Louisville football: 3 not-so-crazy offensive predictions for 2020
By Jacob Lane
Louisville allows less than 25 sacks
One of the biggest talking points heading into the 2019 season for Louisville football was how much the offensive line would progress following a measly performance in 2018 in the last season under Bobby Petrino.
As Mekhi Becton pointed out after being drafted by the Jets in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft Dwayne Ledford changed everything about how the offensive line ran when he took over as the OL coach and offensive coordinator. “That man changed my life. He changed my whole technique. He told me what I was doing right, what I was doing wrong. He just changed everything,” Becton said, and he hit the nail on the head. Ledford’s long-standing track record of success was no fluke as the Cards massively improved in 2019.
Led by Becton, Louisville’s line helped to produce one of the nation’s top-ranked rushing attacks while also playing a big role in the emergence of quarterback Micale Cunningham. In a new scheme focused on zone-read runs, the offensive line became one of the best at setting the edge and allowing room for JAvian Hawkins and Hassan Hall to run through.
While Cunningham and quarterback Evan Conley had much more time to throw than the quarterbacks from the year prior, both still were not able to avoid sacks. In fact, in 2018 Louisville allowed 33 sacks, ranking 98th nationally, but in 2019 allowed 39 sacks which ranked 117th overall.
Anyone who watches football would understand that’s not a great stat, especially considering the fact that 24 of the teams 33 sacks were given up in losses to Notre Dame, Clemson, FSU, Miami, and Kentucky.
However, that means in the teams other eight games, all of which were victories, they combined to just give up nine sacks allowing the quarterbacks for Louisville to thrive making passes down the field. While it doesn’t tell the full story of the season, it shows the potential in year two.
As Alex Stengel wrote last year in his piece examining the new coaching staff and comparing them to the old, Ledford has proven to be a master at improving the sacks allowed statistic. The year before NC State handed over the reins to Ledford, the team allowed 39 sacks which improved to 17 sacks allowed in 2016, 13 sacks allowed in 2017, and just nine sacks allowed in 2018.
The stats show that the likelihood of Louisville improving mightily is pretty likely but the bad news is they’ll have to do so without star tackle Becton, who was responsible for allowing just one sack in his career. and Tyler Haycraft who started every game last season and was one of the most improved players overall.
Adonis Boone will step in at left tackle, where he played in place of Becton twice in 2019, while it’s expected that redshirt freshman Renato Brown will fill in on the right side after having a nice spring.
After taking over a group with just nine scholarship players, Ledford now has a versatile and talented group that should feature multiple true and redshirt freshmen who see the field in a variety of roles.
Give Ledford three returning starters, a handful of youngsters who have a world of potential, and another offseason to get them ready; watch out.