Three units to watch against Clemson
Louisville football hosts Clemson at Cardinal Stadium Oct. 19 after consecutive conference wins. The Cardinals (4-2) have several position groups to watch in their matchup against the second-ranked Tigers.
Special Teams
Louisville made plenty of big plays on special teams last week against Wake Forest.
Hassan Hall returned 100 yards for a touchdown along with an 80-yard return that led to another score. Tutu Atwell had a 50-yard punt return that led to a Louisville touchdown in the first half.
The Cardinals rank fourth nationally in kickoff returns this season.
“The expectation is when those guys get the ball in their hands, something special is going to happen with it,” Louisville offensive coordinator Dwayne Ledford said. “Anytime you can flip the field on a return like that, it helps the offense.
The offense finished drives following the good field position set up by the returns from Hall and Atwell. Offensive lineman Robbie Bell said it’s hard for opposing defenses to overcome big plays on special teams once the ball is handed to Louisville’s offense.
“When that happens we know we are scoring,” Bell said. “We have that mindset that the other phases of the game did their part.”
Hall became the ninth player in program history to return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. The sophomore is averaging 38.7 yards in his nine kick returns this season.
“Hassan is probably the most electric guy I have ever seen on special teams side,” quarterback Micale Cunningham said.
Offensive Line Rotation
Louisville continues to rotate its offensive linemen in purposefully tactic to keep players fresh. Mekhi Becton has started all six games at left tackle while Caleb Chandler has started at left guard. T.J. McCoy has started five of six games while sharing time with Cole Bentley, who rotates around the line.
Robbie Bell and Tyler Haycraft start on the right side of the line.
The linemen are comfortable playing several positions, which allows Louisville to monitor snaps throughout the game. The Cardinals want to keep their linemen fresh against an imposing Clemson defensive line.
“It’s trying to keep guys a little more fresh where in that fourth quarter, some of those reps aren’t piling up on us,” Ledford said.
Sophomore Adonis Boone has been added to the mix, appearing in two of Louisville’s last three games.
“With Adonis we continue to work at a lot of different positions, guard tackle, both sides of the ball,” Ledford said. “It’s good to see his progress throughout the season.”
Running Game
Louisville’s rushing attack is averaging 227 yards per game, ranked third in the ACC, but face one of the nation’s best run-defenses in Clemson. The Tigers are holding opponents to 104.8 yards per game.
After only rushing for 124 yards in a loss to Florida State, Louisville finished with 236 and 225 yards, respectively, against Boston College and Wake Forest. The offense’s point production hasn’t been a coincidence in the previous two games either.
Louisville’s offense is at its best when it’s running the ball consistently, but the increased production hasn’t been because of a change of scheme.
“We aren’t running anything different, we are running all the same stuff we ran against Notre Dame, EKU, WKU, FSU,” Bell said. “As we are playing more, we are building more confidence.”
Javian Hawkins and Hall have been the biggest playmakers in the rushing attack. Hawkins has three games over 100 rushing yards and rushed for a total of 622 yards. Hall has 292 yards and three scores on the ground.
Ledford said Hawkins and Hall combine to make a special backfield.
“In the spring we saw how special of a group those running backs would be,” Ledford said. “Both of them have a good running style, we knew it was going to fit what we do.”
