Louisville football: 3 locks and 3 bold predictions for Cards against WKU
By Jacob Lane
Lock – Louisville’s secondary gets a pick-six
In the new look Louisville defense, we’ve seen tons of improvement in just two weeks under co-defensive coordinators Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison.
There’s been solid tackling, third-down stops, a pass rush, and an intensity that’s been lacking over the past of seasons. But one thing that’s been missing thus far, has been the ability to force turnovers. Especially interceptions.
Bryan Brown’s defenses are predicated on playing past, rushing the passer, and forcing turnovers at a high level – something that Louisville hasn’t quite done just yet through the first two weeks of the season.
While they did force a fumble from Ian Book in the season opener against Notre Dame, they haven’t yet forced their first interception of the season.
On Saturday night, that’s a lock to come to an end.
Western Kentucky’s starting quarterback Steven Duncan has been somewhat productive in the new-look offense for the Hilltoppers – but one thing he’s done consistently is throw interceptions.
Through two games, Duncan has four total interceptions with two being forced by Central Arkansas and two more by FIU. While those teams are formidable foes in their own right, neither play with the overall speed and talent of Louisville, meaning Duncan could be in for a long night if his inaccuracy doesn’t improve.
With Louisville being able to put pressure on the quarterback, an offensive line that’s allowed a couple of sacks and multiple tackles for loss, it should be the perfect recipe for one of the budding members of the secondary to cause the first interception of the season.
Bold prediction – Jawon Pass throws for 300-plus yards
On the other side of the ball, this could definitely be the week where Jawon Pass makes his presence felt in the passing game.
Against Notre Dame and Eastern Kentucky, Pass showed that he’d grown leaps and bounds when it came to making decisions in the offense and find the right receiver underneath defenses leading to big plays.
But what he hasn’t done well, at least not to the level we expected, is throw the football deep accurately.
Against EKU, Pass struggled out of the gate missing multiple open receivers on deep passes and forcing passes into tight spots, causing an interception in the second quarter. While he did have two touchdown passes, his accuracy was a work in progress. He finished strong in the second half, throwing two more touchdown passes, including a strike to Dez Fitzpatrick, and finishing with 196 yards.
In week three Pass will go up against the 83rd ranked pass defense in Western Kentucky, which means there should be plenty of opportunities to make big plays through the air.
Western allowed sophomore Breylin Smith of Central Arkansas to throw for nearly 330 yards, including giving up an 88 yarder and three more 30-plus yard plays through the air. No offense to Lujuan Winningham, Carlos Blackman, and Breylin Smith – but those guys don’t offer the same challenge that Dez Fitzpatrick, Tutu Atwell, Seth Dawkins, and Jawon Pass present.
Coach Scott Satterfield made it clear this week in his press conference previewing WKU that the quarterback for Louisville is going to have to be more efficient throwing the ball downfield or else “you might as well run it.”
Building confidence against EKU was key for Pass, but part of his improvement is going to be showing consistency week-to-week, especially if Louisville has any chance to exceed the three to four-win expectations.