Louisville football finished the 2022 season with a solid 8-5 record, losing to Syracuse, Florida State, Boston College, Clemson and Kentucky. The Boston College game came down to 1 point, which marked the biggest upset against Louisville all season. It should be noted that Louisville only had one ranked win all season, which came against Wake Forest, and still turned in a successful year.
DraftKings Sportsbook has the Cardinal’s win total at 8.0 with even juice on both sides. Louisville also sits at +1000 to win the ACC, which ties North Carolina and trails only Clemson and Florida State. Let’s dive into Louisville’s season preview.
2023 Louisville Football Predictions & Season Preview
Louisville Football 2023 Season Preview: Coaching Staff
After four years of Scott Satterfield and a 25-24 record to show for it, the Cardinals elected to make a coaching change. They brought in former Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm, who previously played with Louisville. Brohm had an impressive tenure at Purdue, including a Big Ten Championship berth last year and two straight seasons with at least eight wins. Predictably, he brings over Brian Brohm as offensive coordinator, who previously served that role at Purdue. He also hired former Purdue co-defensive coordinator Ron English to manage his defense.
Louisville Football 2023 Season Preview: Offense
Quarterback
Cal transfer Jack Plummer reunites with Jeff Brohm after a year away from the system. At Cal last year, Plummer completed 282 of 453 pass attempts (62.3%) for 3,095 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was the fifth-highest-graded passer in the Pac-12 last year, per PFF. Plummer offers nothing as a rusher and consistently finishes in the negatives, but he is a veteran of the system. Behind him, Brock Domann and Evan Conley remain with the system. Domann completed 79 of 144 passes last year (54.9%) for 998 yards (6.9 yards per attempt), four touchdowns and six interceptions. He was the 18th-highest-graded quarterback in the ACC. The team also recruited 4-star freshman Pierce Clarkson, who is the No. 346 recruit in this class. Brohm’s system has thrived in the pass on pocket passers. Plummer not only has college experience, but experience within this offense. Louisville should be just fine at quarterback as long as Plummer can remain healthy.
Running Back
The Cardinals lost Tiyon Evans and Trevion Cooley. However, they return 2022 leading rusher and former Syracuse back Jawhar Jordan. Jordan is 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, but he rushed 142 times for 815 yards and four touchdowns last year. He generated a strong 3.29 yards after contact per attempt and forced a missed tackle on 24.6% of his touches. He also caught 10 passes for another 85 yards. Despite a strong 2022, he looks unlikely to handle a feature back role outside of injuries, due to size. The team added former Wisconsin back Isaac Guerendo in the portal, in addition to returning Maurice Turner. Turner is also 5-foot-10, 186 pounds. He carried 65 times for 314 yards, while catching 12 passes for 72 yards. Turner averaged 3.00 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 23.1% of his carries. Guerendo should provide a size presence at 6-foot-0, 219 pounds. He carried 64 times for 385 yards last year, while catching 17 passes for 115 yards. He averaged 3.38 yards after contact and forced a missed tackle on 21.9% of his attempts. This should be a solid stable of running backs for Louisville.
Wide Receiver
The Cardinals lost Tyler Hudson, Marshon Ford and Braden Smith this offseason. They do return their third leading receiver in Ahmari Huggins-Bruce, who notched 31 receptions for 365 yards. Huggins-Bruce is 5-foot-10, 163 pounds, and logged 1.33 yards per route run, which ranked 43rd in the ACC. He played in the slot 22.9% of the time. Louisville smashed the transfer portal, bringing in Jamari Thrash (Georgia State), Jadon Thompson (Cincinnati), Jimmy Calloway (Tennessee), Kevin Coleman (Jackson State), Joey Gatewood (UCF) and Allan Houston III (Brown). The next highest returning receiver is Chris Bell, who logged just seven catches for 105 yards at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. He projects to play a role on the two-deep, but transfers should round out the starting group alongside Huggins-Bruce. Thrash caught 62 passes for 1,123 yards and seven touchdowns last year. His 2.94 yards per route ranked fourth in the Sun Belt last year. He was also a perimeter receiver with a 13.3% slot rate. Thompson is 6-foot-2, 187 pounds, and enters his fourth year after catching 27 passes for 393 yards and a score with Cincinnati. His 1.54 yards per route ranked 33rd in the AAC last year on a 13.3% slot rate. Calloway caught just two passes with Tennessee last year. Coleman caught 33 passes for 475 yards and three touchdowns in his first college season. He played in the slot 98.5% of the time and could do so again this year. Coleman was the SWAC freshman of the year with a solid 1.48 yards per route. Gatewood is a 6-foot-5, 220-pound former quarterback who has never done anything in college. Finally, Houston is 6-foot-0, 190 pounds, and caught 20 passes in ten games last year. With so many talented players here, Louisville should be able to piece together a solid receiving room.
Tight End
The Cardinals lost Dez Melton to transfer at the midnight hour. They do return Francis Sherman and Duane Martin, which gives them a little experience. Sherman played the most snaps at 230. However, he spent most of that blocking despite his 6-foot-3, 234-pound stature. This will be his third season. Martin did much of the same at 6-foot-2, 255 pounds. He blocked on 85% of his snaps last year. Louisville did land a 4-star prospect and 334th ranked player Jamari Johnson at the position. He enrolled early, so Johnson could make an impact immediately. Brohm has already given him praise this offseason. Brohm’s offense does not always utilize a tight end, but he will here if someone can step up.
Offensive Line
Louisville’s offensive line lost Caleb Chandler, Trevor Reid and Adonis Boone this offseason. However, it has numerous returners, including Michael Gonzalez at left tackle. He was an excellent pass blocker and now enters his third season after playing 732 snaps in his second season as the starter. Bryan Hudson returns at center after playing 914 snaps last year. He finished as the team’s best offensive lineman last year and will now enter his fifth season. Renato Brown should play right tackle after playing 740 snaps last year with solid pass blocking grades. He now enters his fourth season as a starter along this unit. To plug one of the gaps, Louisville added Virginia transfer John Paul Flores, who played 433 snaps last year. He struggled pass blocking, but he will be surrounded by more talent here in his second season at the FBS level. The other guard position is unsettled at the moment. Louisville did add a few other transfers in Trevonte Sylvester (Houston), Lance Robinson (Houston), Willie Tyler (Rutgers) and Eric Miller (Purdue). Sylvester only played 42 snaps last year, but he started against Rice. At 285 pounds, he might need an additional year in the weight room before potentially taking over a tackle slot. Robinson also comes over from Houston with 1,679 snaps of experience in his three college seasons. He played tackle for the most part but could kick inside. Tyler started at left tackle for Rutgers last year after previously starting for Louisiana-Monroe. He could also shake up this unit. Finally, Miller comes over from Purdue after starting the last two seasons. With so many transfers and incoming 4-star recruit Madden Sanker, Louisville should be set up for an excellent season up front.
Louisville Football 2023 Season Preview: Defense
Louisville ranked 48th on defense in 2022. This included the 49th-ranked run defense, ninth-ranked pass rush and 95th-ranked secondary. This defense lost two premier edge defenders in Yasir Abdullah and YaYa Diaby. However, it added 10 transfers and three 4-star recruits to help fill the void.
Defensive Line
Louisville lost two of its better overall players, with the departures of Abdullah and Diaby. Its most experienced edge defender will now be Ashton Gillotte, who played 460 snaps last year. Gillotte turned in a solid pass rushing season with eight tackles for loss and seven sacks. He will now be asked to play a larger role for the defense. Last year, he mostly played end, but he has the versatility to kick inside as well. Louisville added a Stanford transfer Stephen Herron after 600 snaps last year. Herron logged 40 total pressures and should slide right into this defense. Mason Reiger also returns 340 snaps and Louisville added 4-star recruit Adonijah Green to this group this offseason. While the edge may not quite live up to 2022, it should still be solid this season.
On the interior, Dezmond Tell, Ramon Puryear and Jared Dawson should form a rotation. Dawson played particularly well among this group, despite only receiving 261 snaps last year. He finished with 16 tackles, three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Tell also had his moments with 26 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks on 373 snaps. Louisville also added a pair of transfers in Rodney McGraw (Penn State) and Jeffery Clark (Georgia State) this offseason. McGraw only played 12 snaps last year, but he initially came to Penn State as a top 500 recruit in 2021. Clark comes over from Georgia State after 1,267 snaps in three years. He logged 29 quarterback pressures last year and now will look to make the jump to Power 5 competition. This defensive line should be solid again in 2023.
Linebacker
The Cardinals lost Momo Sanogo, K.J. Cloyd and Monty Montgomery this offseason. This leaves Louisville wildly inexperienced at the linebacker position. However, they did add a pair of transfers in Gilbert Frierson (Miami) and Keith Brown (Oregon). Frierson only played 104 snaps last year, but he started the two previous years with Miami. Now entering his sixth college season, Frierson does not lack experience. Brown has 316 snaps of experience over the last two years. Outside of these transfers, the Cardinals have very little proven depth. They did add 4-star freshman linebacker Stanquan Clark, who may be asked to play a role early because of the questionable depth.
Defensive Back
At corner, the Cardinals lost Kei’Trel Clark, but they return a ton of production here. Jarvis Brownlee played the most snaps with 791 last year, but he certainly had his lapses in coverage. He dominated everyone else, with 12 passes defended and a pair of interceptions. He was also a strong tackler with 55 on the year. Quincy Riley and Benjamin Perry played 437 and 456 snaps last year. Riley had solid numbers, including a pair of pass breakups and three interceptions. Perry broke up three passes and logged 43 tackles, but he looks like the weakest link here. Perry functioned as a safety/nickel hybrid and might play a role closer to that as well.
Louisville added three transfer corners in Marquis Groves-Killebrew (Texas A&M), Storm Duck (North Carolina) and Marcus Washington (Georgia). Groves-Killebrew only played 21 snaps last year, but he came in as part of that loaded Texas A&M recruiting class. The former 4-star ranked as the 114th overall prospect in last year’s class. Duck comes over from North Carolina with 1,767 snaps of experience in his career. Last year, he broke up nine passes, logged three interceptions and made 46 tackles. Washington only played two snaps last year, but he is another former 4-star and the 147th ranked prospect in last year’s class.
At safety, Louisville returns both Josh Minkins and M.J. Griffin. Minkins played 765 snaps last year and Griffin logged 504. Both were solid players. Minkins made 55 tackles and broke up three passes. Griffin made 45 tackles and broke up one pass. Louisville also added Devin Neal (Baylor) and Cam’Ron Kelly (North Carolina) as competition here. Neal played 358 snaps with Baylor last year, logging 42 tackles. Kelly has three years of starting experience and 1,867 snaps to his name. He made 49 tackles, defended one pass and logged an interception. The depth and high-end talent of this secondary should be superior to 2022.
2023 Louisville Football Schedule & Predictions
Louisville Football 2023 Schedule
The Cardinals play a non-conference schedule consisting of Murray State, Indiana, Notre Dame and Kentucky. They will likely be underdogs to Notre Dame and potentially Kentucky, but they could leave non-conference 2-2 or 3-1. Within conference play, they dodge Clemson, Florida State and North Carolina, giving them the easiest conference schedule in the conference.
Louisville Football Futures Bet & Prediction
Louisville over/under 8.0 wins is juiced evenly to both sides. Even with the potential for a 2-2 non-conference record, it is possible the Cardinals will run their ACC schedule. They travel to Pittsburgh, Miami and North Carolina State. However, they draw most of the bottom-end teams within the conference. At +1000 to win the ACC, Louisville looks live to compete here.
Best Louisville Football Futures Bet: to Win ACC (+1000 at DraftKings)
You can read the rest of Matt Gajewski’s 2023 college football season previews and predictions below!
- Alabama Season Preview & Predictions
- Arizona Season Preview & Predictions
- Arkansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Auburn Season Preview & Predictions
- Baylor Season Preview & Predictions
- Clemson Season Preview & Predictions
- Florida Season Preview & Predictions
- Florida State Season Preview & Predictions
- Georgia Season Preview & Predictions
- Illinois Season Preview & Predictions
- Indiana Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa Season Preview & Predictions
- Iowa State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas Season Preview & Predictions
- Kansas State Season Preview & Predictions
- Kentucky Season Preview & Predictions
- LSU Season Preview & Predictions
- Maryland Season Preview & Predictions
- Miami Season Preview & Predictions
- Michigan Season Preview & Predictions
- Michigan State Season Preview & Predictions
- Minnesota Season Preview & Predictions
- Mississippi State Season Preview & Predictions
- Missouri Season Preview & Predictions
- Nebraska Season Preview & Predictions
- Notre Dame Season Preview & Predictions
- Ohio State Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma Season Preview & Predictions
- Oklahoma State Season Preview & Predictions
- Ole Miss Season Preview & Predictions
- Oregon Season Preview & Predictions
- Oregon State Season Preview & Predictions
- Penn State Season Preview & Predictions
- Rutgers Season Preview & Predictions
- South Carolina Season Preview & Predictions
- TCU Season Preview & Predictions
- Tennessee Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas A&M Season Preview & Predictions
- Texas Tech Season Preview & Predictions
- UCLA Season Preview & Predictions
- USC Season Preview & Predictions
- Utah Season Preview & Predictions
- Vanderbilt Season Preview & Predictions
- Washington Season Preview & Predictions
- West Virginia Season Preview & Predictions
- Wisconsin Season Preview & Predictions
