Louisville football team running backs off to hot start to 2024 season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Heading into the 2024 season, one of the biggest questions surrounding the Louisville football program was its running back position.

The Cardinals had one of the most prolific rushing attacks in the FBS last season, led primarily by Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo. The duo ran for a combined 1,938 yards and 24 touchdowns, helping Louisville average 178.5 rushing yards per game.

After last season, Jordan and Guerendo both left for the NFL. Louisville was left with a running backs group that, while full of potential, is relatively inexperienced compared to last season and quite young overall. It even got to the point where running backs coach Chris Barclay challenged/motivated his group by writing a question mark next to each of their names on a whiteboard at the start of fall camp.

Although Louisville hasn’t played against very strong competition through the first two games of its season, its running backs are already starting to reach that potential and have had a very strong start to the year.

“We love our core of running backs, and we have since Day 1,” head coach Jeff Brohm said after Louisville’s 49-14 win over Jax State last weekend. “They all have different elements that make them very valuable and beneficial to the team. They’re good teammates, they support each other. You never know who you’re going to need.”

Louisville beat Austin Peay 62-0, then followed that up with a 49-14 win over Jacksonville State last weekend. In both games, the running game played a major role in the Cardinals’ overall dominance.

Against the Governors, Louisville rushed for 293 yards, while also adding three rushing touchdowns. The following week against the Gamecocks, they rushed for 233 yards, but also ran for five touchdowns.

It’s a very small sample size, but through two games of the season, Louisville has the 14th-best rushing offense at 263.0 yards per game. Additionally, their eight rushing touchdowns are tied for ninth in the FBS.

“It gives us a lot of confidence,” running back Keyjuan Brown said after the Jacksonville State game. “Just coming out here and being able to play like that, move like that, gets us ready for big games. We’re just getting ready to go out there and handle the situation.”

What’s most impressive about Louisville’s rushing prowess is that its running effort isn’t the work of just one person. Starting running back Maurice Turner ran for 87 yards and a touchdown, while backup Donald Chaney Jr. ran for just 21 yards and a touchdown before suffering a high ankle sprain last weekend.

In fact, the bulk of Louisville’s rushing efforts have come from its three youngest scholarship backs on the roster. Brown has rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns so far, while Duke Watson has rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns, and Isaac Brown leads the way with 166 yards and a touchdown. Looking at the national rankings, Watson and Isaac Brown — both true freshmen — rank in the top five in yards per attempt. Watson is No. 2 at 13.7 while Brown is No. 4 at 12.77.

That could change at some point in the future, but for now, it appears Louisville will continue to utilize multiple running backs in its offensive game plan. Brohm even compares his current situation to when he was an assistant under Bobby Petrino in the mid-2000s, where the Cardinals had multiple NFL-caliber running backs in his era. Even though Louisville had Michael Bush, one of the greatest players in program history, they still rotated other players — like Eric Shelton and Kolby Smith — quite often.

“It can help you and keep players fresh. When you have guys that get hurt and guys that have played, then you’re going to be better. The one year we unfortunately lost Michael Bush, we had other guys that could play. Even though it was a devastating injury, he was a fantastic player, we had other guys that could play. That game, Don (Chaney) hurt his high ankle, we had other guys that had played. Sometimes it can be too many, but at the same time, you know what, running backs, you have to keep them fresh. You can only carry the ball so many times you want.”

“We think we have a good idea of ​​what these guys can do: run, play screens, play perimeter and all that. They’ve been efficient, taken care of the ball and blocked pretty well. They’ve broken tackles. We’ve got two true freshmen who have shown really good speed and power, and a couple of veterans. I think it’s a good mix. They all support each other. We’ve also got a bunch of tight ends and a couple of receivers. I think we’ll have them all ready because you never know when you’re going to need them. The more of them you have, the better a football team you become.”

Have the running backs erased the question marks next to their names on the Barclays whiteboard yet? Not yet, but they’re working on it.

“We haven’t reached our full potential yet,” Keyjuan Brown said. “I felt like we could do better at the beginning of the season. There’s probably still a little bit left, but it’ll fade away.”

(Photo by Isaac Brown: Jamie Rhodes – Imagn Images)

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