Louisville Football: 3 takeaways from the loss to Pitt
By Caleb Hall
No. 2: The Louisville defense still played good
I know you might see the score and wonder how the Louisville defense played good at all when they gave up 38 points to a 1-4 team, but if you look deeper it is pretty evident. Pitt had 288 total yards on the night, with 200 passing and 88 rushing. That is not a lot and the fact that they do have 38 points is a miracle based on the yardage they had throughout the game.
Pitt converted on the big plays and were set up in good field position by the Louisville offense. On the first drive for the Cardinals in the 2nd half they went for it inside their own 40 on 4th down, Pitt took over, kicked a field goal, and essentially got 3 free points to start the half. Pitt also had a pick six while Louisville was in the red zone, picked them off in the endzone again later in the game, and they had a 31 and 46 yard TD pass. Louisville’s offense set up Pitt to score and if it weren’t for a couple big plays the Panthers may not have won this game.
The new starting quarterback for Pitt also only had 12 completions for 200 yards. If it wasn’t for the 2 touchdown throws he would have only had 123 total passing yards. I would say that is pretty good defense from the secondary. However, those plays did happen and the defense in the future can’t allow these big plays to inferior teams.
Louisville’s defense did play good but against a 1-4 team like Pitt, they absolutely have to be better down the stretch, especially against better teams.