Louisville Football: Mental mistakes, poor defense, and playing Alabama costs Cards

After three years of anticipation, Louisville football finally got their chance to knock off the defending National Champions and number one team in the country, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Louisville defense got off to a nice start tonight, when the Cards and Crimson Tide finally took the field in the Camping World Kickoff. Consistent pressure, a big sack, and a near forced fumble all gave fans a reason to believe that Louisville football could pull of the massive upset and maybe biggest win in program history.. Until it didn’t.

After a big GG Robinson sack on 2nd down forced a third and long, it looked like Louisville’s defense had come to play. Then all momentum was taken away after a third down screen. Tua Tagoviloa led the Tide on a 7 play, 66 yard drive capped off on a 11 yard toss to sophomore wide receiver Jerry Jeudy that brought back nightmares of last year’s Louisville secondary.

After that, it went down hill at the fault of no one else than Louisville. Though the defense showed signs early on of running to the ball with a sense of urgency, even forcing a fumble on the Tide’s second drive, the secondary struggled to cover and were constantly burned for big plays.

The Cards allowed the Tide to finish 9 for 14 on third down, giving up big plays almost every time. Had a few plays been made earlier in the first half, this could have been a different game in my opinion.

As the game went on, the Tide had their way with a defense that was on the field for what seemed like the entire night. Even with that being said, their performance was poor leaving many to wonder if anything will change this year. I hate to even type it, but the Cards gave up 517 total yards tonight… ugh.

The offense looked okay for the most part, but really struggled to get going early on, hampered mostly by “mental errors” including penalties and a dropped pass by Trey Smith. The Cards were flagged three separate times on offense for illegal substitutions (having 12 men on the field) in the first half, costing them a big chunk of yards and field position.

In his first start at QB, Puma Pass finished with 252 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.  He showed a lot of good things, as well as a lot of things that need work.

Overall Alabama was just too much for the Cards (not a shocker), even as the offense and defense showed the ability to compete. With all that being said, the Cards came out with a sense of intensity that was nice to see. Going up against Alabama is as tough as it gets, especially with a new starter at QB and countless new players in on defense. Breathe easy fans, this game won’t tell us the full story about how good Louisville can be in 2018.

The good: If you’re looking for a positive to take away tonight look no further than the offensive line. They did an incredible job protecting Jawon Pass, giving him a lot of time to throw most the night, which was a very positive sign going up against a dominant defensive line that features two first round caliber players. The Cards gave up just a few sacks, and allowed Pass to throw for over 250 yards.

The bad: Do I have to pick one thing? The entire night was rough to watch. The Cards threw two interceptions, gave up a special teams and defensive touchdown and got flat out romped.

LVP: The rushing attack was non-existent, like you might’ve expected. The Cardinals played four running backs, and on 17 carries finished with just 16 yards.

MVP: This is easy for me, it’s the Louisville offensive line. After how bad they had played in years past, it was great to see them keep Puma clean against one of, if not the, best defensive lines in the country. Lukayus McNeil and Linwood Foy were the two who stood out the most as they had to deal with Raekwon Davis and Isaiah Buggs. If this line can block like this all season, Puma has the potential to put up BIG numbers.

Stat of the night: The Cards nearly finished with as many penalties as they did rushing yards. Louisville finished with 11 penalties to just 16 rushing yards. Not the winning recipe we were expecting tonight.

Tweet of the night: 

Now time to hand out some grades.

Both Jon Greenard and Mike Boykin, two defensive line starters, went out this game with arm injuries and to my knowledge neither returned. Fingers are crossed that the Cards will get them both back for week two, as losing either player for an extended period of time will be detrimental to the success of this team.

One thing that I must touch on before we move on is the Louisville fan base. To say I was disappointed with some of the negativity and ship jumping would be a large statement. Shortly after the Tide scored their first touchdown of the night, even with the Cards still in pursuit, fans began lighting up Twitter with criticism for Bobby Petrino.

There were plenty of spots tonight were things could have been better, both by the coaches and the players. However, this is Alabama we’re talking about not Virginia, not Wake Forest, not Kentucky. To blast the coaching staff and players so early into the game is just pointless and serves no purpose.

Be better Cardinal fans. C’mon.

All in all, it was great having football back in the Ville, even with the game ending in disappointing fashion. We can all turn our thoughts to next week when the Cards come home to debut the new look stadium against the Indiana State Sycamores.

Go Cards!