Louisville’s first scrimmage of fall camp brought Jeff Brohm exactly the kind of reminder he didn’t want to ignore: the defense has talent, but it still has to clean up the explosive mistakes before Ole Miss arrives on September 6 in Tennessee.
Brohm said he “was not real happy” with what he saw from that side of the ball, even while stressing that the issues can be corrected. The biggest problem was clear. Louisville gave up too many big plays, and a couple of busts turned into costly breakdowns.
“I was not real happy with the defense, so it is good that they struggled,” stated Brohm after the Cardinals' first scrimmage. “They gave up way too many big plays.
They had a couple of busts that really cost us. So, that needs to be fixed, but that is really fixable.
That kind of leakage has been a familiar problem for Louisville in the past, though the Cardinals did show progress last season. This offseason brought another round of change in the secondary, but there was also good news just yesterday when Louisville learned it got key defensive back Jabari Mack back after the “five-for-five” rule.
Up front, the Cardinals have reason for optimism. The defensive line is expected to be one of the ACC’s better groups, with Clev Lubin, AJ Green, and Tyler Thompson leading the charge. Behind them, Louisville has a veteran-looking linebacker room with TJ Capers, Stanquan Clark, Kalib Perry, and Antonio Watts.
Even with that foundation, Brohm said the defense has to be sharper when it comes to risk management and discipline. Louisville can’t afford to keep opening the door to chunk plays, especially with a Week 1 opponent that has the kind of firepower Ole Miss brings.
“We gave up some big plays,” stated Brohm. “Probably half of it is execution, and half of it is we have to reexamine the play call.
Make sure we are in something a little more sound and a little safer. Learn and manage when to take our risks.
Make sure that when we do, we hit. And if not, we've got to pull that back.”
The encouraging part for Louisville is that this doesn’t sound like a crisis to Brohm. It sounds like a correction. The defense has looked solid through fall camp, and this scrimmage may end up serving as the jolt the Cardinals needed before their opener against a likely AP top-10 Ole Miss team and its two preseason All-Americans.
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