This Is Not The Same Louisville Offense You’ve Seen In The Past

At this time a year ago, Louisville’s offense was terrorizing most anything in its path. Elusive quarterback Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner from 2016, was actually putting up video game-like numbers that rivaled and sometimes surpassed his Heisman year.

Wow, have things changed.

Jackson is now with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, and Louisville is surprisingly struggling mightily on offense. The Cardinals come to Charlottesville’s Scott Stadium this Saturday with a 2-1 record, but it hasn’t been easy in terms of scoring points.

In fact, Louisville ranks 11th in the 14-team ACC in scoring per game (21.7) and dead last in total offense (307.7). Heck, Jackson used to put up better numbers by himself the past two seasons.

The Cardinals had to rally late in last Saturday’s game to come back and win a home game against Western Kentucky, which led by two touchdowns early. Louisville finally pulled off a 20-17 win.

That’s a far cry from what Coach Bobby Petrino had hoped for from his offense back in late July at the ACC Kickoff. Noted as a brilliant offensive-minded coach and a true quarterback guru, Petrino has been somewhat frustrated by the lack of production on that side of the ball.

The coach was reminded of his high hopes in July by a reporter who attended the Kickoff event, who commented that Petrino said he thought the offense would be better this year than last, which surprised those sitting in on the interview.

“I remember saying that,” Petrino recalled. “I said, ‘I expected them to be better.’ I expect a lot of things. And I get some and some I don’t get.”

Did he overestimate the potential of the offense?

“No, you have to have high expectations,” Petrino answered. “You have to have high expectations. I’m looking at what we’ve got coming back and I feel good about what’s going on, but right now, we’re obviously not getting that done.”

Petrino said he and his staff have to do a better job of coaching, and his players need to execute better and stay together and not point fingers. So far, he’s pleased that there’s no blame game going on.

Part of the problem is that Jackson’s replacements have not come close to filling those shoes, but then again, how many players are capable of producing those staggering numbers? Jackson rewrote several record books during the past two seasons, which put Louisville football back on the map.

Starting quarterback Jawon Pass – what a great name for a quarterback, right? – has not gotten the job done. He’s been pulled from the lineup and replaced by Malik Cunningham in the last two games, both wins.

Pass simply hasn’t been successful at, well, passing. After throwing three consecutive incompletions last weekend _ all three dropped by receivers _ Petrino had seen enough. He sent Cunningham into the game and he stayed in.

Cunningham, not noted as a passer, threw for only 88 yards. He is, however, efficient with his feet and ran for 129 yards.

The redshirt freshman became only the fourth quarterback in Louisville history to rush for 100 yards in a game, leading the Cardinals past Western Kentucky.

For the time being, Cunningham has moved ahead on the depth chart and according to Petrino, will start against Virginia this weekend.

“Malik has had 12 possessions that he started and scored eight times in those 12 possessions,” the Louisville coach said. “He gives us energy. He gets the guys around him to play hard.

“I had Puma (Pass’ nickname) up in my office (Sunday). I felt bad for him. Obviously, it’s not what I expected. It’s not what he expected. It’s hard on him, but he’ll come back. He’ll regroup. But like I told him, I’ve got to do what’s best for the team. Right now that’s what I feel is best.”

Petrino said that Pass took the demotion as well as could be expected. The coach felt that Pass played well in the season-opener, a highly lopsided loss to No. 1 Alabama.

“Like I told him, I’m still a big fan of his and I expect him to come back,” Petrino said of Pass. “He’s got to keep a positive attitude … that’s the biggest challenge: to keep a positive attitude, be a good teammate, be a good leader, and get ready.”

In three games this season, Pass has completed only 50 percent of his attempts (28-56) for 341 yards and two scores. Meanwhile, Cunningham has a higher completion percentage (64.0), connecting on 16 of 25 for 163 yards and one TD.

However, Cunningham is averaging a 5.5 yards pickup per rush, 183 yards on 33 attempts, including the career high against Western.

Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall is elated his defense no longer has to face Jackson, who was clearly the difference in the outcome of the last two meetings against the Cardinals.

“Difficult to describe Lamar Jackson because normal defense really isn’t something that was effective [against him],” Mendenhall said. “You always had to have at least one number accounting for him, preferably two, which then means you can’t play normal defense.

“It simply became a numbers game when Lamar was there,” the UVa coach said. “Their approach is similar now, they have two quarterbacks or have played two quarterbacks, so there are elements of the scheme that is the same. Neither is performing yet to the level that Lamar did, obviously, but still a challenge.”

In last year’s 38-21 loss to the Cardinals at Louisville, Jackson rushed 15 times for 147 yards and passed for 195, and was seemingly unstoppable. The year before, Jackson’s Heisman year, he showed Virginia fans why, moving Louisville nearly the length of the field in the waning minutes for a comeback win.

Mendenhall was happy to see Jackson go pro. So was everyone else on the Cardinals’ schedule.