Louisville football preview: 5 things to watch in the Syracuse game
By Derek Snyder
No. 1: How well Lamar Jackson can continue to spread the football around.
Lamar Jackson and Kyle Bolin did an incredible job Thursday evening of highlighting just how many weapons Louisville has in the passing game. Most teams have one or two guys that opposing defenses need to focus on in order to shut down their offense. That may not be the case for the Louisville football team and head coach Bobby Petrino this season.
Louisville was able to complete a pass to 16 different receivers in their 70-14 win over the Charlotte 49ers. That is something that Louisville fans can be very, very proud of.
There were a few different reasons for that happening though. Charlotte struggled to cover simple routes against the Cardinals all evening, therefore it wasn’t too hard to get the ball to those guys. However, it did prove that Louisville has a variety of players that will beat you in the passing game. It makes it even more deadly that Lamar Jackson can beat anyone with his speed as well.
Syracuse should be no different than any other average ACC team this season. They will struggle to contain Lamar Jackson and cover all of Louisville’s players in the passing game. If Jackson is able to complete a pass to at least eight different guys on Friday night, Louisville should have no trouble moving the football.