Louisville Football: Brian VanGorder’s Defense Lone Bright Spot for Cards
Louisville football is off to an unimaginably bad start on offense, but new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder has his defense showing improvement weekly.
No matter how pessimistic of an observer you are, you’d be lying if you expected Louisville football to be playing as bad as as they have at this point in the season.
With one third of the season in the books, the Cards have yet to muster an offensive touchdown in the first half of play. Their performance on the offensive side of the ball could best be described as “Steve Kragthorpe-esque.” A stark contrast to what you’d come to expect from a Bobby Petrino-coached team.
The Cards were dominated 27-3 on Saturday against a much less talented Virginia Cavaliers team. But one positive that many Cards fans can take away is the play on the defensive side of the ball.
In Brian VanGorder’s first season as the defensive coordinator for Louisville, the Cards have shown marked improvement, even through a slew of injuries.
Louisville lost by far their best defensive player in edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who is out indefinitely. Linebackers Robert Hicks and Dorian Etheridge sat out Saturday, and are unknowns going forward. Safety TreSean Smith has been eased back into the lineup after off-season surgery, and his replacement Khane Pass left the game in the first quarter this week after a targeting penalty.
Still, the Cards have adjusted to VanGorder’s defensive verbiage, and have been able to hold their own against Indiana State, Western Kentucky, and Virginia.
Even against Alabama, the defense “only” gave up 35 points- by far the least surrendered by a defense to the Tide this year.
VanGorder’s philosophy is very much a mixture of Louisville’s last two defensive coordinators- Todd Grantham and Peter Sirmon. Grantham was often criticized for being overly aggressive and giving up home run type of plays when being aggressive was unnecessary. On the other hand, Sirmon was flat out bad because his play-calling was overly conservative. His defenses would play way off of receivers, and he rarely sent blitzes. The antithesis of Todd Grantham.
VanGorder’s style is a perfect balance of what Louisville has had in the last two seasons. His defenses are aggressive when they need to be, but are good at guarding against big plays.
The Cards have given up an average of 390 yards per game, but employ much more of a bend, but don’t break style. The Cards have given up 25.5 points per game, but much of that is due to the position that the Cards are put in by the ineptitude of the offense.
The offense’s inability to move the ball has resulted in stalled drives, and quick three and outs. This leads to an impossible situation for a thinning, inexperienced defense who ends up spending way too much time on the field.
VanGorder has gotten players to step up, too. Most notably, Tabarious Peterson and corner Cornelius Sturghill, along with little-known linebacker Nick Okeke, have stepped up in the absence of some important starters.
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Louisville’s defense is making strides each week, even with starters being sidelined due to injury. Now it is up to the lowly offense to step up their game.
If the Cards can create a bit of continuity and let the defense rest, there is still time to get things turned around going forward.