What to watch for: Virginia Cavaliers

The attack has to be faster

This probably sounds like I’m blaming the offense for UofL’s last two losses, but that’s not the case. I just think the slow pace of the offense isn’t working as well as it’s intended. The offense dominated the game this year and the high scores led to them collecting points. However, I assume a faster team would allow them to make more plays while still scoring points and making big plays.

A faster pace of offense would include more quick throws and perimeter plays intended as an extension of the running game. We’ve seen how speed can put a strain on a defense, like other teams did in Louisville this year. It could also be helpful for short-yardage issues, as you can keep your personnel group on the field and prevent the defense from replacing their short-yardage package. In short, I just feel like it would give teams a new challenge on offense.

LOUISVILLE’S SIMPLIFIED DEFENSE MAY LOOK LIKE BROHM’S PURDUE DEFENSE

When Jeff Brohm was hired, my biggest concern was his defensive plan at Purdue. It was boring, for lack of a better term. It was a 4-2-5 system like we’ve seen since he arrived in Louisville, but the scheme lacked creativity. The two central defenders positioned themselves at the same depth and never carried out a blitz attack. The linemen occasionally ran a twist, but mostly only beat the passer with straight rushers. The secondary consisted primarily of man coverage on the outside, with the safeties performing largely in zone coverage.

Brohm and Ron English surprised me last season with a much more aggressive approach and there were some creative sub-packages and pressure packages that I really liked. But Brohm has made it clear that he owns the defensive system, and his comments at his weekly press conference make me think he may go back to what they did at Purdue.

The focus of Brohm’s comments on defense was on simplification, and he placed great emphasis on making a decision and sticking with it. This all sounds like what I saw watching Purdue’s defensive snaps for two years. The downside is that they didn’t have the time to implement a completely new system. But I assume these calls are available.

GIVE ME ALL THE CROSSROADS

UofL was able to exploit Georgia Tech’s defense a few weeks ago with crossing routes that either resulted in catches or affected the defense in a way that opened up other options. You should try to do the same this week. UVA is not a team that blitzes excessively, but they are aggressive enough that UofL could catch them in some man coverage appearances where Chris Bell or others can create a favorable matchup.

VIRGINIA WILL TEST THE OUTSIDE CORNERS

The Cards have one of the worst pass defenses in the country, ranking 90th in passer efficiency defense. They also allow opposing quarterbacks to complete 67% of their passes, which ranks 122nd nationally. Add to that the fact that they only have 4 PBUs per year and the pass defense story seems pretty obvious to me.

Well, it’s not as easy as it seems at first. Teams avoid UofL’s outside cornerbacks. For example, UVA’s top corner was targeted 40 times this year. All of UofL’s corners combined were targeted 42 times. Teams utilize UofL’s safeties and linebackers and consistently win these matchups.

I think that will change this week as Malachi Fields and Trell Harris are very good outside receivers. UVA will push the ball down the sideline and test the UofL corners even with Quincy Riley playing. They’ve done a very good job of shooting outside the numbers and that won’t change this week.

TONY ELLIOTT WILL NOT CALL DESIGNED RUNS FOR ANTHONY COLANDREA

Opposing offenses have been killing Louisville with targeted quarterback runs this season, but I don’t think Virginia will try to take advantage of that fact. Anthony Colandrea has good speed and is very dynamic when running the ball in his hands. But the UVA offense hasn’t used him much this year, and his quick running comes more from scrambling than designed runs.

I think this trend will continue because Colandrea is the king when it comes to “doing too much”. He wants to score on every play, and when he gets into the open field he doesn’t do a great job of sliding or taking what’s given and living to play someone else down. He will dive to gain more distance, try to avoid defenders and even try to overtake people. UVA has a good backup, but Colandrea doesn’t protect himself very well and I think the staff will continue to avoid using him.