Louisville football received crushing news this morning from Jeff Brohm, as Cardinals fans learned that their star linebacker, Stanquan Clark, recently underwent surgery on his lower body. Brohm then stated his surgery will cause him to "more than likely be out for the year," making Louisville scramble to try and replace him quickly.
Clark is not someone Brohm and this defense can replace as the 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker earned All-ACC honors last season after logging 76 tackles, 7.5 tackles for a loss, four pass deflections, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
The news crushes Louisville, but now it will have to turn to former 5-star commit and redshirt sophomore, TJ Capers.
Related: Louisville football gets crushing injury update on star LB Stanquan Clark
Louisville football turns to former 5-star TJ Capers after Clark's injury update
Entering the 2025 season, Capers addressed the media during fall camp and told the fans he is excited for "bigger roles." Well, Capers is quickly learning his bigger role is coming much sooner than he thought, and he must step up and fill big shoes.
Capers was one of the highest commits in program history as he was a 5-star recruit and top 50 prospect out of high school before reclassifying and enrolling at Louisville a year earlier in 2023. Capers has two seasons under his belt, and linebacker coach Mark Ivey has stated multiple times that Capers had a "great" spring and carried that into fall camp.
The redshirt sophomore hasn't logged much playing time through his two seasons with the Cardinals, but he is quickly about to learn he is a crucial piece for this Cardinals defense moving forward. Capers will play next to Antonio Watts and key veteran TJ Quinn, and now will have a tremendous opportunity to prove he was worth the recruiting hype and the wait.
The fans have high expectations for the former 5-star and have faith he will leap with Clark's absence and will rise to the occasion. Clark has logged some time with the first team through the first two weeks and has shown promise.
So far through two games, Capers has logged five total tackles, two solo tackles, including his best game of his career so far, with three tackles against James Madison. The sophomore redshirted in 2023, and in 2024, he was sidelined with a hand injury, but was still able to earn six total tackles.
The former 5-star entered his name in the Transfer Portal, but quickly decided to stay loyal and remain a Cardinal. It appears it paid off for him personally, and he now has a massive opportunity in front of him that he can be the Cardinals' future defensive star.
Clark will look to get his first career start this Saturday against Bowling Green from L&N Stadium at noon local time.
Related: Louisville's former 5-star turning heads after earning first-team reps in fall camp
For all the latest on Louisville football's 2025 season, stay tuned.