Louisville football finished their 2024 season 9-4 and secured their third consecutive season with eight wins or more.
The Cardinals offense was ranked in the top 20 in the nation averaging 450 yards per game, and was top 10 in points per game averaging 36.5 points per game. UofL was the only school to score 24 points or more in every game this season.
Louisville defense gave up 24 points per game on 369 yards a game. UofL is led by head coach Jeff Brohm, who became the Cardinals head coach back in 2022. Brohm has brought life into this Cardinal program as Lousiville is 28-12 under Brohm.
Louisville football ended the season on a high note, as they secured their ninth win of the season in a tight victory over Washington Huskers in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Louisville football season will kickoff against Eastern Kentucky, Saturday Aug. 30 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Louisville will see some new faces in this upcoming season, and here is a quick layout of the 10 starters Louisville football lost to either transfer portal, or the draft.
10 Louisville football starters who won't be back
Defensive end Jared Dawson
Jaren Dawson was one of the Cardinals best defensive linemen, as he had four sacs in 2024, 19 total tackles and one forced fumble. In 2023, Dawson ended the season with 12 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Dawson was one of the Cardinals best pass rushers in the past few seasons.
Jared Dawson entered the transfer portal and will now play for Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2025 season.
Kicker Brock Travelstead
Brock Travelstead was 58/58 on extra points in this past season, and was tied for fourth with the most extra points made in a season without a miss. He is ranked in the top 10 for most points scored in a season, and third for most points by a kicker in a season. He finished 18/25 on field goal attempts last season, and 35/49 in his career. He is ranked top seven in Cardinals history for field goals made.
Defensive end Ashton Gillotte
Ashton Gillote was a star defensive linemen for UofL, as he finished the 2024 season with the most tackles for the Cardinals. Gillote played all 12 games with 23 solo tackles and 43 total tackles. He also led the Cardinals in total amount of sacks with 4.5 for 22 yards.
In 2023 Gillote had 45 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks, which was tied for the ninth most in the 2023 season. He earned first team All-ACC, and second team All-American.
Defensive Tackle Thor Griffith
Louisville defensive tackle, Thor Griffith, transferred to Louisville and showed his NFL potential immediately. Griffith had 14 solo tackles, 21 total tackles, and three sacks in his 2024 season. He had 132 tackles, 33.5 tackles for loss, and 13.5 sacks in his collegiate career.
Thor Griffith defensive grade of 89.3 was PFF's second-highest rated defensive tackle in the FCS in 2023.
Wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks
jJa'Corey Brooks was the Cardinals main wide receiver in the 2024 season, where he brought in 61 catches for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns. He was first team All-ACC, due to his five 100-yard receiving games, and became the Cardinals first wide receiver since 2022 to record 1,000+ receiving yards.
Brooks was the first UofL wide receiver to score two or more touchdowns in consecutive games since 2010. His receiving yards finished 27th nationally, and 20th in touchdowns.
Defensive back M.J. Griffin
M.J. Griffin was one of the best defensive backs on the Cardinals 2024 team, as he had the third most tackles on Louisville football with 63 total tackles, and the second most solo tackles with 39. He had one sack, two pass deflections,
Griffin started all 13 games at safety, and looks to play in the NFL next season in hopes of being selected in the NFL draft.
Defensive back Corey Thornton
Corey Thornton had 38 total tackles, 27 of them were solo, two interceptions and six pass deflections in the 2024 season. Thornton was one of the Cardinals best defensive backs this season, and helped make this UofL secondary one of the best in the country.
In 2023, Thornton had a 76.2 defense grade on PFF and was top 15 in the Big 12.
Tight end Mark Redman
Mark Redman was the Cardinals starting tight end in the 2024 season and was ranked fourth on the team with 24 receptions third in reciving yards with 256 yards. He also placed third in touchdown scored for the team, as he found the end zone three times in 13 games.
Defensive back Quincey Riley
Quincey Riley is one corner that NFL teams can count on if they are looking to select a player that is good at locating the ball and impacting the play. In his full college tenure, he had 159 tackles, 106 solo, 6.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, 13 interceptions, 34 passes deflections, 1 forced fumble, and 2 touchdowns
Riley had 21 tackles in the 2024 season and had two interceptions with one force fumble. The former Louisville cornerback led the Cardinals in pass deflections with nine, and demonstrated that all weekend long. Riley will be drafted most likely in the top two rounds.
Quarterback Tyler Shough
The Cardinals were led by quarterback Tyler Shough, who threw for over 3,100 yards, and had 23 touchdowns on just six interceptions. Shough had the 24th best QBR in the nation at 75.0 and led this Cardinals offense to be one of the more elite offenses in the nation.
UofL had a total of 5,840 yards in their season, which was top 20 in the nation, and averaged 450 total yards per game, 264 yards through the air and 36.5 points per game. Shough declared for the NFL draft and will most likely be drafted in the first five rounds.