Louisville's Defense Has Strong End to Fall Camp

Heading into the upcoming 2025 season, the Louisville football program will undoubtedly be primarily carried by their offense.

Isaac Brown and Duke Watson are one of the best running back duos in the sport, and Chris Bell and Caullin Lacy are a premier wide receiver tandem. Transfer QB Miller Moss has shown some great things in fall camp, and he'll be behind a much better offensive line than he had at USC.

Conversely, the defense is what carries a whole lot of questions after an underwhelming 2024 campaign. Despite five defenders taking home All-ACC honors, the Cardinals still allowed 368.7 yards and 24.1 points per games, which ranked 64th and 56th, respectively, in the FBS.

That being said, that side of the ball wound up looking much better in the open practices of fall camp than expected. In fact, in the final week of UofL's preseason, which was closed to the public, it was the defense who looked much better than their offensive counterparts. While the offense won the first scrimmage, the defense won the second and third ones.

"I think we really made some strides here lately, especially on defense," head coach Jeff Brohm said following the third and final scrimmage of camp. "The last few days of practice has been our best days on defense. Really building on that, making sure we're sharp on that side of the ball has been an emphasis, and I think that we've made strides. I think people are understanding what we're doing, and we got to continue to push forward."

The area of the defense that Brohm has been highest on during their three closed scrimmages, and fall camp as a whole, has been the defensive line. Guys like Clev Lubin, Wesley Bailey, Adonijah Green, Jordan Guerad and Denzel Lowry were putting together fantastic showings in fall camp, and they seem to have carried that momentum into scrimmage settings.

"I don't want to give them too much good compliments, but yeah, I think they've done a good job," Brohm said. "I expect them to play well. I think we have enough playmakers there to get after the quarterback, to create sacks, to create pressure. Being physical and stopping the run game is going to be critical. That just needs to show up game day.

"I'll believe it when I see it during the game, but I definitely think we have the pieces. They've worked hard, they understand what's ahead of us, and we just got to be more physical the line of scrimmage on the other team."

But in terms of the position group that has made the most progress since the beginning of the offseason, that undoubtedly goes to the secondary. Last season, Louisville ranked 100th in passing defense, and lost the majority of the corners and safeties the graduation, the portal and the NFL.

However, this year's secondary seems determined for a bounce back. Corners Rodney Johnson Jr. and Jabari Mack have had excellent fall camps, as have safeties JoJo Evans and D'Angelo Hutchinson. Put it all together, and the back end really started to gel together in the final week of fall camp.

"That, we've definitely seen progress, and that has to show up in the games," Brohm said of the secondary's ability to limit big plays. "Last year, plenty of good things, but too many wide open touchdowns in the passing game, and that can't happen.

"At least, at this point, we've given up a few things vs. press coverage over our head - which we can't do that as well - but at least it's been contested. We've had a bust or two in coverage, and it's given up an open a touchdown, and that can't happen. Those are just the subtle things that we cannot have happen, and we got to make the other team earn it. If we do that, I think we'll have a good chance."

Then you add in the inside linebacker duo Stanquan Clark and T.J. Quinn, which anchors one of the better linebacking corps in the ACC, and it's no surprise that the defense has finally began to turn a corner. Some could interpret that as the offense not being as prolific or efficient as many expect them to be, but regardless, seeing the defense hold their own and even close out fall camp on a high note is a great development from a competition standpoint.

"I think that's what you see with good teams, right?," quarterback Miller Moss said. "Some days the offense is going to going to have the upper hand, and sometimes the defense is going to have the upper hand. I think that's a really healthy competitive environment to have within fall camp."

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