2025 Louisville Football Preview: Quarterbacks

Your final position breakdown of the 2025 Louisville football team covers the quarterback spot.

In case you missed it, you can read our other position breakdowns at CSZ with links below.

• Special Teams (Released July 21st: link)
• Offensive Line (Released July 28th: link)
• Defensive Line (Released August 4th: link)
• Secondary (CB / S) (Released August 11th: link)
• Linebackers (Released August 15th: link)
• Receivers (WR / TE) (Released August 18th: link)
• Running Backs (Released August 22nd: link)

Last Year’s Results

2024 was an outstanding year for Louisville’s passing attack. The Cardinals averaged 264.1 passing yards per game (26th-best in the FBS), netting eight yards per attempt and throwing 26 touchdowns with just six interceptions.

Leading the charge was Tyler Shough, who played all 12 regular season games and had a solid campaign. He completed 62.7% of his passes for 3,195 yards and 23 touchdowns with six interceptions, and also had four 300+ yard passing games, including a season-high of 349 against Jacksonville State. Shough would go on to be selected in the second round (40th overall) by the New Orleans Saints, the highest selection in the NFL Draft for a Cardinal since Mekhi Becton went 11th overall to the New York Jets in 2020.

After Shough opted out of the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Combine and the draft, backup Harrison Bailey stepped in and had an efficient outing in the Sun Bowl. Bailey completed 16-of-25 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns in Louisville’s 35-34 win over Washington.

Overall, Louisville’s offense ended up being one of the best in the country last season. Louisville averaged 449.2 yards per game (13th-best in the FBS), and was the only FBS school to score at least 24 points in every game last season.

Position Breakdown: Quarterback

Louisville dipped into the transfer portal for the third straight season to find a starting quarterback, and ended up landing Miller Moss from USC to lead the Cardinals in 2025.

Moss will be a familiar name for many Louisville fans; he threw for 372 yards and six touchdowns against the Cardinals in the 2023 Holiday Bowl, leading the Trojans to a win. He parlayed that into a season-opening upset of LSU in Las Vegas, where he threw for 378 yards and a touchdown.

From there, things unraveled for USC. After another win over Utah State, the Trojans lost five of their next seven games, all coming by one possession. Moss completed 64.4% of his passes for 2,555 yards and 18 touchdowns with nine interceptions, but was benched after a loss to Washington where he threw three picks. USC would go on to win three of its final four games with Jayden Maiava as the starter, including a bowl victory over Texas A&M.

Despite being benched, I don’t think it’s necessarily an indictment of Moss as a player. USC had to take a risk and try to get bowl eligibility to cool off Lincoln Riley’s hot seat. Also, being the guy that had to follow up Caleb Williams carried a lot of expectations that were hard to fulfill. Moss comes to Louisville with a second chance at trying to make himself an NFL-caliber quarterback.

So, what should Louisville expect with Miller Moss? While he’s not as physically big as his predecessors in the Brohm era (Jack Plummer and Tyler Shough are both listed at 6’5″), Moss does have great intangibles as a quarterback. He’s a proven leader and has extensive experience in a pro-style offense, which was shown throughout the spring game. Where you’ll see Moss excel is in three areas: his fast throwing motion, his ability to hit short-to-intermediate throws, and his play-action game.

When I watched some USC games on film, there were some similarities I think the staff will pull from to help Moss reach his full potential. He showed great chemistry with Ja’Kobi Lane on red zone throws and being able to place the ball in tight windows, I think he can do the same thing with Chris Bell, and guys like Caullin Lacy can also thrive in designed plays (similar to USC’s Zachariah Branch).

Jeff Brohm has repeatedly shown in his coaching career that he will tailor his offense to his personnel. Given that Louisville has an immensely talented running back room and a good offensive line, they could utilize their running game more throughout the season and allow Moss to thrive off play-action scenarios, also making use of his quick passing acumen. The key for Moss having a successful 2025 season will be avoiding turnovers that plagued him last season, as well as being able to maximize his opportunities to push the ball downfield.

Louisville also saw Harrison Bailey (Florida) and Pierce Clarkson (UCLA) enter the transfer portal in the offseason, leaving the backup quarterback spot in a battle between Brady Allen and Deuce Adams. Both guys will likely compete for the backup spot now and throughout the season, and possibly the starting job in 2026.

Allen has prototypical quarterback size at 6’6″, 220 lbs. and was a four-star prospect out of high school. He had a pretty solid outing in the spring game, but will need to show more consistency to separate himself from Adams in the battle for the backup spot. Adams is a redshirt freshman from Austin, TX, and while he’s probably QB3 for now, there’s a chance he could see the field as a “wild card” quarterback with his mobility, like Evan Conley in 2023.

Projected Starter: Miller Moss

Key Reserves: Brady Allen and Deuce Adams