Louisville football team set for first Power Conference test against Georgia Tech

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — So far, it’s hard to describe the Louisville football program’s start to the 2024 season as anything other than dominant. The Cardinals have outscored their two head-to-head opponents 111 points to 14 and have outgained them 1,181 yards to 396.

Of course, given the competition they faced, this kind of start to the season wasn’t exactly unexpected. Their first opponent, Austin Peay, is from the FCS ranks, while Jacksonville State is from the Group of Five. Neither the Governors nor the Gamecocks currently have a real opponent worthy of the name.

That will change this Saturday. After taking an early bye week, the Cardinals will finally face their first conference competition of the season, hosting Georgia Tech at L&N Stadium for their ACC opener.

“They’ve been battle tested, for sure. They’ve proven they can play good football, so I give credit where credit is due. They’ve done a really good job. The only game they lost, they lost by three points, on the road, to a good opponent. So they’re a good football team and you can see it by watching the video, watching their win-loss record, they’ve got good players, they’ve got veterans. So, yeah, they’re a tough football team and we’re going to have to play good football to win and I think that’s the way it’s going to work in this conference.”

As Brohm noted, Georgia Tech has certainly faced some challenges so far. The Yellow Jackets had the honor of playing the first-ever college football game of the season and took advantage of it by defeating then-10th-ranked Florida State 24-21 in Dublin, Ireland, in Week Zero.

After posting a 35-12 win over Georgia State, Georgia Tech cracked the AP Top 25 heading into the week. However, their presence in the rankings was short-lived, dropping their ACC opener to Syracuse 31-28. More recently, Tech managed to bounce back, smothering FCS foe VMI 59-7 last weekend.

Georgia Tech’s early success was largely due to a dynamic offense, powered by one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the conference and the country, Haynes King. A dual threat, King completed 76.4 percent of his passes for 962 yards and six touchdowns against just one interception, while rushing for 158 yards and three touchdowns.

On top of that, King has plenty of weapons around him. The tandem of Malik Rutherford and Eric Singleton Jr. is a deadly duo at receiver, as they have combined for 38 receptions for 525 yards and three touchdowns. Chase Lane and Avery Boyd have also proven to be a solid supporting cast in the passing game.

Plus, with Brent Key’s background as an offensive lineman, you already know that GT loves to run the ball. Jamal Haynes, who passed the 1,000-yard mark last season, has already rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns.

“They have a veteran quarterback, it starts there,” Brohm said. “(Haynes King) is very efficient at what he does and he can run the ball, which gives you a lot of options, and they use them with a lot of twists. They also run the ball downhill and they show the head coach’s personality: being physical at the point of attack and running the ball to you, forcing you to defend as well with some play-action from us. They do a good job of controlling the ball and getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands quickly and being efficient with that.”

While the Yellow Jackets are powered by their offense, the key to their early success has been a defensive turnaround. Last season, Georgia Tech was abysmal on that side of the ball, allowing 437.1 yards per game for the 120th-ranked defense in the FBS. After last season, Key brought in Tyler Santucci from Duke to be the defensive coordinator.

While it’s still early and the defense hasn’t always been perfect, it’s much improved from last season. Through four games, the Jackets have allowed just 317.5 yards per game for the 66th-ranked total defense in college football. That’s largely due to their efforts against the run, with 98.5 yards per game allowed per GT, which ranks 32nd nationally.

It’s a defense that, like Louisville’s, is a solid mix of returning players and transfer newcomers. Linebacker Kyle Efford, safety LaMiles Brooks and cornerback Clayton Powell-Lee have been making plays for a while at Georgia Tech, and that has continued so far this season. Meanwhile, transfers such as defensive linemen Romello Height (USC) and Jordan van der Berg (Penn State) have also made an early impact.

“At the same time, I think they’re better defensively this year,” Brohm said. “They’ve made some changes, you can see it on tape, they’ve done a good job every week. So I think they’re a very balanced football team that doesn’t beat themselves up, that will challenge other teams to play harder, more physical than they do, and if you can’t meet that challenge, then they’re going to win the game.”

Put it all together and you have a team that will certainly give Louisville a worthy challenge this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST. That being said, Louisville’s players feel ready for the challenge.

“The first two wins were good for the team, they boosted morale and all that,” linebacker/safety Benjamin Perry said. “But the coaches stressed that ACC play is very important, conference play is very important. Going from last week to this week, yeah, it’s a step up in competition. But every game is important because we have a big end goal.”

(Photo by Keyjuan Brown: Clare Grant – Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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