Louisville football has named Jawon Pass it’s starting quarterback for the 2019 season. Why Pass’s offseason should encourage Cardinals fans going forward.
To the expectation of many, Louisville Football officially announced Monday morning that quarterback Jawon Pass will get the starting nod when the Cards kick off the season on September 2nd at home against Notre Dame.
Although it seemed a potential quarterback battle was on the horizon between Pass and redshirt-sophomore Malik Cunningham, it was true freshman Evan Conley who received a majority of the 2nd-string reps after we learned Cunningham suffered an injury near the beginning of camp.
Pass, a redshirt junior, has had a less-than-ideal start to his career at Louisville. He was expected to be the quarterback of the future after the departure of Heisman winner Lamar Jackson. Instead, he struggled early and often, throwing for 1,960 yards, eight touchdowns, and 12 interceptions last season.
Although there is plenty of blame to go around from last season for how poorly Louisville played, It can be a little hard to get excited for a position group where the leading passer finished with more interceptions than touchdowns last season. However, Satterfield had some insightful comments in his Monday presser regarding Pass’s play this offseason:
"“There’s times when he looks unbelievable, like really, really good.”“He had a lot of days around 74 percent. Some days, around 50 percent. We’d like for him to be at least 60 percent to give us a chance to win.”"
Emphasizing accuracy
The other interesting comment Satterfield made about his starting quarterback during his presser touched on an area that many have expressed concern: Pass’s accuracy. Satterfield explained that the staff charts every throw their QB’s make during practice, and he has seen improvement with Pass’ accuracy metrics.
It was noteworthy to hear Satterfield provide a simple metric to part of Jawon’s success as a quarterback this season: just hit at least 60% of your passes and our team has a chance.
Just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Pass only threw above 60% once last season, completing 23-35 passes for 67% in a loss at home to Georgia Tech.
Satterfield also alluded to Pass’s accuracy still being sporadic at times. In terms of accuracy, 74 percent is incredible. However, completing only 50 percent of your passes will not cut it considering the season Louisville has in front of them.
Utilizing the running game
Satterfield also spoke about another strength Pass has at his disposal; A strength that some fans might have forgotten about. Pass can be an effective runner.
On Monday, Satterfield stated that Pass gaining confidence as a runner has helped their offense expand the run game as a whole. Satterfield also mentioned Pass turned many of those effective runs into points during the Cardinals scrimmages, an asset one would hope he can use during the season when Louisville lands in red-zone situations.
Overall, Satterfield sounded honest, yet very excited at Pass’s potential this season.
With a new attitude and a positive supporting staff, everyone is hopeful a new Jawon Pass will be out on the field come game day.