College Football
2018 University Of Louisville Football Preview
Can Jawon Pass Fill The Shoes Of Lamar Jackson?
The offense was quite impressive for the Louisville football team last season, and most of that was due to their Heisman winning quarterback Lamar Jackson. The team struggled mightily on defense and bottomed out to a sub par and quite underachieving 8-5 record. They finished in a three-way tie for third in the ACC Atlantic division and had a 4-4 record in ACC play. The results were quite disappointing given that they had the Heisman Trophy runner-up at quarterback for the entire season.
The Cards will come off a bowl game loss to Mississippi State and look to rebound for a strong 2018 campaign. Lamar Jackson will not be back, however, as the quarterback entered the NFL Draft and was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens. But head coach Bobby Petrino has a history of grooming quarterbacks to fit the offensive system. And Petrino will likely be faced with his toughest task ever at Louisville, replacing the program’s greatest player ever.
Expectations for Louisville football will still be high however as the program has been a rock-solid one since Charlie Strong took over in 2010. The program has risen from the shambles that Steve Kragthorpe left it with in 2009 and the recent 10,000 seat expansion in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium does more than justify it. Petrino will look to lead Louisville to its ninth straight bowl game this season.
Meet The Star: Jawon Pass
Jawon Pass received the keys to the program from Lamar Jackson. Pass was a four-star dual-threat prospect from Georgia who came to Louisville in 2015. He red-shirted his freshman season in 2016.
Pass backed up Lamar Jackson in 2017 and appeared five times while looking strong. He completed 23 of his 33 passing attempts while throwing for two touchdowns compared to zero interceptions. But a starting quarterback workload is much different from a guy who only plays in blowouts or when the starter is hurt, obviously. Pass has all the tools to be a great quarterback in this landscape, but he’s not fully developed yet by any means.
He’s not quite as fast as his predecessor but he has a thicker frame at 230 pounds, and he should still make impact plays with his legs. He’s got a more polished arm than Jackson did at this point of his collegiate career and that could be his winning factor.
If this year’s spring game is any indication, Pass will be close to the superstar persona that Jackson was identified with for his seasons in the Ville.
The redshirt sophomore was a star as he led his squad to a 42-13 victory, passing for 342 yards, throwing three touchdowns, and only one interception with a fumble lost as well. If Pass cleans up those errors and makes them minimal, Louisville might shock the entire ACC this year and make a run at the conference title.
Meet The Star: Dez Fitzpatrick
Dez Fitzpatrick had one of the greatest freshman seasons for a wide receiver last season with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. It is truly exciting to think of what he could do with Pass, who I project to have a better developmental arm than Jackson did.
Fitzpatrick is going to make a big leap no matter what this season and he’s an NFL-ready wide receiver. He’s one of the few players on the Louisville football team that I’m expecting to be a first or second round pick in next year’s NFL Draft, but that’s a long way away.
Dez should line up at the second or third receiver role to start the season but he could easily climb to the top receiver spot with some solid performances to start the year. He will be a dangerous pass catcher no matter where he lines up on the line of scrimmage.
In 2017, Fitzpatrick played in nine games, starting six, totaled 610 receiving yards, and seven receiving touchdowns on 39 receptions. Those numbers look to go up even higher this season, especially if he stays healthy the entire way through.
Meet The Star: Jonathan Greenard
My only defensive star, Jonathan Greenard possesses a unique skill set that certainly justifies him being enamored as a star. He is a disruptive pass-rusher who has been great throughout his career at Louisville.
The redshirt junior spends most of his time as a defensive end but has played some linebacker in a few defensive packages for the Cards. In his redshirt freshman season in 2016, Greenard made nine appearances, recording 22 tackles, seven coming for loss, two and a half sacks, along with his only career interception.
In 2017, Greenard became mainly active on the defensive line and improved on his numbers. He played in all 13 games, recording 48 tackles, 15.5 of which for loss, a dominant seven sacks, while forcing one fumble.
Greenard looks to be an impact presence on the defense in 2018 and is going to have to be a productive leader if the Cards want to think about the ACC championship for one second.
Offensive Roster In Review
The Louisville roster is deep at many positions but it’s particularly deep on the offensive side of the ball. They return most of their starters from last season including the entire offensive line, which will be a key point if the Cards want Jawon Pass to survive past the first week, but we will get to that later.
Mekhi Becton and Cole Bentley are sophomores that will shore up the left side. Becton is a future NFL left tackle and he was one of Pro Football Focus top graded freshmen in 2017. Redshirt sophomore Robbie Bell anchors the middle and will need to be a dominant center up front. Kenny Thomas and Lukayus McNeil are veterans that will need to be great on the right side of the offensive line.
Pass will have plenty of weapons to throw to including senior wide-out Jaylen Smith, junior Seth Dawkins, Fitzpatrick, and tight ends Kemari Averett and Micky Crum. The Louisville wide receiver depth is ridiculous as well, as the Cards have a star in the making in freshman Tutu Atwell Jr. He is an impact player who will find a way to be involved in the offense in 2018, whether as a running back or receiver.
Louisville has solid depth at running back as well, and redshirt sophomore Dae Williams shined in his late season return in 2017 after a torn ACL. I expect Williams to be the week one starter in the backfield, with sophomore Colin Wilson backing him up.
Defensive Roster in Review
The defense is inexperienced at some positions but should improve on last year’s atrocious defensive performance. Jonathan Greenard and safety Dee Smith captain this defense. Greenard leads the defensive line with Henry Famurewa and G.G. Robinson lining up in the middle, and Michael Boykin expected to line up opposite of Greenard. Dorian Etheridge is a tackling machine at outside linebacker and freshman Robert Hicks is a week one starter at middle linebacker.
Eligible transfers P.J. Mbanasor (Oklahoma) and Rodjay Burns (Ohio State) are the two main cornerbacks heading into the preseason. Russ Yeast is an athletic corner who will easily slide into that rotational third cornerback role.
Sophomore C.J. Avery is a beast at safety and he looks to help Smith anchor the back-end of this defense. Redshirt junior Khane Pass is a starting hybrid defender for the team. Louisville has one of the best special teams units in the entire country with redshirt junior punter Mason King and kicker Blanton Creque both being extremely talented at their respective positions.
Schedule Analysis/Predictions
The non-conference schedule will be tougher for Louisville in 2018. Since 2014, Bobby Petrino has scheduled a few teams out of conference that are truly competitive. The schedule jumps right out at the Cardinals this season. They will open the year with a Saturday night game against the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide in Orlando, Florida.
Alabama is extremely good every year and everyone knows that, but Tua Tagovailoa impressed the world with his title game performance and with him at quarterback, the Tide should be dangerous as ever. I don’t want to say this will be a blowout but I don’t think that Louisville can win this game based on what I’ve seen (which is basically not much because Jawon Pass hasn’t played much). I think Alabama will win this game much closer than most expected because Jawon Pass will be way better than most expect.
After the rigorous opening week game, Louisville’s schedule cools off with a home opener against Indiana State. This game should be an easy confidence booster for the entire team and I’d expect Louisville to handle the Sycamores in dominant fashion.
In the third game of the season, I’m going to give it my upset alert tag, as the Cardinals host an in-state foe in the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. The WKU football team has made four straight bowl games and is a strong program that should be competitive this season. They could shock Louisville if the Cards aren’t careful.
ACC Schedule Analysis/Predictions
Louisville’s ACC slate starts in the following weeks with a road game against Virginia and a home game against Florida State. I think Louisville will handle Virginia in a tight battle as well as Florida State. Next, Louisville hosts Georgia Tech in a Friday night game, and it will be close but Louisville will win. Louisville should win some more in the ensuing weeks with match-ups against Boston College, and Wake Forest.
Louisville’s schedule gets tougher in the following week as they head to Death Valley to take on Clemson. It will be a close one but Clemson will get the victory as Louisville falls to 7-2. In Louisville’s next game, they face the Syracuse Orange in the Carrier Dome. The Cards will keep rolling and snag a victory here.
And finally, Louisville will finish the season with two home victories against NC State and in-state rival Kentucky. They will surprise people while finishing with a stellar 10-2 record, including only one loss in ACC play.
I expect them to finish in second in the Atlantic Division and miss out on the conference championship game. However, expect Louisville to play in competitive bowl game and maybe a New Year’s Six bowl. Anything can happen and only time will tell if I’m even close to hitting on these predictions.
Final Record Prediction: 10-2, (7-1 ACC).
