Let's take a look at what to watch as Louisville takes on Virginia.
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THE OFFENSE HAS TO GO FASTER
This probably sounds like I’m blaming the offense for UofL’s last two losses but that’s not the case. I simply believe that the slow pace of the offense isn’t working as well as it is intended to. The offense has dominated the clock this year and the big play scores have led to them putting up points. However, I theorize that going faster would allow them to run more plays while also getting scores and big plays.
A quicker offensive pace would include more quick throws and perimeter plays designed to be an extension of the run game. We’ve seen how pace can stress a defense as other teams have done it to Louisville this year. It could also help with the short yardage issues as you can keep your personnel group on the field and stop the defense from substituting their short yardage package. In short, I just feel it would give the offense a new wrinkle for teams to deal with.
LOUISVILLE’S SIMPLIFIED DEFENSE MAY LOOK LIKE BROHM’S PURDUE DEFENSE
When Jeff Brohm was hired, my biggest concern was his defensive scheme at Purdue. It was boring, for lack of a better term. It was a 4-2-5 look like we’ve seen since he arrived at Louisville but there was no creativity to the scheme. The two inside linebackers set up at the same depth and never blitzed. The linemen would occasionally run a twist but mostly just rushed the passer with straight rushers. The secondary was mostly in man coverage on the outside with safeties in zone coverage looks for the most part.
Brohm and Ron English surprised me with a much more aggressive approach last season and there have been some creative sub-packages and pressure packages that I’ve been very high on. But, Brohm has made it clear that he owns the defensive scheme and his comments at his weekly press conference make me think that he may revert back to what they did at Purdue.
The focus of Brohm’s comments on the defense has been simplification and he has made a point about making a call and sticking with it. That all sounds like what I saw when I watched two years of Purdue’s defensive snaps. The caveat to all of this is that they haven’t had the time to implement a fully new scheme. But, I’d assume that they have these calls available.
GIVE ME ALL OF THE CROSSING ROUTES
UofL was able to exploit Georgia Tech’s defense a few weeks ago with crossing routes that either led to catches or influenced the defense in a way that opened up other options. They should look to do the same this week. UVA isn’t a team that blitzes an excessive amount but they are aggressive enough that UofL could catch them in some man coverage looks where Chris Bell or others can get a favorable matchup.
VIRGINIA WILL TEST THE OUTSIDE CORNERBACKS
The Cards have one of the worst pass defenses in the country with them ranked 90th in passer efficiency defense. They also allow opposing quarterbacks to complete 67% of their passes which is ranked 122nd in the country. Throw in the fact that they only have 4 PBUs on the year and I think the story of the pass defense seems pretty obvious.
Well, it’s not as simple as it initially looks. Teams are avoiding UofL’s outside cornerbacks. For example, UVA’s top corner has been targeted 40 times this year. All of UofL’s corners combined have been targeted 42 times. Teams are taking advantage of the UofL safeties and linebackers and they are consistently winning those matchups.
I think that will change this week with Malachi Fields and Trell Harris being very good outside receivers. UVA will push the ball down the sideline and test the UofL corners even if Quincy Riley is playing. They have done very well throwing outside the numbers and it won’t change this week.
TONY ELLIOTT WON’T CALL DESIGNED RUNS FOR ANTHONY COLANDREA
Opposing offenses have killed Louisville with designed quarterback runs this season but I don’t think Virginia will look to exploit that fact. Anthony Colandrea has good speed and he is a pretty dynamic with the ball in his hands when he runs it. But, the UVA offense has not been running him much this year and his rushing yardage has come more from scrambling than designed runs.
I think that that trend will continue because Colandrea is the king of “doing too much”. He wants to score on every play and when he gets out into the open field he doesn’t do a great job of sliding or taking what is given and living to play another down. He will dive for more yardage, try to evade defenders, and even try to hurdle people. UVA has a good backup but Colandrea doesn’t protect himself very well and I think the staff will continue to avoid running him.
