Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Indiana

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following a blowout victory over Murray State in their 2023 home opener, the Louisville football program is set to play their second neutral site matchup in three games, traveling up I-65 for a showdown with Indiana.

Here are some of the more notable storylines heading into Saturday's game:

Injury Report

It might be just three weeks into the season, but Louisville is already experiencing injuries to crucial players and positions. Last week vs. Murray State, both starting safety Josh Minkins and backup running back Maurice Turner were sidelined with injuries.

For the upcoming matchup with Indiana, one is is likely to play while the other is still in question. The later is Minkins, who is dealing with a hamstring issue.

"When it comes to Josh, we're continuing to try to progress him," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "Whether he's ready for the game or not, it's still too early to tell."

As for Turner, his outlook is a little more positive. Unlike Minkins, Turner was dressed for the matchup against Murray State, but held out as a precaution for his unspecified injury.

"Maurice probably could have played if we wanted," Brohm said. "We wanted to get him a little more healthy with his injury. I do think that he will be able to go this week, which is important to be able to utilize him."

Louisville is also waiting on the season debuts for defensive end Mason Reiger and wide receiver Jadon Thompson, but no updates were provided for either player.

Brohm Carries Successful Career Mark vs. IU

This might be Louisville's first time facing Indiana on the gridiron since 1986, but their first year head coach is very familiar with the Hoosiers.

During his six-year tenure as the head coach at Purdue, Brohm faced Indiana five times (with the lone exception being the 2020 COVID season), and came out on the winning end in four of those matchups. His lone loss came in 2019 by just three points, with the 2021 and 2022 matchups being won by a combined 51 points.

Even though he is now at his alma mater, Brohm couldn't help but crack a small smile when asked earlier this week if the Indiana-Purdue rivalry has carried over with him to Louisville. However, instead of giving an answer that would get both fanbases riled up, Brohm chose the high ground and gave the Hoosiers plenty of praise.

"I have a lot of respect for Indiana, (head) coach (Tom) Allen and his football team," Brohm said. "You got to put the work in to win at a high level in the Big 10 at Indiana and Purdue. I understand that. Coach Allen loves the game. He has great passion for his players. We've got to go up there and win the football game.

"Nothing will be handed to us. It'll be a tough contest. They play great competition every year, so they're always battle tested. When you get them at the beginning of the year, they're going to be fresh and have a lot of guys healthy ready to go."

Indiana Chooses Tayven Jackson as Starting Quarterback

Over the first two games of the season, Indiana operated with a two-quarterback approach on offense. Ahead of their matchup with Louisville, head coach Tom Allen decided that the Hoosiers will instead go with Tayven Jackson as their starting signal caller. Jackson won the job over Brendan Sorsby in a close race for the starter.

“I felt like we needed to get a full game evaluation, because it was so close,” Allen said earlier this week. “There's nothing like the game, the ebbs and flows of the game, emotions of the game. I felt like there was just a poise to that part of it and an ability to move our team down the field. At the end of the day, that's really what it comes down to, being able to score points.”

While Jackson doesn't have a passing touchdown to his name so far this season, he has been efficient with the football. The dual threat QB is 19-of-26 for 260 yards, while also rushing for 20 yards and a score. This included an impressive outing against Indiana State where he went 18-of-21 passes for 236 yards.

“I think he plays better than he practices in regards to even some executional things," Allen said. "Some guys are like that, when the lights are on and the pressure's on and you've got to make those throws and you've got to make plays and people are in your face, you're getting hit. But I thought it was pretty telling.”

Jawhar Jordan, Louisville Running Backs Off to White-Hot Start

While Louisville's passing game has had its fair share of explosive moments over the first two games of the 2023 season, the Cardinals' running game has been the biggest offensive catalyst behind their 2-0 start to the year.

Two games is undoubtedly a small sample size, but there's no denying the level of early success Louisville has had when opting to run the ball. Through the first two weeks of the season, the Cardinals are averaging 285.5 yards per game and 7.32 yards per carry, both of which are third in the FBS and second in the Power Five to UCF. Their seven rushing touchdowns on the young season is also tied for fifth nationally.

Louisville's efforts when running the ball primarily focus around three running backs, but it's spearheaded by Jawhar Jordan. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound all-purpose back has had a white-hot start the season, collecting 231 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 rushing attempts. The speedster is the current FBS leader in yards per carry by a wide margin at 16.5, and is the only player in the FBS to have multiple 70-plus yard runs.

Isaac Guerendo has made an impact on the offense as well. As the biggest running back on the roster at 6-foot-1, 225-pounds, Guerendo has been a good change-of-pace back for Louisville with his hard running early in the season. He's second on the team in rushing yards with 90 on 17 attempts, but also has the most receiving yards at the position with 60 on five catches.

Then there is Maurice Turner, who has a mix of traits from both Jordan and Guerendo. He ran for just 30 yards and seven carries against Georgia Tech in the opener, then had to miss the home opener against Murray State, but he has already proven to be a capable commodity after having a strong finish to his true freshman campaign last season.

Indiana's Defense Setting Dominant Tone to Start Season.

What Indiana lacks in their efficiency on the offensive side of the ball, they make up for it by having a dominant and underrated defensive unit.

The Hoosiers had a tall task right out of the gates, facing No. 3 Ohio State at home. However, the game wasn't a complete bloodbath like many thought it would be, and the Indiana defense - a speciality of Allen's - kept the Buckeyes relatively in check. Coming off of a season where they averaged 44.2 points and 490.7 yards per game, OSU could only muster 23 points and 380 yards of offense against IU.

The next week, Indiana held Indiana State to just seven points and 93 yards, while collecting four sacks and seven tackles for loss.

“Indiana has always done a really good job on defense and they've had some really good years," Brohm said regarding the IU defense. "They've played at a high level and put up good statistics. They’ll come at you in a lot of different ways, give you a lot of different looks and blitz from a lot of different areas. I think when they're able to balance that with a productive offense, they can be dangerous."

Through the first two games of the season, Indiana is 15th nationally in total defense at 236.5 yards allowed per game, 11th in passing yards allowed per game at 129.0 yards, and 4th in third down defensive percentage at 17.4 percent. Linebacker Aaron Casey leads the charge with a team-best 18 tackles, while defensive end Andre Carter already has four tackles for loss

Louisville QB Jack Plummer Improves, But Needs Work With Conviction

In Louisville's season-opener against Georgia Tech, quarterback Jack Plummer had a heightened case of first game nerves and jitters, leading him to be offline on several throws in the first half before looking much better in the second half. When Plummer took the field against Murray State, he looked much more comfortable than he had the previous week.

"I thought Jack made improvement from week one to week two," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "I thought he had a tremendous week of practice. We've worked on a lot of small things that I think helped him.

He completed 16 of his 22 attempts for a 73.0 percent completion rate, throwing for 247 yards and a touchdown to Jamari Thrash. But while his actual decision making seemed to improve, his decisiveness in said throws left some to be desired.

Plummer had a handful of throws in his nine drives of work that were either delivered a tick too late, or had way too much air under them. If this version of Plummer has been facing a Power Five team, he might have thrown more than two picks.

"As you look back on this game, between a few coaching errors and things that we can get cleaned up, we're continuing to work on throwing on time and driving the football and trusting what he sees," Brohm said. "That's what we got to do. ... He's got to be the leader and the general of it. We need him to be efficient and to play with conviction, and to play with confidence, and trust what he sees and drive the football in there. We'll work again, specifically on a couple of things this week to make sure that we're continuing to improve there."

(Photo of Jack Plummer, Jawhar Jordan: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)

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