Louisville Football: Why Malik Cunningham should start for the Cards

Louisville football is amidst an unexpectedly close quarterback battle. We make the case for Malik Cunningham as the starter for the Cards.

Entering the season no one saw Louisville football having a dilemma at the quarterback position, but heading into week three that’s exactly what’s happening with Puma Pass and Malik Cunningham.

There’s no denying that the passing game of the Louisville Cardinals has been ineffective, to say the least, through the first two games of the season. I get that the first matchup against Alabama is almost a toss away simply because of how dominant they are, but to only throw for 164 yards against an FCS team that went 0-11 in 2017 raises a lot of red flags.

Yes, Puma Pass did throw for 250 yards in week one against Alabama, but the majority of that came in the third and fourth quarters when the game was way out of reach against backups. In his second showing, in a torrential downpour, Pass only threw for 89 yards, averaging just 6.4 yards per play before being pulled after halftime.

Malik Cunningham, a redshirt freshman came into the game in relief, and while he didn’t set the world on fire he did lead the Cards to four straight scoring drives totaling 129 total yards and sealing the victory.

2nd half drives:

11 plays, 83 yards- Touchdown
4 plays, 23 yards- Touchdown
5 plays, 32 yards- Field Goal
4 plays, 56 yards- Touchdown

That leads us to today. We’ve already asked the question is there a QB controversy? Presley Meyer has presented why Puma Pass should remain the starter, and now I’m here to set forth the argument of why Malik Cunningham should get his opportunity as the team’s QB. Is it crazy that we’re even talking about this in week three after two years of waiting for Puma Pass to get his chance? Yes, that’s simple. But is it something we should be looking at deeper rather than just assuming Pass is the guy? I would say so.

A decision on the starting QB won’t be made until closer to the game as Petrino said today in the coaches ACC teleconference, which may lead many to believe Malik Cunningham is actually being considered to start.

Petrino told the media during his weekly press conference that Puma was dealing with a turf toe, and didn’t look right during halftime which was a huge reason he made the decision to switch. But the Louisville offense already looked putrid at that point.

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I get that the rain was a huge part of that, but the offensive woes didn’t start this week. Against Alabama the offense committed multiple penalties, turned the ball over, and often looked out of sync after months of practice and heaps of praise being sent their way.

Pass’ Struggles

Through two games the Cards have a 55.7% completion percentage while averaging just a little over 6 yards per attempt. Aside from maybe one or two deep passes against Alabama, there’s been no sign of synchronization with Pass and his receivers nor the ability to move the ball down the field in big chunks. We know Pass can move out of the pocket as needed, but his game is stronger when he can stand in there and make plays with his arms, which could be another reason he was pulled for Cunningham.

The numbers don’t lie, the ball moved much better with Cunningham. Albeit against lesser competition in a monsoon, but the threat of the QB taking off when the pocket collapsed or no one was open, helped to keep the defense on their toes while opening up the field.

When I think of Malik Cunningham- a guy known for his ability to make big plays on the ground and in the air- Lamar Jackson is the obvious comparison. Though Cunningham doesn’t appear to have the arm strength or anywhere near the speed of Jackson, he can break off a big run on any given play, which forces a defense to play different.

Looking to the past may help Cunningham

In 2015-16 Reggie Bonnafon started the season at QB for Louisville, with Kyle Bolin and Lamar Jackson as backups. It only took a quarter and a half before Petrino gave true freshman Lamar Jackson his chance as the team’s QB. What happened? Jackson finished that game against Auburn with 206 yards and a touchdown while almost bringing the Cards back from a 24-0 lead.

In game two after a week of questions about who would be the starter Bobby rolled with Kyle Bolin, sprinkling Lamar Jackson in before eventually going all Jackson in a loss to Houston. Though Jackson turned the ball over and made several questionable decisions his play making ability was too good to leave on the sidelines.

I believe that’s where we are again today.

Puma Pass could start and play extremely well on Saturday and put this whole “controversy” to rest. But with Louisville’s lack of a consistent run game, and struggles up front thus far it seems having a guy in the backfield who gives you big play ability inside the pocket and outside makes more sense.

I get that Cunningham doesn’t have the arm strength nor the passing abilities that Jackson had in 2015 or throughout his career. Petrino could trust Jackson to make big throws or squeeze the ball in tight spots on 3rd down plays when defenses knew a pass was coming.

We didn’t see a lot of passing on Saturday, mostly due to the rain, but aside from the 34 yard touchdown to Smith, Cunningham didn’t have many big plays that came from his arm. He did complete passes for 15 yards, 10 yards, and 34 yards but a lot of that came after the catch. While that may be a bigger concern against the Florida State’s and Boston College’s of the ACC, it really isn’t a huge concern when there’s 4+ inches of rain on the field.

Bobby’s confidence in Puma shaken?

What may point most to Malik Cunningham being the starter for this weekend and moving forward was today’s update from Bobby Petrino on the ACC’s weekly teleconference. When asked if Puma Pass was ready to go after the injury on Saturday Petrino gave a short and sweet answer:

"“Yeah, he is. He is, and he looked good. He did a good job.”"

When asked again about Pass’ injury and if he’s been able to practice, Petrino went a little more in depth, saying:

"He did practice. He and Malik both had good practices. They looked good, threw the ball well, and we’re just going to continue to practice and let it play out and make a decision here later in the week."

The answer to me seems pretty clear if you ask me. Petrino’s confidence in Pass has been shaken, at least temporarily. It’s simple to connect the dots, Pass was cleared and has been practicing, and after two games you’d think if he was going to be the starter for Saturday Bobby would’ve answered with “yes, he’s our starter.” But instead Petrino said they’d go further into the week and make a decision then, which has to bode well for Cunningham.

All that to say, having Cunningham on the field presents more opportunities for points which may be desperately needed as the season goes on with the troubles that have reared their ugly head again on defense.

I’m not sure Puma Pass is going to be able to do that, but I no doubt could be wrong. That’s why it makes sense for Petrino to let Cunningham start and play heavy snaps this weekend as the Louisville quarterback.