Kentucky football: Five things to know about the Louisville Cardinals
Five quick things about Kentucky’s Saturday opponent for the Governor’s Cup, the Louisville Cardinals:
1. Louisville is winning with defense
For all the well-deserved credit Jeff Brohm has received for Louisville’s 10-1 season and spot in next Saturday’s ACC championship game, the Cardinals are winning with defense. Louisville ranks 21st nationally in total defense at 317.0 yards per game. The Cardinals are 17th in scoring defense at 18.4 points per game. They are 13th in rushing defense at 98.0 yards per game and 28th in pass efficiency defense with a 120.95 rating.
Ron English is in his second go-round as Louisville’s defensive coordinator. The 55-year-old English called the defensive signals for U of L in 2008. He left to become head coach at Eastern Michigan, where he was 11-46 over five seasons. After stints at San Jose State, Mississippi State and Florida, he was hired by Brohm at Purdue in 2021, then followed Brohm to Louisville this season.
One more thing: Louisville is 11th nationally in third down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 29.45 percent of the time.
2. The Cardinals are battling injuries
Two of Louisville’s top weapons have been battling injuries, of late. Running back Jawhar Jordan has been bothered by a hamstring injury. Wide-out Jamari Thrash has been playing with an injured left hand.
Entering Louisville’s 38-31 win at Miami last week, Jordan was leading the ACC in average yards per carry at 6.9. He enters the Kentucky game 25th nationally in rushing yards per game at 91.73. He’s carried the football 150 times for 1,009 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Thrash has caught 50 passes for 741 yards and six touchdowns. The Georgia State transfer is averaging 14.82 yards per catch. When healthy, he’s excellent with the ball in his hands.
3. The Cardinals are fast starters
Before the Miami game, U of L had outscored its 10 opponents 76-7 in the first quarter. It led Georgia Tech 6-0; Murray State 7-0; Indiana 7-0; Boston College 14-0; Notre Dame 7-0; Duke 14-0; Virginia Tech 7-0; and Virginia 7-0. It was tied 14-14 with Miami at the end of the first quarter.
Overall, Louisville ranks 27th nationally in scoring offense at 33.2 points per game. Brohm’s offense is 22nd in total offense at 441.8 yards per game. The Cards are balanced, averaging 185.6 rushing yards per game and 256.3 passing.
4. One Louisville tight end should be familiar to UK fans
Before the Miami game, Louisville’s tight ends had caught 16 passes in 10 games. Against the Hurricanes, U of L’s tight ends caught nine balls — Nate Kurisky had five receptions for 50 yards and a score; Joey Gatewood caught three passes for 51 yards and Josh Lifson caught one pass for 11 yards.
If Gatewood’s name rings a bell, it should. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder from Jacksonville played quarterback at Kentucky for one season. Gatewood began his college career at Auburn, where he played two seasons for Gus Malzahn before transferring to UK in 2020. He even started UK’s 14-3 loss to Georgia that season.
He reunited with Malzahn at UCF in 2021 before transferring to U of L this season. Converted to tight end, Gatewood has seven receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns on the season.
5. Critics knock Louisville’s strength of schedule
Despite the Cardinals’ 10-1 overall record, 7-1 mark in the ACC and rankings of 10th by the College Football Playoff committee and ninth by the AP, critics claim the Cards have benefited from a soft schedule.
U of L is 2-0 against ranked teams this season. It beat then No. 10 Notre Dame 33-20 at home on Oct. 7. Three weeks later, it beat No. 20 Duke 23-0 at L&N Stadium in Louisville.
Jeff Sagarin’s computer ranks Louisville’s schedule the 64th toughest out of the 133 Division I schools. Kentucky’s schedule is ranked 51st by Sagarin, who ranks the SEC East as the fifth-best conference with the ACC as the sixth-best.
Louisville will be the fifth team that was ranked in the Top 25 at the time it faced Kentucky. UK is 1-3 against the previous four. Its lone win was 33-14 over then No. 22 Florida on Sept. 30 in Lexington.
This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 9:45 AM.
