Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. James Madison

Less than a week removed from taking care of business against Eastern Kentucky to kick-off their 2025 season, the Louisville football program has a short turnaround on the docket, with James Madison coming to L&N Stadium this upcoming Friday at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Here are some of the more notable points of emphasis heading into Friday's game:

Injury Report

It wouldn't be football without injuries, and for Louisville, they are already dealing with a few.

Tight end Nate Kurisky (hand) and offensive tackle Trevonte Sylvester (undisclosed) are both unlikely to play this Friday against James Madison. Neither player played in the season-opener vs. EKU.

Cornerback Rodney Johnson Jr. suffered an ankle injury midway through the third quarter vs. EKU, and did not return. However, head coach Jeff Brohm said this week that "Rodney will be back, for sure" for the JMU game.

Offensive lineman Victor Cutler and defensive end C.J. May also did not play this past weekend against Eastern Kentucky, but Brohm did not provide an update on either player.

As for James Madison, they have yet to deal with any injuries that will cost them games. The only concern was if QB Alonza Barnett II would be able to play early in the 2025 season after tearing his ACL late last year, but he was able to play vs. Weber State last weekend.

JMU Players to Watch: RB George Pettaway (Offense) and S Jacob Thomas (Defense)

Just because James Madison is Group of Five school, that doesn't mean that they don't have talent. In fact, they probably have more talent than a few ACC schools currently have.

On the offensive side of the ball, arguable JMU's top playmaker is running back George Pettaway. He spent the first two years of his career at North Carolina, then transferred to the Dukes ahead of the 2024 season.

That 2024 season was a breakout year for him, nearly cracking the 1,000-yard mark. He rushed for 980 yards and five touchdowns, while also catching 24 passes for 200 yards and a pair of scores. In James Madison's season-opener vs. Weber State, despite not starting, he ran for 99 yards on 10 carries.

Over on defense, JMU has a star at each level. Defensive tackle Immanuel Bush is a force to be reckoned with on the D-line, while linebacker Trent Hendrick is the captain of the defense. That being said, arguably their best defensive player is safety Jacob Thomas.

Like Hendrick, he's spent his entire four-year career with the Dukes, and is coming off of a career-year. Last season, he collected 72 tackles - the most among returners - including eight for loss, three interceptions and three pass backups. Against Weber State, he was one of three players with an interception.

Matchup to Watch: JMU QB Alonza Barnett III vs. UofL's Secondary

Louisville's secondary was arguably the biggest question mark heading into the 2025 season. While Eastern Kentucky wasn't exactly the most prolific passing attack they'll face all season, they passed the first test.

EKU QB Myles Burkett finished the game completing just five of his 14 passing attempts, throwing for only 76 yards. Part of this was because the defensive line was doing such a good job of keeping Burkett off schedule, but the first-team and second-team secondary didn't have any massive coverage busts or communications issues.

This week, QB Alonza Barnett III will be a much tougher challenge. Prior to suffering a late-season ACL injury last year, Barnett completed 60.0 percent of his passes for 2,598 yards and 26 touchdowns to only four interceptions. His touchdown mark was good 18th in the FBS, while his QB Rating of 143.39 was 40th. He also ran for 442 yards and seven touchdowns

There were doubts that he could be ready to start the season because of the injury, but he was able to earn the start against Weber State. He understandably wasn't asked to do too much, going 14-of-22 for 130 yards and touchdown. Still, Barnett is talented enough to make Louisville pay for mistakes.

Louisville Trend to Monitor: Penalties and Other Mistakes

Speaking of mistakes, that has been a massive point of emphasis for Louisville during their week of practice. While they took down EKU in blowout fashion, they didn't exactly play a super clean brand of football in the process.

Louisville was hit with a whopping 12 penalties, although they 13 committed since one was offset by an EKU penalty on the same play. Seven of these penalties were a form of holding, while five of them came on special teams alone.

"It's disappointing to have that many penalties, but to have them in that type of game is good for us," Jeff Brohm said. "Quite a few of them are correctable and things we can fix. Probably over half of them are with new players that have on the team that we’ve just got to teach what is a hold and what’s not. ... Fixing the holding calls will be crucial. We had a face mask on special teams, we had something on the sideline. Those things can’t happen as well."

Also, Louisville turned the ball over three times against EKU. Two of them were mildly fluky, but still, they can ill-afford to turn the ball over at this rate - especially against JMU. Thanks in part to Barnett's ability to protect the ball and the defense' ability to take it away, the Dukes had the No. 1 turnover margin in the FBS last season at plus-1.54 per game.

"Then we just had three turnovers that, when you’re in a good tight game and you lose the turnover battle 3-0, you’re probably not going to win the game," Brohm said. "Those things need to be addressed and worked on this week, and I think that’s good."

James Madison Trend to Monitor: An Early Stout Rushing Attack

As good as Barnett is, the passing attack is actually not the focal point of JMU's offense. It's actually the ground game, and it's off to an electric start.

We already know how good Pettaway is, but he's far from the only good running back on the roster. Ayo Adeyi also transferred in ahead of the 2024 season, but only played two games due to a lower body injury. Coming in from North Texas, Adeyi ran for 1,017 yards and six touchdowns, while catching seven passes for 52 yards.

Additionally, Wayne Knight is someone to watch out for as well. Following a standout fall camp, he was rewarded with the start against Weber State. While Pettaway was the leading rusher that game, Knight still collected 89 yards and a touchdown.

In fact, by the end of JMU's 45-10 victory over Weber State, they had rushed for an astounding 313 yards and four touchdowns on the afternoon. Louisville's defensive line and front seven overall did a good job against the run vs. EKU, holding them to 74 yards on the ground, but this will be a much more stoutIt test.