UofL Defense Hopes to Continue Development; Faces Big Challenge Versus NC State
October 19, 2016 | Football
NC State is one of the top rushing offenses in the ACC.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the most consistent units in the country the last three years has been the University of Louisville defense.
Under the direction of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the Cardinals have been one of only four teams, along with Wisconsin, Florida and Alabama to finish in the top 20 nationally of total defense.
The 2016 season has been no different, as the Cards enter Saturday's crucial ACC contest versus NC State at 11th nationally, and are coming off one of their best performances in the 24-14 win over Duke
"When you look at it, if we give up 239 and 14 points the rest of the year, I'll be happy.," Grantham said. "We did a really good job at stopping the run on first down. If you go back and look, they were behind the sticks, and that's an important down. I think they ran the ball 39 times for under 2.8 yards per carry."
 "So I mean if we are holding people to numbers like that, and then work to get off the field on a couple of third downs, we will be fine. So we just have to keep plugging along."
Junior James Hearns, one of the leaders of the defense with 4.5 sacks, likes where defense is heading into Saturday's game versus NC State.
"I think we are feeling pretty good," Hearns said. Â "It's just a thing, (we've been holding our own), but like you said, we have a number one offense, a top rated defense, and that's what it's about. It's about us feeding them the ball, and not letting anyone else score, so the margin of scoring is way better. So it's just about us playing off of each other, and that's what we like to do."
The Cardinals will need a big effort this weekend – facing off against one of the better rushing teams in the league, with running back Matt Dayes pacing the Wolfpack attack.
"I think NC State has done a good job over the last couple of years at getting better," Hearns said. "When you really look at the guys they have this year, it's pretty much the same guys we've played against the last two years, so I think it's just that they've come together, and have a really good team."
After watching NC State take one of the nation's top team in the nation to overtime, Hearns knows the Cards must be on top of their game.
Hearns added, "As you see last week with what they did, they are not a team to be messed with. They have talent and they have good coaching, so this week we just focused on really being physical, setting edges, and really just playing to our techniques."
The Cardinals hope they can get their offense going again after being held to 24 points last week versus Duke, but sophomore cornerback Jaire Alexander also wants to see a fast start out of the defense, which faces a huge challenge.
"We are feeling good. We only held Duke to 14 points, and that was really good for us. You just have to start out fast. At the beginning of the game, we have to start out really fast, and we have to keep it on them, just like we do in the third and fourth quarter, we have to do that the whole game."
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Under the direction of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, the Cardinals have been one of only four teams, along with Wisconsin, Florida and Alabama to finish in the top 20 nationally of total defense.
The 2016 season has been no different, as the Cards enter Saturday's crucial ACC contest versus NC State at 11th nationally, and are coming off one of their best performances in the 24-14 win over Duke
"When you look at it, if we give up 239 and 14 points the rest of the year, I'll be happy.," Grantham said. "We did a really good job at stopping the run on first down. If you go back and look, they were behind the sticks, and that's an important down. I think they ran the ball 39 times for under 2.8 yards per carry."
 "So I mean if we are holding people to numbers like that, and then work to get off the field on a couple of third downs, we will be fine. So we just have to keep plugging along."
Junior James Hearns, one of the leaders of the defense with 4.5 sacks, likes where defense is heading into Saturday's game versus NC State.
"I think we are feeling pretty good," Hearns said. Â "It's just a thing, (we've been holding our own), but like you said, we have a number one offense, a top rated defense, and that's what it's about. It's about us feeding them the ball, and not letting anyone else score, so the margin of scoring is way better. So it's just about us playing off of each other, and that's what we like to do."
The Cardinals will need a big effort this weekend – facing off against one of the better rushing teams in the league, with running back Matt Dayes pacing the Wolfpack attack.
"I think NC State has done a good job over the last couple of years at getting better," Hearns said. "When you really look at the guys they have this year, it's pretty much the same guys we've played against the last two years, so I think it's just that they've come together, and have a really good team."
After watching NC State take one of the nation's top team in the nation to overtime, Hearns knows the Cards must be on top of their game.
Hearns added, "As you see last week with what they did, they are not a team to be messed with. They have talent and they have good coaching, so this week we just focused on really being physical, setting edges, and really just playing to our techniques."
The Cardinals hope they can get their offense going again after being held to 24 points last week versus Duke, but sophomore cornerback Jaire Alexander also wants to see a fast start out of the defense, which faces a huge challenge.
"We are feeling good. We only held Duke to 14 points, and that was really good for us. You just have to start out fast. At the beginning of the game, we have to start out really fast, and we have to keep it on them, just like we do in the third and fourth quarter, we have to do that the whole game."
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