Jamari Thrash, Jawhar Jordan Off to Red-Hot Starts for Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Heading into the 2023 season, there was a lot of excitement regarding what the Louisville football program could accomplish on the offensive side of the ball. Given what new head coach Jeff Brohm was able to accomplish in his previous stops at Western Kentucky and Purdue, such excitement was certainly warranted.

While we are only two games deep into Brohm's tenure at his alma mater, so far, the offense has had incredible early dividends. Sure, Georgia Tech and Murray State aren't exactly world beaters, but the Cardinals have amassed a whopping 1,164 yards of total offense in their first two games of the season. They put up 474 yards against the Yellow Jackets in a 39-34 win, then 690 against the Racers in a 56-0 blowout.

Plenty of offensive skill position players have gotten reps during this time, but the wide receiver-running back duo of Jamari Thrash and Jawhar Jordan has gotten off to an incredibly hot start to the season, and they have been integral to Louisville's early offensive success and their 2-0 start.

"Well without question through two games, they have been playmakers for us," Brohm said following the win over Murray State. "Really throughout practice, and spring and summer and fall camp, they have displayed that. They prove it every day, they do not miss a rep of practice. Our team knows they lead by example as well. We have other playmakers also, but those two have definitely stood out. We have to continue to make sure they get touches, as well as the others."

Coming over as a transfer from Georgia State, Thrash was one of the most explosive players in all of college football last season. So far, the transition from the Sun Belt to the ACC has been a smooth and seamless transition.

In the opener against Georgia Tech, the 6-foot-1 and 185-pound receiver played a key role in Louisville's comeback, hauling in seven receptions for 88 yards and a pair of second half touchdowns. Thrash then followed that up with three catches for 82 yards against Murray State, including a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown. He also notched a 12-yard end-around rush for a touchdown against the Racers.

After hauling in 61 receptions for 1,112 yards and seven touchdowns last season with the Panthers, Thrash is once again on pace for a 1,000-yard season. In two games, he has 10 catches for 170 yards and three touchdowns, with four trips to the endzone overall.

"All I can really say is I just appreciate them giving me the opportunity to make a play, and Jack trusting me and making the play on the ball," Thrash said last week after the win over Georgia Tech.

With as much of a focal point that Thrash and the passing game has been early in the season and will be moving forward, Jordan has arguably had a much hotter start to the season than Thrash has.

After Thrash hauled in two second half touchdowns to close the gap in the opener against Georgia Tech, it was Jordan who blew the game open with a 74-yard fourth quarter rushing score en route to a seven carry/96 yard day. The next time out against Murray State, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound all-purpose back also had just seven carries, but turned that into 135 rushing yards, including 72- and 1-yard touchdowns.

Despite having just 14 carries on the season so far, Jordan already has 231 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on the season. Add in three catches for 49 receiving yards, and that bumps him up to 280 yards of offense on just 17 touches.

Jordan is building off of an incredibly hot end to the 2022 season, where he ran for over 100 yards in four of the final five games. He put up 815 rush yards and four touchdowns last season.

"For me, it's just been getting better each and every week," he said after the win over Murray State. That's what I stand on and I try to just keep improving, work on my game, and work on things I need to improve on while coming out confident and trusting the process and the game plan."

So far this season, Thrash and Jordan have combined to produce 462 yards of offense. That equates to 39.7 percent of the Cardinals' offensive output, and seven of their 11 touchdowns.

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

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