What to Watch For During Louisville's 2024 Spring Game (2024)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville football is back. Well, sort of.

The spring practice for the Cardinals is nearly in the books, and it will conclude with its annual Spring Football Game at L&N Stadium. Kickoff is set for Friday, Apr. 19 at 7:00 p.m. EST, with admission and parking free of charge.

Ahead of the spring game, here are some things to watch out for as Louisville wraps up spring ball:

A glance at who could be in line to earn a bigger role on the team.

At this point in time, we have a very good idea of what the majority of Louisville's first team unit is going to be. Guys like Ashton Gillotte, Quincy Riley, Tyler Shough, etc. are no brainers to be starting when the Cardinal host Austin Peay on Aug. 31 to kick off their 2024 season.

That being said, a lot of these pencilled in first-teamers are not going to get extensive run on Friday night - if at all. After all, the staff already knows what they can do, so there's no need to give them a lot of reps in the spring game.

Additionally, injuries are bound to happen in football, and Louisville is no exception. Expected heavy contributors for next season like Ja'Corey Brooks, Tyler Baron and Blake Ruffin have missed time this spring, so don't expect them to suit up.

Put it all together, and we should get a behind-the-scenes look at who has made the most progress during spring in the coaches' eyes based on how early and how often they play in the spring game. For example, in the last open practice, Micah Carter, D'Angelo Hutchinson and T.J. Capers got some of the first first-team reps of the afternoon.

"I think we've made really good progress," Brohm said last weekend. "Without question, today with a lot of team action, live tackling. I thought for the most part, I saw some good signs. Certain guys are stepping up and making plays, and other guys are right there on the edge of getting it done but not quite ready yet. It's a good thing that those things happen, so you can learn from it, improve and get better.

"I think we got capable players that work really hard. We're building depth. A little banged up in certain spots, but I would hope all we're ready for fall camp. A lot of newcomers have done well and improved, and a lot of guys that have been here for two years have really shown improvement and promise. We just got to keep pushing forward."

The chemistry between Tyler Shough and his various weapons in the passing game.

It's not exactly a surprise by now to say that, while Louisville's passing attack did have some good moments in 2023, it wasn't what many expected it to be. Between the up-and-down tendencies of quarterback Jack Plummer and the lack of a consistant passing threat outside of Jamari Thrash, the Cardinals averaged just 236,6 passing yards per game - the lowest in Jeff Brohm's tenure as a head coach.

Not long after the season ended, priority No. 1 for Brohm and Co. was to get a quarterback that could more efficiently run his offense. They wound up landing Tyler Shough out of the portal, as up to this point, the former Texas Tech and Oregon signal caller has been everything they wanted.

"I like him a lot, " wide receivers coach Garrick McGee said. "He's a natural leader. It's like he doesn't have to try to lead, the way he goes about his business. I like the way that he communicates with the guys around him. He's going to push them, but at the same time he accepts the responsibility. I think he's an advantage."

On top of that, Louisville got to work adding and retaining/developing talent for Shough to work with. The brought in receivers like Brooks and Caullin Lacy through the portal, as well as a trio of impact transfers at tight end. Returners like WR Chris Bell and TE Jamari Johnson have also taken noticeable steps forward.

Brohm believes that Louisville still has some time to get to where they want to be, but he also believes that his current group more so closely resembles what he wants to accomplish on offense.

"I think we've made strides," Brohm said. "There's a whole lot of people getting repetitions. We haven't been able to get in a super great flow, but I think Tyler has done a really good job. ... Being able to develop the ability to throw the ball vertically, to have a potent passing attack, is something we just got to continue to press forward. That means receivers got to step up, quarterbacks got to be accurate, and tight ends got to own the middle of field. We still have a ways to go there, but there's progress. I'd like go a little bit faster with it, but we are making slight progress.

What a Peny Boone-less rushing attack looks like.

During the first transfer portal window in this cycle, Louisville landed a massive pickup in Peny Boone. The former Toledo running back was tabbed as the 2023 MAC Offensive Player of the Year, rushing for 1,400 yards - eighth-most in the FBS - and 15 touchdowns.

Of course, we'll never get to see what Boone looks like in a Louisville uniform. On the first day of the transfer portal window, it was reported that Boone would be re-entering the portal.

There's no getting around the fact that losing a playmaker like Boone is a big blow to Louisville's offense. However, the Cardinals still have plenty of options at running back.

Donald Chaney came over from Miami and has impressed the coaching staff with his on-field abilities and work ethic. Maurice Turner is continuing to take step forward. Isaac Brown is a true freshman whose speed has turned heads in practice. Even Keyjuan Brown seems to have improved.

"I think from a personnel standpoint, I like our depth," running backs coach Chris Barclay said. "We're working to address a few more things from an offensive standpoint, but I think from a depth standpoint, I think we're about where we want to be. It's just a matter of guys continuing to get reps, and grow more comfortable in the schemes and in the system."

The depth and talent at the cornerback position.

This time last season, Louisville's defense had plenty of question marks, ranging from depth at various positions to the transition to a 4-2-5 scheme. Now, when one looks at this defense, it's hard to find a unit that have a super talented two-deep.

Arguably, Louisville's best position on the defense - and maybe even their entire team - is cornerback. Riley is obviously a known commodity, but their three transfers here - Illinois' Tahveon Nicholson, UCF's Corey Thornton and UNC's Tayon Holloway - have drawn rave review.

"I like all three (transfer) corners," co-defensive coordinator Ron English said. "Those dudes are real dudes. ... Those guys can play now. They're dudes. Them dudes are dudes."

Another name to watch for at this position is Aaron Williams. After being forced to miss his true freshman campaign due to a torn ACL, he has looked phenomenal in his first true spring ball.

"He's a competitor," cornerbacks coach Steve Ellis said. "He plays with an edge, he plays with chip on his shoulder. That's what you saw on high school tape, and he's getting back to that. Been very pleased with him. Again, he got a long way to go, but through seven practices, I'm very encouraged with Aaron Williams.

Some potential new wrinkles in the defensive scheme.

There's no denying that, last season, Louisville's defense was much farther along than their offense was. After all, the Cardinals had the No. 1 red zone defense, the No. 9 rushing defense, the No. 10 third down defense and the No. 21 total defense.

That being said, their defensive efforts did start to slip towards the end of the season. Three of Louisville's worst games in terms of total yards allowed came in the final six games of the season, which played a role in the Cardinals ended the year on a three-game losing streak.

Because of that, the defensive staff has been toying around with some potential new lineups and coverages during spring fall.

"We didn't finish like we started," co-defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Mark Hagen said. "We need to finish better, but we also need to have some new wrinkles in what we do. People are studying us right now in the offseason, so we just can't line up.

"Even though I think we have a package that very wide and versatile, and our defense does a good job of learning, we've got to come up with some wrinkles in this entire defense, so that's what Ron (English)'s kind of in the process of doing, and we're doing as an entire defensive staff."

For instance, during one open practice, there was a rep where STARs Benjamin Perry and Antonio Watts lined up at inside linebacker, and they had three corners and three safeties lined up behind them.

"We study other top teams in the college level, NFL level and even maybe some other type of teams that get more out of what they have," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We've just added a few things to the package, and it's looking good."

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Matt Stone - The Courier Journal / USA)