Defense Looks Build Off Performance at Notre Dame

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville defense has shown gradual improvements at different times this season.
While the team has dropped four games in a row, the defense has held its own, but still has a ways to go to be a consistent defense.

Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown, who put together top 25 defenses at Appalachian State, is still searching that same consistency each week at Louisville.

Saturday, against No, 4 Notre Dame, it looked like the Cardinals found something to build off of after stifling the Fighting Irish. They limited a Notre Dame offense that was scoring 40 points a game to 12 points and just 338 total yards, more than 100 yards under its average.
In that crushing defeat, Louisville sack Ian Book four times and used some corner blitzes to disguise coverage and give the senior a few different looks.

While the performance was encouraging, Brown isn't doesn't thing the defense has arrived. It was definitely something to build off of, but at the end of the day it was another defeat.

"All week, guys have been motivated and more locked in than I've ever seen before," sophomore Kei'Trel Clark said. "It's bringing a type of swagger to ourselves, too. Not being cocky because we still lost, there's no moral victories, but at the end of this day we know what this defense is capable of and there's a lot of motivation going into this game."

Louisville's defense bent but didn't break in the 12-7 loss to Notre Dame. The Cardinals gave up over 200 yards on the ground, but did a good job against one of the nation's top quarterbacks.

While the Cardinals limited big plays, they still left a lot of plays on the field. The Cardinals were in position to make a play, but couldn't come up with the football.

"That's been our nemesis and we are trying our best to work on that each and every day. The guys are responding, they are excited and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Brown said.

Third down was a problem in the loss to the Irish, allowing Notre Dame to convert 8-of-14 on third down. The Cardinals are allowing teams retain possession of the football, as teams to convert third downs at a 47.1% this season. Notre Dame's ability to hold the ball and extend drives, limited Louisville's offensive possessions. The Cardinals ran just 45 plays and totaled 219 yards.

Forcing turnovers continues to be the focus for the Cardinals heading into Saturday's game versus Florida State. They forced Notre Dame into a couple of risky throws, but the Cardinals failed to get a much-needed turnover.

This is an area that Louisville has been working to improve in all season. The Cardinals have forced just three turnovers this season with two coming in the 23-20 loss to Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals have spent a great deal of their practices emphasizing getting to the ball and trying to force turnovers .

"You get what you emphasize in a way," Brown said. "We emphasized tackling last week and we had our lowest missed tackle total of the season."

Clark knows the coaching staff has been focusing hard on turnovers because those opportunities can be the difference in a win or a loss.

"Coach Brown preaches 'Get the ball. Get the ball,' " Clark said. "Even in scout period because those opportunities just don't come about like that. … All week we are enforcing getting the ball out, punching the ball out. Turnovers are a thing we are going to have to do to put us in a good position to take this one home."

Clark, who has five pass breakups this season, said he's seen the number of turnovers go up this week in practice. Even defensive linemen are getting interceptions.

"I can tell we are being more aggressive," Clark said. "We have had a lot of interceptions in the air. We are pretty confident with getting that ball. It all starts in practice."

Florida State brings another challenge for Louisville.

Quarterback Jordan Travis is a dual-threat quarterback who has helped ignite the offense over the last two weeks, which included a win over No. 5 North Carolina.

Travis, who was a quarterback at Louisville his freshman year in 2018 before transferring to Florida State, is the Seminoles' leading passer and rusher with 342 rushing yards and 617 passing yards.

"His arm is really strong. It's a flick of the wrist but he can throw it for 40 or 50 yards off his back foot," Brown said. "He does a good job in the run game as well as in the drop back passing game. If something isn't there, he's able to step through the B gap or C gap on the edge and take it the distance if need-be. He's a hard guy to bring down and is a very cerebral kid that understands coverages."

He can turn the ball over, though. He threw one interception against the Tar Heels and has three interceptions so far this season. Louisville has a chance to force him into some turnover-worthy throws.

"We have to win the turnover margin, for sure," Brown said.

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