Louisville football: 3 final thoughts from Cards upset win over Wake Forest

The quarterback issues have been solved… but not how we all thought

By the end of the game against Western Kentucky in week three of the season, Louisville football had already played three quarterbacks and didn’t know who was the right man for the job. Since then Louisville’s rotated through two quarterbacks, while losing another to injury, and still we don’t know who the quarterback is.

But that’s ok.

Jawon Pass was solid early in outings against Notre Dame and Eastern Kentucky, but a turf toe has kept him out since week two and now will keep him sidelined for the remainder of the 2019 season.

Micale Cunningham struggled early on in the season at times, but still found a way to make plays when it mattered. Seemingly overnight he blossomed into a new quarterback who was much more dangerous throwing the football.

Whether it’s been connecting on deep down the field passes or making plays with his legs, he’s looked like the guy for Louisville, but he’s been injured along the way as well.

True freshman Evan Conley has been the guy when both of the other guys couldn’t go, but he’s been up for the task.

Usually, when a team solves their quarterback controversy, they go with one guy and it stays that way. I think Louisville has found immense offensive success with both Cunningham and Conley. Both bring different things to the table, but both seemed to really understand the ins and outs of this Cardinal offense through six games. They both found ways to impact the game on Saturday when it was their time to shine.

Both of these guys played big-time football on Saturday night. Micale before his injury was 5/6 with 99 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also had 59 yards rushing on four carries. It looked like it was going to be his night all night. But a hit to Micale’s knee that resulted in a Wake Forest scoop and score put Conley in, in a big-time spot once again.

You can stop wondering whether this guy is up for it or not. All Conley did in a road environment against an undefeated team: 12/18 passing for 196 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He ran for 79 yards on seven carries and scored the game-winning touchdown you saw above.

Having two guys that can successfully do this job is definitely better than zero, I’d go as far to say it’s better than just having the same guy out there every time. It’s difficult for other teams to plan for, given that both of these guys run this offense successfully and both have different skill sets. It’s been a pleasant surprise for Louisville fans to see the light at the end of the tunnel for quarterback turmoil. It looks to only be getting brighter from here.