Barclay Excited for Future of the Running Game
October 03, 2024 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville football team determined to get back to its winning ways heading into their matchup against SMU this upcoming weekend.
One person confident that the Cards will rebound is UofL running back coach Chris Barclay. The second-year coach is looking forward to see the running game continue to improve.
"We have full faith in our offensive line to get it blocked up and we'll scheme things that might open opportunities for us," Barclay said.
With Maurice Turner's injury sidelining him for the next few weeks, Barclay called it a "next man up mentality" as he believes "multiple guys need to play and there's not one back that does it all anymore."
The Cardinals are prepared for SMU's defense as they have been extremely optimistic this season, leading the country in turnovers gained through the first five weeks of the season.
"I think they're very sound on first and second down; they don't give up a lot of big plays throughout that," head coach Jeff Brohm said. On third down, they get very exotic, and they come after the quarterback. They affect the quarterback, so they made him get turnovers in those situations. They do some things that other teams aren"'t as aggressive doing, so I give them credit. They're well coached. Right now, they're believing in what they're doing. When your offense is having success, it gives you the flexibility to play more aggressive, which they have done and it's definitely showing on video."
Playing in an extremely tough environment for the first time, true freshmen Issac Brown embraced the pressure at Notre Dame, leading the team in rushing with 72 yards on 13 carries and catching his first career touchdown pass, which Barcaly said "that catch for our first touchdown was special."
Barclay was impressed with how Brown ran hard , broke tackles, and made people miss in a game that featured two ranked opponents.
"This is a very competitive league," Barclay said. "SMU has some good players who are opportunistic on the back end and they find the football so we have to do a really good job being disciplined," stated Barclay.
Saturday's game will provide a redemption opportunity for the Louisville program, which fell to 3-1 overall after the 31-24 loss to the Fighting Irish.
In the running game, the Cardinals have lot of different competitive pieces in the running back room with the emergence of Brown, Duke Watson, Keyjuan Brown and the injured Turner.
Barclay acknowledged the diversity of the group and how much he is looking forward to watching their continued development.
"Duke obviously has some wiggle and pizzazz to him that's exciting, Barclay said. "Keyjuan's got God-given length in his arms and really good length to be able to be effective in pass protection."
Barclay expressed, "Even though Maurice hasn't been on the field he has been vocal with our young guys and helping them out tremendously"
Barclay and the Cardinals are looking forward to Oct. 5th as they return home to kickoff against SMU at 12:00 p.m. ET.
One person confident that the Cards will rebound is UofL running back coach Chris Barclay. The second-year coach is looking forward to see the running game continue to improve.
"We have full faith in our offensive line to get it blocked up and we'll scheme things that might open opportunities for us," Barclay said.
With Maurice Turner's injury sidelining him for the next few weeks, Barclay called it a "next man up mentality" as he believes "multiple guys need to play and there's not one back that does it all anymore."
The Cardinals are prepared for SMU's defense as they have been extremely optimistic this season, leading the country in turnovers gained through the first five weeks of the season.
"I think they're very sound on first and second down; they don't give up a lot of big plays throughout that," head coach Jeff Brohm said. On third down, they get very exotic, and they come after the quarterback. They affect the quarterback, so they made him get turnovers in those situations. They do some things that other teams aren"'t as aggressive doing, so I give them credit. They're well coached. Right now, they're believing in what they're doing. When your offense is having success, it gives you the flexibility to play more aggressive, which they have done and it's definitely showing on video."
Playing in an extremely tough environment for the first time, true freshmen Issac Brown embraced the pressure at Notre Dame, leading the team in rushing with 72 yards on 13 carries and catching his first career touchdown pass, which Barcaly said "that catch for our first touchdown was special."
Barclay was impressed with how Brown ran hard , broke tackles, and made people miss in a game that featured two ranked opponents.
"This is a very competitive league," Barclay said. "SMU has some good players who are opportunistic on the back end and they find the football so we have to do a really good job being disciplined," stated Barclay.
Saturday's game will provide a redemption opportunity for the Louisville program, which fell to 3-1 overall after the 31-24 loss to the Fighting Irish.
In the running game, the Cardinals have lot of different competitive pieces in the running back room with the emergence of Brown, Duke Watson, Keyjuan Brown and the injured Turner.
Barclay acknowledged the diversity of the group and how much he is looking forward to watching their continued development.
"Duke obviously has some wiggle and pizzazz to him that's exciting, Barclay said. "Keyjuan's got God-given length in his arms and really good length to be able to be effective in pass protection."
Barclay expressed, "Even though Maurice hasn't been on the field he has been vocal with our young guys and helping them out tremendously"
Barclay and the Cardinals are looking forward to Oct. 5th as they return home to kickoff against SMU at 12:00 p.m. ET.
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