for them to truly start clicking together.
"Just like any relationship that you cultivate and you build, you have to get to know the other person and they have to get to know you. That takes that takes time, especially when you don't have opportunities until it gets to live bullets in games. I think that's been a process. We've always gotten along, and it's always been great communication and back and forth dialogue."
It's not that Louisville had been poor offensively before the Virginia game, but they left a lot to be desired. Questionable situational play calling, an at-times disjointed passing game, and bad showings on third down and in the red zone put them at 52nd nationally in terms of offensive yardage per game (430.0) but 90th in scoring (26.4 ppg).
Against Virginia, the game plan that Louisville crafted was much more conducive to success. They placed on emphasis on getting wide receiver Tyler Hudson and tight end Marshon Ford getting open over the intermediate middle and to the boundary on short gains. The run game was more focused on inside zone runs, which had been a staple of past Louisville teams under Satterfield. Not to mention that there was a noticeable absence of running calls on clear passing downs, and the plays themselves were a lot less vanilla and predictable.
By the time the clock hit double zeroes, Louisville had put up 473 yards of offense on a Virginia defense that had only been allowing 355.4 yards per game. Backup quarterback Brock Domann went 17-of-30 through the air, while compiling 346 total yards of offense and two scores. On the ground, the Cardinals rushed for 198 yards against a front seven that had only been allowing 156 rushing yards per game.
In fact, the only negative play by Louisville all day was the final kneel down.
"It's not my play, your play, Satt's play. It's how do we get the best play and also put our players in the best position to make plays on Saturday," Taylor said. "Ultimately, it doesn't matter whose idea or whose play it is, we want to find the best way to get that done."
Louisville's offensive staff will have to continue to building that chemistry, because it doesn't get any easier from here on out. The second half of their schedule features four ranked teams on the docket, with the other two having been previously ranked at some point during the season.
Fortunately, the Cardinals' offense will be getting a big boost ahead of their upcoming matchup with Pitt. After having to miss the Virginia game with a concussion, Cunningham has returned to practice and is expected to play against the Panthers. When coupling his abilities as a runner and passer with an offensive staff that is beginning to find their stride together, Satterfield is optimistic as long as Louisville continues to play low-penalty and on-schedule football.
"One thing I liked about (the Virginia game) is we stayed on task there," he said. "Go back to the (Boston College) game. We had some lost yardage plays that knocked us off. Now you’re looking at 2nd and 14, it's a lot harder to get that going back again. I thought we did a much better job in this game (Virginia) of having those second and six and second and sevens."
Louisville's next chance to continue showing their offensive game plan is moving in the right direction this weekend when they host Pitt. Kickoff against the Panthers is set for Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Lance Taylor: Alton Strupp - Courier Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK)
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