Recapping Louisville football’s loss to Georgia Tech position-by-position

Corners

Now for the bad news. This is a position that seemed to have good reviews out of Fall camp with a fair amount of depth. However, they have not impressed through the first four weeks.

The defensive backs have not registered an interception so far and rarely do they register a pass break up. They missed Kei’Trel Clark greatly as he was seemingly held out with some kind of injury.

Chandler Jones, a former Under Armour All-American, missed multiple tackles on the night including a key play late in the game to get Georgia Tech’s offense off the field. He blitzed to the play side and still was unable to make the play and completely over-ran the running back.

It was a rough night for him as he was given the role of number one corner with Clark out of the game.

Marlon Character was ejected early in the second half for a questionable targeting penalty. Character is a good tackler for the corner position. Losing him proved to be a fairly large blow for the team. The defense appeared to take a step back with him and Clark both out as the second half progressed.

Anthony Johnson is a big lanky corner that struggles in space. He showed flashes in his first couple of years in the program. But he has struggled big time this year and when forced into action in this game, he was not good.

Safeties

This position is also a mixed bag of players and another that Cardinals fans were expecting a lot from this year. This group has simply disappointed through the first four games.

Russ Yeast is the good part of this group. Yeast is another former Under Armour All American in the Cardinals secondary. I am fond of him as a player and there is a reason you do not see him beat for touchdowns often. He is very good at his position.

There was a double reverse pass that caught Louisville off guard and two Louisville defenders were trying to guard three. You could put some blame on Yeast. But not a lot. He was in no man’s land and the only defender who stayed disciplined on the play.

Isaiah Hayes is going to be the first player I call out that needs to be phased out of the rotation. He simply makes too many mistakes that have cost this team in big moments. The amount of mental lapses he has is alarming.

Seemingly the entire team is capable of understanding the defense except for Hayes who produced multiple coverage busts against Miami and now Georgia Tech that have cost the defense dearly.

Hayes was guilty against Georgia Tech of giving up a 3rd and goal touchdown from the 18 yard line. Then, he was victimized late in the game as Sims floated a duck in the air and Hayes failed to find the player the ball was intended for and the floating ball.

It may benefit the team to see what highly thought of freshman Lovie Jenkins can bring to the table. You can at least expect young freshman to make mistakes and learn from them. Hayes is a veteran and does not seem to learn from his mistakes.

Jack Fagot does not offer much in coverage. He is still a raw athlete playing the position for the most part despite being solid in run support.

Summary

Yeast is a mainstay in this defense while some toying with the other safety position needs to happen.

Jones needs to tackle better as does the entire secondary as a whole.

This was a bad game for the secondary against a freshman quarterback. Forcing no interceptions or anywhere even close to an interception is relatively alarming.