Louisville has wasted no time turning its offense into a highlight machine.
Through two games, Jeff Brohm’s group has made the big play the center of everything it does. The Cardinals haven’t been living on long, methodical marches down the field. They’ve been striking fast with speed on the perimeter, shots downfield and playmakers who can turn a normal snap into a scoring sprint.
The numbers back it up. Louisville has stacked up 27 big plays in games against Ole Miss and Villanova, with the production split almost evenly between the pass and the run. By the source’s definition - pass plays of 15 yards or more and rushing attempts of 10 or more yards - the Cardinals have produced 14 explosive passes and 13 explosive runs for 768 yards.
The Ole Miss game set the tone. Louisville hit on 12 chunk plays in that opener, including Lincoln Kienholz connecting with Tre Richardson for a 62-yard touchdown and Lawayne McCoy for a 54-yard score. Kienholz also broke loose on a 41-yard scramble, and Richardson added a 30-yard touchdown run.
The explosion only grew in Week 2 against Villanova, when Louisville piled up 15 chunk plays. That list included a 69-yard catch-and-run touchdown by tight end Jaleel Skinner, a 61-yard strike to McCoy and a 39-yard run up the middle from Marquise Davis.
Brohm made it clear that this isn’t just a nice side effect of the offense. It’s the standard Louisville has to keep hitting once ACC play starts.
"Creating the big plays on offense has been good through two games and we're going to have to have that to win against really good opponents, so we got to keep pushing the envelope there," Brohm said. "It's really got us some easy touchdowns instead of driving all the way down the field."
The national rankings show just how often Louisville is landing those blows. The Cardinals are No. 2 in the country in scrimmage plays of 20 yards or more. They’re tied for sixth in plays of 30-plus yards, tied for seventh in plays of 40-plus yards, and tied for third nationally in both 50-plus and 60-plus yard gains.
All of that has helped Louisville climb to No. 10 in total offense at 552 yards per game.
Kienholz, who has settled in after some early opening-game jitters, has been a big reason the attack has stayed on schedule while still chasing explosive gains. He sees the formula in simple terms.
"I think chunk plays are a big part of each game," Kienholz said. "If you beat the other team and you have more chunk plays than they do, your chances of winning go up.
We have a bunch of guys that can make plays, are super shifty, fast. I feel like we have the guys around to have more chunk plays."
Skinner’s night against Villanova was a good example of how quickly Louisville’s depth can swing a game. After an early dropped pass, he answered with the kind of response this offense seems built on.
"Stuff like that means the world, especially to a guy like me as a tight end, to seeing other guys' success and even other tight end success," Skinner said. "We work hard for this.
It's an eight-month grind for 12 guaranteed games. So, it's like you got to go out every opportunity the ball comes to you, whenever you get it, just make the best of it."
With SMU next, Louisville’s offensive identity is already obvious: create space, strike fast and keep turning ordinary touches into game-changing yardage.
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Louisville Still Has One Big Problem With SMU Up Next
Louisville left Villanova with a lopsided 59-13 win and a few encouraging signs, especially at quarterback and in the backfield. Lincoln Keinholz has already put his name in the school record book by topping 300 passing yards over his first two games, and freshman Marquise Davis along with sophomore Braxton Jennings each found the end zone multiple times in the latest rout.
Still, the Cardinals know the performance was not clean enough to carry into next weekend, when Southern Methodist arrives for the Atlantic Coast Conference opener. Louisville opened slowly and added more penalties than it could afford, the kind of slippage that tends to matter more once league play begins and the margin for error shrinks. [Read more 🡒]