Louisville football: 4 goals for the final five games of the season
By Jacob Lane
Rush for 100 yards in each remaining game
There weren’t a lot of positive takeaways from Louisville’s 38-20 loss to Boston College last weekend. However, if you looked past the score, the terrible offensive line performance, and the defensive performance against the run, you saw a workhorse running back emerge in freshman running back, Hassan Hall. Yes, I’m aware he only rushed for 39 yards, which under most circumstances wouldn’t be worth praise. However, it was how he did it that really led me and the rest of the Cardinal fan base to believe he is Petrino’s guy for the rest of the season.
What was it that made me believe he could be the team’s leading rusher by seasons end? Well, to start Hall was able to hit the outside using his blazing speed, something that Louisville had yet to do this season. His ability to find open holes, some of them that really weren’t even open, make defenders miss in open space, along with catch the ball out of the back field (3 catches, 29 yards) all helped Louisville score 20 unanswered points in the first half.
There’s no hiding the fact that Dae Williams (who’s battled with injuries all season long), Trey Smith, and Jeremy Smith have not showed anything that would make you believe that they should be the guy moving forward, Yet, up until the Boston College game, Bobby Petrino continued to roll with them in attempt to get the running game going.
Moving forward Hassan Hall has to be not only the starter, something that Bobby Petrino has said is based on what formation the team lines up in to start the game, but also the primary ball carrier.
Running the football has been an issue this season, one that has severely hampered the development of starting QB (for now at least) Jawon Pass. Currently UofL ranks 112th in the nation in total rushing, totaling a measly 760 yards through seven games. They rank 119 in yards per game (108.6) and 117th in yards per attempt (3.4).
Through seven games Louisville has rushed for 100 yards in a game just four times (Indiana State, Western Kentucky, Florida State, and Georgia Tech) and several of those games saw the 100 yards in garbage time (Indiana State and Georgia Tech). In three games this season Louisville’s leading rusher was a backup QB, whether it be Malik Cunningham (WKU, UVA) or Jordan Travis (Ga Tech).
If Bobby Petrino can get Hassan Hall 15+ carries each game, combining with 10+ to Trey Smith, I really believe that 100 yards each game to close the season is attainable. Yes, Louisville is likely to be blown out against teams like Clemson and North Carolina State, but even with that being the case there is no reason to stop the development of the freshman running back.