Louisville Football vs. Boston College

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Having lost three of its last four games, the Louisville football program looks to get back on the right track and heads to Chestnut Hill for a weekday showdown with Boston College.

Here are some key storylines from Friday’s game:

Injury Report

Despite how healthy Louisville was starting to get, the Cardinals came up big time in the Miami game.

Tight end Jamari Johnson, an underrated part of Louisville’s offense, suffered an ankle injury against the Canes and will be out for the rest of the season.

Other injuries to watch for: linebacker Tramel Logan played against Miami but saw little rushing. Defensive tackle Rene Konga also missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury.

There’s a big injury to watch out for on the Boston College side. Linebacker Kam Arnold, who was third on the Eagles in scoring with 40 points, is considered “day-to-day” after being injured in BC’s last game at Virginia Tech.

Additionally, Boston College also lost cornerback Amari Jackson to a torn ACL a few weeks ago.

Louisville Trying Not to Let Recent Losses Turn into Something Bigger

The Louisville football program has definitely started the 2024 season off on the right foot. The Cardinals won their first three games of the season, winning those games by an average margin of 36.3 points, and moved up to No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Since then, however, Louisville has suffered a midseason slump, losing three of its last four games. These last three losses have each been by just a touchdown, but no matter what, the Cardinals are now within striking distance of falling to .500 on the season.

With a quick rebound this week, Louisville is doing its best to not let past losses lead to even bigger losses.

“When you go through a football season, if you’re not prepared for the ups and downs of that season, it’s going to catch you off guard and you’re not going to be able to adapt,” head coach Jeff Brohm said. . “So we’re talking about simple things: when we come into the season, whether we win or lose, it should be a one-game season. You’ve got to learn from it and move on and get better. Be ready for the next game and you’re expected to win the next game no matter what your record is.”

While many are quick to point out defense as Louisville’s main problem, Brohm says it’s a “combination of a lot of things” that has led to the Cardinals’ current situation. Their offense has been subjected to lethal penalties and more negative plays than they would like, while special teams have been pretty hit or miss despite having a good showing against Miami this season.

“I think we all need to continue to work on some of the things that aren’t going well,” he said. “Take that issue, work hard to improve on it because every little bit counts and in some losses we haven’t been good enough overall to achieve that and that’s on me and we have to be better at that.” ”

Boston College Also Suffers a Midseason Slump

After head coach Jeff Hafley left for the NFL last offseason, Boston College recruited former Penn State and NFL head coach (plus Boston native) Bill O’Brien.

Throughout the first month of the season, the Eagles looked like a formidable foe. They opened the season with the road closure of then-No. 10. Florida State nearly pulled off a road win over top-ten Missouri and posted a come-from-behind victory over Michigan State. Putting it all together, BC started the season at 4-1 and earned a brief spot in the AP Top 25.

But there’s been a bit of a speed bump at Boston College over the last few weeks. Before heading into the bye week, the Eagles traveled to Virginia, where they gave up 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to fall behind 24-14. Lately, on the other side of their bye week, BC hasn’t looked prepared at all at Virginia Tech. They fell behind 42-21, and all their points came in a strange third quarter.

While Boston College has certainly looked vulnerable in recent weeks, Jeff Brohm knows the Eagles are a threat to take them down, especially on a weeknight environment.

“You know they are well coached, Coach O’Brien has been there, done that and coached at the highest level,” he said. “They play tough football; they have a quarterback who can run and shoot. That gave us problems. They’re better defensively than they were in the past, so they’re a good football team and you know a lot of the players. We’ve got to contain the guys and that starts with the quarterback and on offense and scoring.” We need to find ways to achieve some balance.

BC’s Thomas Castellanos Advances as a Passer, Regresses as a Runner

Louisville has faced a dual-threat quarterback in nearly every game they have played to this point, and that trend will continue when they face Boston College QB Thomas Castellanos. This season Castellanos has made great strides as a passer but has taken a significant step back as a runner.

Last season, the transfer from UCF had a breakout season for the Eagles. He threw for 2,248 yards and 15 touchdowns, but that also came with a 57.3 completion rate and 14 interceptions. However, he also rushed for 1,113 yards (second-most by a quarterback in the FBS) and 13 scores.

He’s looked much better as a passer so far this season. In six games, he completed 66.7 percent of his throws for 1,188 yards and 14 touchdowns on just four picks. Conversely, he wasn’t as productive as a rusher, rushing for just 161 yards and one TD.

Even though Castellanos is a much different player than last season, Brohm knows what he can do. In last season’s game, Castellanos was 17-of-31 for 265 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for 49 yards and a TD.

“It presents challenges, so we’re going to have to come up with a really good plan and execute it,” Brohm said. “We have to be conscious of his athleticism when he has the ball in his hands. They do a great job with him. He can run him, get him down in the zone read and mix it up. Even though we had one of our better games last year against Boston College because we were firing on all cylinders offensively, but he However, he showed a lot of play. If the game had been closer, it would have been a different story.”

Louisville Defense Continues to Struggle

At this point in the season, it’s easy to say that Louisville’s main area of ​​concern is defense. Heralded in the preseason as a unit that should be the strength of the team, the Cardinals’ defense has become a liability for them since they began playing against power conference teams.

Over its last five games, Louisville has given up an average of 431.6 yards per game. The only team not to put up 400 yards on the Cardinals during that span is Notre Dame. They completed an average of 303.7 passes per game in the last three games.

These defensive issues were on full display last weekend against Miami. Up front, at the point of attack, the Cardinals were bullied and bulldozed, giving up 219 yards; It was the most yards by a UofL opponent at home since Kentucky rushed for 362 in 2021.

Louisville’s passing offense also struggled to take down Miami QB Cam Ward. Add in some ill-timed throws, especially down the middle of the field, and Ward was able to throw for 319 yards and four touchdowns as part of the Canes’ 52-45 victory.

“I think we could have played better, which is disappointing,” Brohm said after the Miami game. “I think we could force some things more. For the most part, they were able to move the ball the way they wanted. We had a couple good stops in the middle of the game, which was good. We managed to get a couple sacks, but we’re giving up too many big plays. We’re giving up too many big rushes. We couldn’t bring people down late in the game. If football “These are things we need to fix if we want to win games.”

(Photo by Jawhar Jordan: Scott Utterback – Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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