Stock up: Louisville’s pass rush
A glaring issue for the Cardinals last season was their inability to get to the quarterback and creating pressure in the backfield in general.
That changed in a major way against Western Kentucky.
Louisville’s defense accounted for 3 QB hurries, 10 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks on the night, and made things uncomfortable for the Hilltoppers.
That’s the type of performance that defensive coordinators Bryan Brown and Cort Dennison are looking for. Yes, Louisville will face tougher offensive lines as the year progresses, but given that this was Louisville’s first live action all season, Cards fans should be encouraged going forward.
Push: Offensive line play
Louisville’s offensive line graded out as the best in the country in week one according to Pro Football Focus.
However, if you watched the game, I don’t think you’d feel as confident about the offensive line as the analytics might indicate.
Louisville started the game with a holding penalty that led to a poor series of events and a punt. The next drive, a pass rusher got into the backfield on two consecutive plays, jarring the ball loose from Micale Cunningham on the second. The Cardinals were fortunate to maintain possession.
From that point on, the line was really solid. Cunningham worked from a clean pocket and had time to operate. Louisville created holes in the running game, and saw Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall take advantage multiple times for big gains.
Still, things got ugly at times, and although WKU has a future NFL defensive end in D’Angelo Malone, the Cardinals are going to face guys like that on a nearly weekly basis.
Not having Mekhi Becton and Tyler Haycraft to hold down the edges made a noticeable difference on Saturday. Although the Cardinals cleaned things up as the game went on, I think we need to see the blocking continue to improve against Miami before we are buying stock.