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

Stock up – Hassan Hall/Javian Hawkins

Going into the Alabama game, I predicted (wrongly, remember that) that either Hassan Hall or Javian Hawkins would break off a big TD run for the Cards. Unfortunately for me and the Cardinals, I was wrong.

While Hawkins didn’t get a chance to play due to injury, Hassan Hall was one of the four quarterbacks that did get a touch against the Crimson Tide. Though 2 carries for 4 yards isn’t what anyone could call a breakout performance, what caught the eye of myself and plenty of others was the 61 yard kickoff return late in the game.

Petrino talked about his freshmen running back’s during his Monday press conference, saying:

"It was exciting to see Hassan get in and see his speed on kickoff return. You try to get through the first game and try not to have too many freshmen out there, but we’re going to have to get him in. Javian Hawkins was in a situation where he wasn’t available for the game. He had gotten injured. He put a smile on my face at halftime when he came up to me at halftime and said, ‘Coach, I can go. I’m OK, I can go.’ That just shows a great mindset and toughness. I don’t think most true freshmen would come up to the head coach at halftime and tell them that, so I was really happy to hear that. I know he has a lot of confidence, and it’ll be good to have him back."

I really thought that Petrino was going to use both backs on Saturday, even with their inefficiencies at protecting the QB, simply because he gave the Cards another speedy weapon to keep the Tide defense on their toes. While that didn’t happen, as Petrino alluded to Monday, I expect to be the norm moving forward.

No running back emerged for the Cards, which is a huge bummer, and now it’s an open competition between Trey Smith, Colin Wilson, Dae Williams, Hawkins, and Hall. No man has a leg up on each other, which means that Hall or Hawkins could easily become “the guy,” or at least big contributors starting this weekend.

Stock up – Kemari Averett

If I had to pick one guy out of the Louisville lineup who looked like he would fit in just fine on the other team, it would be Kemari Averett. Nick Saban says that Alabama doesn’t s@$t out players, and don’t have unlimited depth, but they do let’s be honest. Most of them actually look just like 6’7, 250 pound tight end.

Early in the game Puma Pass targeted Micky Crum often, but it was Kemari Averett who finished as the team’s MVP. With his size and speed, Averett was the perfect target for Pass when (keyword being when) Louisville got into the redzone and it showed. Averett finished with 4 catches for 30 yards and two touchdowns.

Petrino will likely use a lot of two TE sets this season, meaning both Crum and Averett will be targeted heavily. However, I really do think Averett will finish fourth or fifth in catches, and maybe third(ish) in touchdowns.

If Louisville chooses to make Averett a big part of the game plan on Saturday against ISU, don’t be surprised if he has a monster game.