Stock up, stock down for Louisville football after losing to Alabama

Stock up – Jawon “Puma” Pass

“Oak tree” “Baby Cam” “Ben Roethlisberger.” These were all names/comparisons that we heard during the three hour broadcast about new starting QB Puma Pass. Though he struggled a bit in the second half, and yes threw two interceptions (thanks to all the UL fans who pointed that out after I gave him an A grade in my post game recap), Puma stood tall in the pocket with some of the most physical defensive lineman pursuing him head on.

Pass finished with 252 yards passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. While a lot of his yards came in “garbage time” it was the most Alabama has allowed since its national championship loss to Clemson back in 2016 (stat courtesy of Kelly Dickey).

There’s a lot to build on moving forward for Jawon, especially knowing there won’t be a front 7 as dominant as Alabama’s until Clemson later this season.

Petrino spoke very highly of Pass in the press conference yesterday, noting what he did what and areas he’ll need to improve. Petrino told the media:

"“I was really happy that he stayed in there, finished, and competed. I was not going to take him out. I wanted him to stay in there and get better, work through it, and see his competitive spirit. That’s what we were talking about on the sideline. He said, ‘I’m going to keep working on it, keep going.’ So, I was impressed with his mindset.”"

I expect Puma to have a huge game on Saturday, and even bigger game the week after. Those who soured on Pass because of his two interception’s are silly, simply because if you watch the rest of the game you’ll quickly see how good he was at standing tall in the pocket and hitting receivers on the mark over the middle. I can’t wait to see more of Puma in the coming weeks. 

Stock up – Seth Dawkins

I knew going into the Alabama game that the most important player on the offensive aside from Puma Pass was going to be Seth Dawkins.

Of course Alabama was going to do everything they could to take away Jaylen Smith, Louisville’s #1 wide receiver who put together a crazy season last year for the Cards. No matter the team, taking away a QB’s top weapon is of the upmost importance. Alabama did just that, limiting Smith to just one catch for 20 yards.

I also had a feeling that because of the comments made to WLKY’s Dan Koob, which reached national levels and garnered a bunch of attention, that Alabama was going to do everything in their power to keep Dez Fitzpatrick out of the game.

Jamming him at the line, talking to him after every play, hitting him a little harder, all of these things came together as “payback” for saying that Louisville had an advantage over the Tide DB’s. Fitzpatrick, like Smith, was mostly irrelevant in the game, finishing with just 3 catches.

That left Dawkins, who I think Cardinal fans often forget about. Remember, Dawkins suited up for the Cards as a true freshman and was impressive all the way through the season. Last year, he put up big numbers again, but due to the emergence of Sixpatrick, he often was overlooked.

Against Bama Dawkins played extremely well, considering the situation. He finished the game with 3 catches with a team high 68 yards. I would imagine moving forward teams are going to continue to try and take away Smith and Fitzpatrick, which should leave #5 to have a BIG junior season.

Dawkins is a big wide receiver with a lot of power and speed. Plenty of ACC corner backs are going to have their hands full this season.