Why the Florida State game was different for Louisville football
Offense
The offense generated some huge plays on the ground and through the air. There are a few reasons for this kind of performance for them that are really quite simple.
Matchups
The passing game is all about matchups no matter the team or level of football. The Cardinals found those with relative ease on Saturday. It started early with Tutu Atwell.
On Atwell’s 66 yard grab that set up a short Javian Hawkins touchdown, Atwell was matched up with FSU corner Jarvis Brownlee. Brownlee is playing off man coverage in the slot and on an island against Atwell.
On the play, all Atwell does is run a 10-yard dig route. Brownlee gets off balance because of the option for Atwell to run an out, a streak, or a dig. He runs the dig and then Brownlee is in trouble after Atwell accelerates for about 50 yards after the catch. It’s as simple as that.
On Atwell’s touchdown in the game, the Seminoles showed a single high zone look that was revealed when nobody lined up across from Tutu pre-snap. That certainly sent flags up for Malik Cunningham who was looking for him all the way.
Florida State safety Travis Jay, a redshirt freshman, was put on an island on a deep crosser by Atwell in the deep third. Jay could not keep up with Atwell and was undisciplined with his eyes which led to another massive play by Atwell to give the Cardinals a very early 28-7 lead.
New Wrinkles
There were some new things being presented by the coaching staff that proved to give the Seminoles fits.
The first (and maybe most important) thing that I noticed is that there were multiple new play action wrinkles. I recently wrote that the play action game needed some more nuance to it. They made me feel smart this week.
The largest change I saw was that the plan was to throw in some “slip” plays on play action. Meaning, a wide receiver or tight end starts to block in tight close to the line of scrimmage. Then, the receiver breaks free from the block and slips out down the field.
The hope is that the play action and slip by the receiver fools the defense enough for a fairly easy completion. It worked very well Saturday.
The Seminoles played a couple of freshman linebackers in Stephen Dix and DJ Lundy. They were in for significant snaps. Talented or not, freshman linebackers can be taken advantage of with confusion and a successful slip play will have a freshman’s head spinning.
One specific circumstance that stood out was Dez Fitzpatrick’s slip play that went for good yardage and was disguised very well by the offense. More of this, please.
On Atwell’s dig route, the Cardinals ran a “clearout” play that resulted in Atwell being completely alone while the other receivers ran routes that gave Atwell all the room in the world to work. That is not something I have seen prior to this week’s game.
Blocking improvements
For once this year, Malik Cunningham was not running for his life all game. That is surely a positive development. The interior did a great job on the likes of Marvin Wilson and Cory Durden.
Cole Bentley, specifically, is an absolute stud for this team that needs more love from the fanbase. He has been a solid presence all year and he absolutely delivered against the Seminoles.
Cam DeGeorge has been a small upgrade to Robbie Bell. Adonis Boone and Renato Brown settled in to this game and played well. They only gave up one sack all game.
The improvement of the offensive line is something to monitor and something that is very necessary for sustained success due to the nature of the long developing passing plays in Louisville’s offense.