Louisville’s fourth quarter against Florida State had a little bit of everything: clean execution, savvy adjustments, defensive pressure, and a few plays that flat-out swung the game. If the first three quarters set the tone, the final frame was where the Cards put the whole thing on display.
A good place to start is with the way Lincoln Kienholz handled the line before the snap. On Isaac Brown’s 97-yard run earlier in the game, he had already shown he could shift the tight ends based on what he was seeing.
Here, he spotted Florida State crowding the box with its linebackers and playing man coverage behind it. With the edge defender widened a bit and the defensive tackle lined up head-up with Cason Henry on the right side, Kienholz checked the play into a simple option to the wide side.
That gave Brown room to work, and with his speed on the edge, it turned into an easy first down.
The adjustment was the headline, but the finish mattered too. Henry sealed his man well, Johnnie Brown got quickly to the second level and got hands on the playside linebacker, and that left a safety sitting 15 yards from the ball trying to close down a run that was already gone. That’s a win for Louisville every time.
Braxton Jennings gave the Cardinals another run that looked like it belonged in a practice tape somewhere, not in a game against Florida State. He ran through Chris Jones’ arm tackle - Jones finished last season ranked 7th in the country in tackles - and kept his balance through the contact.
Jennings was slowed for a moment, then popped right back to full speed and outran the safety’s angle. It was the kind of run every coach on the staff can point to in film study as an example of practice showing up on game day.
Jennings has been doing that since he got on campus, and he’s kept earning chances by delivering when they come.
On defense, Louisville started stacking up the kinds of stops that make an offense miserable. One of them was a true coverage sack, the kind that almost never happens cleanly enough to appreciate in real time.
The pre-snap look suggested man, but the Cards rotated into a zone umbrella that took away every option for Austin Daniels. He loaded up twice while scanning from right to left, and then got sacked before he could get anything going.
There was another pressure play where the broadcast pointed the finger at Jordan Vann, but the issue belonged elsewhere. Blake Ruffin was running after the slot receiver, but the real breakdown came when Stanquan Clark chased the inside crosser too far out of his zone.
That opened a huge lane for the throw and gave Daniels a clear window for an easy fourth-down completion. If Clark stays home, the ball likely goes short of the sticks to Duce Robinson with the hope that he can do something after the catch.
Even worse for Florida State, Daniels may have had to tuck it and run. Instead, the route bust gave him the chunk play he wanted.
Louisville’s defensive front also had one of its best individual plays of the season from Daylon Russell. He got so deep into the center’s pads that he drove him back into the running back and knocked the back three steps into his own run. It was the best play from that group all year, and it stood out in a quarter full of physical football.
Florida State did hit a perfect pass at one point, and there wasn’t much Louisville could do about the throw itself. Austin Daniels dropped a dime, and the catch matched it.
Even then, the defensive structure was right. The Cards had proper depth in their drops, which forced Florida State to make a throw that had to be exact.
That same seam route has been too open for weeks, but this time Louisville made the offense earn it.
There was also a flag that plenty of people didn’t like, but the replay showed Tyler Thompson briefly grabbing the facemask as Daniels turned back toward midfield. It was the kind of foul that comes from playing aggressively and trying to make a play, not from a lack of discipline.
Isaac Brown’s 97-yard touchdown run earlier in the game already showed his patience, but another run in the fourth quarter may have been even better from a processing standpoint. With two linemen pulling, Brown shuffled his feet off the hip of the second lineman, crossed his face, then cut hard left through a tiny crease and exploded into space.
It all happened in a split second, but it says a lot about how far he’s come. A year ago, that backside gap probably never registers the same way.
Tyler Thompson also had a pass-rush rep that looked straight out of a coaching clinic. Florida State’s left tackle is 6-8, so Thompson chose the smart answer: a speed rush under the block.
The tackle tried to ride him up the field and force Daniels to step up, but Thompson’s move shut that down. It was the kind of rush everyone expected to see from Louisville from the start of the season.
And the Cards capped it off with Kaleb Beasley’s fourth interception of the year. Beasley read the crossing route early, jumped it, and made a strong play on the ball. He’s been a valuable addition to the defense, and at this point he might be the best ballhawk Louisville has had at safety since Gerrod Holliman.
In Other News...
Louisville Just Took A Tough Recruiting Hit With Pat Kelsey Watching
Louisvilles recruiting board took a hit this week when five-star small forward Asa Montgomery canceled his upcoming official visits to the Cardinals and Arizona, according to reports. Montgomery remains one of the most coveted prospects in the country, and his original list of planned stops showed just how wide a net he was casting, with Louisville among a group that also included LSU, Florida, UConn, Providence, North Carolina and Duke.
For Pat Kelsey and his staff, losing the chance to host Montgomery only tightens the squeeze in a recruitment that already had plenty of heavyweight competition. Duke is now viewed as the favorite to land him, and with Louisville out of the immediate visit picture, the Cardinals will have to keep pressing from the sidelines and hope the conversation is not over yet. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces A Tricky Road Test At Syracuse With Plenty At Stake
Louisville heads to the JMA Wireless Dome for a Week 7 matchup with Syracuse carrying a 3-3 record and a fair amount riding on the trip. The Cardinals are favored by two touchdowns, but this is also their first chance to pick up a road win this season, which gives the game a little more edge than the spread might suggest. Add in the fact that both sides are dealing with a lengthy injury report, and the setting feels more complicated than a typical midseason conference date.
Syracuse has enough uncertainty of its own to make this one worth watching closely, with several players on both teams listed as out or questionable. For Louisville, the challenge is not just handling the road environment but doing so in a game where availability could shape the flow from the opening series. The Cardinals have the better paper case, but the kind of contest they get in Syracuse may tell a lot about how steady this team really is away from home. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Real Chance To Prove The Florida State Win Was Real
Louisville heads to Syracuse on Saturday night with a good chance to show the Florida State win was more than a one-off. The Cardinals have the kind of setup every solid team wants in October: a road game, a conference opponent and a chance to follow one impressive performance with another against a side that is working with a backup quarterback. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and there should be plenty of attention on whether Louisville can carry over the energy and execution that stood out last time out.
CardinalAuthoritys staff expects this one to be shaped by both sides of the ball, with Louisvilles offense trying to keep recent form rolling and the defense looking to take advantage of the matchup in front of it. It is the sort of game that can tell you a lot about a team, not just because of the opponent, but because of how it responds on the road after a big win. If Louisville looks sharp again, the Florida State result starts to feel like a real turning point instead of a nice September memory. [Read more 🡒]