Aftermath: Cards Impeach The Governors

On a steamy Saturday afternoon in the Ville, UofL football took the field for the first time in the 2024 season. The opponent was Austin Peay, a team starting a new era under an entirely new coaching staff. Louisville was in a new era as well, the Tyler Shough era. The 6’5 gunslinger joins the Cards after spending parts of 6 years with Oregon and Texas Tech. A plethora of new weapons surround Shough as well, along with a retooled offensive line. The defense has its share of newcomers, but it returns most of the talent from an excellent 2023 defense.

The game wasn’t expected to be all that competitive. Instead, it was a chance to see the newcomers on both sides of the ball against live fire from a team not named Louisville. It was a chance for the vets to sharpen their already impressive skills. The likely opportunity to get second and third teamers meaningful reps held the greatest importance for the team heading into the rest of a long season, as it holds the promise of building quality depth.

The only unknown was whether the Cards would have their energy up and focus locked in against such an inferior opponent. What was unknown quickly became known. The Cards were locked and loaded. It started with a dazzling display of Tyler Shough’s passing ability. He led the Cards on the opening drive of the game deep into Austin Peay territory. However, the Governors were able to muscle up and keep the Cards out of the end zone, holding them to a field goal. It would be about the only time their defense could do so.

Afterwards, the Cards flew all over the field. Tyler Shough made it look like he was playing on the junior varsity level of College Football 25. In just 2 quarters of action, he threw for 232 yards and 4 touchdowns. 2 touchdowns were thrown to second-year Card Jadon Thompson. One was a 33-yard strike and the other a simple 5-yard pitch-and-catch. The other 2 were to new TE Mark Redman and Alabama transfer WR Ja’Corey Brooks. Shough threw a beautiful jump ball to Brooks which Brooks easily went over a defender for. The Redman strike was from 21 yards out. It was a pinpoint accurate throw over a defender. Redman showed excellent concentration as he made the over-the-shoulder grab and was able to get his left foot down in bounds.

While the air attack was lethal, the ground game rolled over the Governors like a group of tanks. The rushing attack was led by a 3-headed monster of freshmen. Isaac Brown dazzled in his debut and showed people why he’s a preseason freshman All-American pick by ESPN. He sprinted for 123 yards on the ground, including a 77-yard sprint to the end zone for a touchdown. Isaac only had 5 carries and averaged a ridiculous 24.6 yards per carry.

A workman-like performance was put in by redshirt freshman Keyjuan Brown. He carried the football 9 times for a punishing 69 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 7.2 yards per carry which is incredible under normal circumstances. Keyjuan was like a high-speed battering ram that caved in an already overwhelmed Governors defense.

The third freshman back was Duke Watson who put on a show of his own. He was the second-leading rusher for the Cards. Watson sliced through the Governors for 86 yards on the ground and a 7-yard touchdown. He had a whopping 58-yard scamper with just over two minutes left in the 4th quarter, but the Cards showed mercy to the Governors and didn’t punch the ball in the end zone. Watson only had 6 carries and averaged 14.3 yards per carry.

Louisville’s offense racked up 571 yards of total offense and over 9 yards a play. It was a balanced attack with yards nearly equally distributed between their rushing and passing attack. UofL ran for 293 yards and passed for 278 yards. The Cards were truly flying all over the field and dropping points on the Govs heads.

Defensively, the Red Swarm crushed the Govs beneath the weight of their might, leaving ruin in their wake. Ashton Gillotte did nothing to quiet his preseason hype, leading the team with 4 total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Transfer Tamarion McDonald had an impressive Cardinal debut, with 3 tackles and two sacks. Tramel Logan also announced his presence on Louisville’s roster with authority by accounting for 2 sacks and a forced fumble. Redshirt freshman TJ Capers, who was a 5 Star recruit out of high school, had the lone interception of the game and returned it 29 yards.

The Louisville defense was stifling. It was a true team effort with the leading tackler only having 4 tackles. They held Austin Peay to a paltry 106 yards of total offense. The Governors averaged only 3 yards per pass and 1 yard a carry. Austin Peay played like Austin Peay Pee.

For a game where it was obvious UofL was better, they acted like it. There wasn’t any letup from the first stringers to the third stringers. Everyone played with energy and fire, a fire that engulfed the Govs and burned them down. I always say it’s murking season in the Ville, and on Saturday, it was a murking of epic proportions.

Next up, the Cards host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. While Jacksonville State was expected to be a step up from Austin Peay, they got destroyed by an inferior team in their opener. Next weekend, it’s likely going to be another murking of epic proportions as long as UofL comes out as focused and prepared as they did this week.