Louisville football: Five biggest needs of improvement after bye week

Other receivers must help Tutu Atwell

While the quarterback play must improve for Louisville, you could also argue the receivers have to step as well. This season the go-to receiver has been usually the smallest guy on the field, TuTu Atwell, who has accumulated 310 yards receiving, which is top five in the ACC. He is also one of three players in the conference that has registered five touchdown receptions thus far in the season.

Dez Fitzpatrick had seven catches for 133 yards on against FSU but before that no other player on the team had over 100 yards receiving on the season besides Atwell. Seth Dawkins and Devonte Peete haven’t been able to find a rhythm with either of Louisville’s quarterbacks. Dawkins only has four receptions for 39 yards and Peete is at 37 yards with only two receptions this season.

As a team, Louisville has the third-lowest amount of receiving yards (845) this season in the ACC and has converted on roughly 55 percent of its passing plays. This tells me there is a lot of work to do when it comes to this receiving core and their QBs.

I have already discussed the playbook and the lack of opportunities there have been for catches from these receivers but another issue is that the players need to work harder at getting open. Dawkins at 6″3 and Peete at 6″6 will have some size advantages against the secondary and they will need to be able to just go up and snatch the ball away from the defense.

As Louisville gets deeper into the season teams will start to key in on Atwell so other guys will need to step up when the opportunities are there to make plays. Tutu is a speedster but at his size teams will try to be more physical at the line against and as a result, when they focus on him Dez, Seth, and Devonte as well as guys like Justin Marshall, Thomas Jackson, and tight ends Marshon Ford and Jordan Davis who have got to be ready to go.

Of course both Pass and Cunnigham have to be able to consistently get the ball to receivers so that they can make plays, however, with accuracy of both QBs still a question mark from game-to-game, it’s going to be up to these receivers to help their teammates by making big plays once they do get the ball in their hands.