Louisville football game balls: Who shined against Notre Dame?

Game ball: Jawon “Puma” Pass

I was very much on the Jawon Pass hype train to start last season and for plenty of reasons was not encouraged about his future as the Cardinals quarterback at the end of 2018.

This season with all the tools that Scott Satterfield and new quarterback coach Frank Ponce have given Pass, including confidence, there was a reason for hope in turning things around. We’ve seen quarterbacks struggle under certain coaching or lack thereof, only to turn into another coach’s treasure upon closer look.

I expected Jawon Pass to be the starter all along, simply because he provided the best combination of throwing and running. So when Satterfield announced him as the starter on Monday of last week (we knew that was the case anyways with Malik Cunningham injured), I wiped the slate clean. No more thinking about what happened last year, and only looking at 2019.

Notre Dame is a tough opponent, especially if you struggle with protecting the quarterback and establishing the run.

Thankfully, Louisville was able to at least do the latter of the two on Monday night.

On the first drive of the game, Jawon looked like a new guy.

He stood tall in the pocket, he did his best to go through his reads, and most importantly he looked very in sync with the rhythm of the plays – which is crucial in a system like Satterfield’s.

We saw a new, more confident Pass throughout the game, but on the first two drives, we saw what looked like a completely different QB.

Pass hit his first throw of the night, on a beautiful corner throw to Seth Dawkins, one he probably wouldn’t have been able to complete last season.

From there he led two straight scoring drives, giving Louisville a 14-7 lead at one point and putting them in a really good position heading into halftime.

Then came turnovers, poor throws, and some struggles with getting the offense moving at times. While he struggled and did make some mistakes the new mindset of Pass could be seen on the field. The staff has spent a lot of time with Pass and making sure he understands that mistakes and turnovers happen, and it’s all about how you respond to those plays.

That is why Pass gets a game ball from Monday’s game. Yes, he struggled overall passing, going just 12/27 with a 44 percent completion percentage, which obviously won’t cut it. But overall, he kept the offense moving, he made great decisions on reads, made big plays in the running game, and scored two crucial touchdowns.

We saw a much improved, much more confident Jawon Pass, and to me, it was enough to once again call him by his name, “Puma.”