#73 R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ #13 R.P.I. Louisville:

Louisville Head Football Coach: Jeffrey Scott Brohm: age=52, 6′2″, 2o8 lbs., (73-45 overall in College, 2-14 in the A.F.2. and then 1-1 @Lousiville thus far). Has a passing-game rep’ (duh);
and for program building.
$5,000,000.oo (with a $1ook bump/year)

(Aye, his bio’ insists on listing his personal metrics. LOL… whateve’ yo’)…

Baby Brohm was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1971. He is the son of Donna and Oscar Brohm. Brohm and his siblings Greg, Kimberly, and Brian were born in Louisville while his father was an assistant football coach at Trinity High School in Louisville.

Brohm was a standout high school player at Trinity High School in Louisville. He was named the “Kentucky High School Player of the Decade” for the 198os and won the Kentucky “Mr. Football” Award in 1988 while leading his team to a state championship and undefeated season. Brohm was inducted as a member of the 2o14 Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame class.

His father, Oscar, was a Qb2 for Louisville and a high school football coach in Louisville. He attended Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduation from high school, he was selected by the Montreal Expos in the seventh round of the 1989 MLB Draft! However, he instead decided to pursue playing football and baseball at the University of Louisville. After spending his freshman season as a backup quarterback, he was once again selected in the MLB Draft, this time in the fourth round by the Cleveland Indians. This time Brohm had a change of heart and decided to pursue a professional baseball career in the summers when he wasn’t playing football. After two summers, he decided to drop baseball and focus solely on football. As starting quarterback for two seasons, he led the Cardinals to the 1993 Liberty Bowl.

After a fractured Qb1 right ankle (St.Philip bless); Pivot1 Brohm opened it up in 1989-1992 for Louisville. Where he notched right at: 5K passing yards and right at: 35 TD’s chucked in his final 2.2 years as a starting Korterback for da ‘cards.

Brohm went undrafted in the 1994 NFL Draft. He played seven years as a Qb-back-up in the NFL, with the San Diego Chargers in 1994, the Washington Redskins in 1995, the San Francisco 49ers from 1995 to 1997, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1998, the Denver Broncos in 1999 and the Cleveland Browns in 2ooo. He also played one season with the Orlando Rage of the XFL, where he was named to the All-XFL team despite having his season end early with a shoulder injury. (May St.Christopher bless!)

In 2oo2, Brohm moved to the AF2 where he became the head coach of the Louisville Fire. Brohm returned to the University of Louisville in 2oo3. He spent the next six years as a quarterback coach, passing game coordinator, offensive coordinator, and assistant head coach for the Cardinals and helped them win the 2oo7 Orange Bowl. In 2oo9, Brohm went to Florida Atlantic University, where he was reunited with Schnellenberger as offensive coordinator. Brohm then went on to coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2o1o to 2o11, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2o12, and at Western Kentucky University in 2o13 as an associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach. When Petrino returned to Louisville in 2o14, Brohm was promoted to head coach of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. As head coach, he led the team to three bowl games, winning two of them. In 2o16, Brohm took the head coaching position at Purdue University. Brohm comes to the ’Ville having just gotten Purdue to a Big Ten title game and won 17 games over the last two seasons. Not; ½, bad.

Big Whistle ex-post-pattern-facto-Qb1 Brohm has five Conference title rings along the way and his very own Qb1: Liberty Bowl MVP (1993) to boot.

Fam’-man-Brohm’s younger brother, Brian, is a football coach and a former Qb1 who last played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Another brother, Greg, played Wr1 at Louisville and had a stint in the Canadian Football League at the Edmonton Eskimos camp before being cut. Their sister, Kim, was a three-sport athlete at Spalding University. She played softball, volleyball, and basketball for the Pelicans (now the Golden Eagles).

On December 7, 2022, Brohm was hired to be the head football coach at Louisville.

So, this is his rookie or nugget year for the Cardinals. Though he is homespun, homegrown, and homesteading and that should not hurt this hommie, here.

Brohm married the former Jennifer L. Hawkins in 2oo3. They have two children, Brady and Brooke.

2022 record: 8 up 5 down and .5oo or 4×4 in the A.c.c.

Louisville Defense: (starters back=6)

• Enter: the 4-2-5 under co-coordinators Ron English and Mark Hagen.
• 15th in Total D!!
• 9th vs. the run!!!
• 44th vs. the throw.
• 26th in Passing Efficiency D!
• 3rd greatest in zone D!!
• wowow!
• 8 of 1o in dLine Havoc. Ashton Gillotte is the holdover Edge-De1. He be a fringe All-Conference caliber Talent more/less. The rest have left the building. Hence, L’ville is rebuilding a mite upfront here. The bulk is coming in around Dezmond Tell on the Nose. That, and 32o-pound Arizona State transfer and monsta-sized grad’-student Jermayne Tauinaola-Lole (nasty looking ¦ looks the part) has the potential to be the team’s best lineman if he can stay healthy after missing most of the last two years. As this guy’s Polynesian heritage/temperature looks like it could Moby and teach Queequeg the way around the poop deck. St.Julia bless, as Mister Lole has been both triceps and elbow nasty injuries holed before. IF, he can remain locked, cocked, and upright; this is a better dLine in the 1’s than most forecasts. As Lole and his 616-squat are a damn beast downstairs. As this is a seriously strong kid in the southern hemisphere.  Gillotte is your bell-cow here, prolly not less than an All-A.c.c. De3, maybe even De2. This line is good, and its depth is better than that. Solid set of guys— think: Ricky Walker’s galore. De is >>> Dt, tho’ Dt is reasonably classy. Okay, size, and better De than Dt size at that.
• 6 from 1o in Linebacking Havoc. Likewise, the need for gentrification a bit in the 2nd-layer for the ‘cards. As this could be an abbreviated section… what with Lb1, Lb2, Lb3 all going ’22 banana on the ’23, split. They gone, see? So, now we see that Stephen Herron is coming in from Stanford -or Cardinal to Cardinal- to work in a hybrid role. He’ll be more of an edge rusher for the line; a disruptor. Herron is a 6′4″, 24o-pound OLb1/edge rusher who made 72 tackles with ten sacks and 13 tackles for loss in his four years in Palo Alto, and now he needs to step in and be a huge factor for a defense used to getting into the backfield. That and a few young options will get their chances in the middle of the corps. 6′, 22o lb., sophomore Jackson Hamilton isn’t big, tho’ he can move on the inside. Still yet, same as the dLine, the 1’s may be okay if right/healthy; and depth is found wanting in Linebacking terms here. (MIND: the 4Q run-shapes store here if S&C wears a bit on gassed starters for the ‘cards). As all-star Mike1 (Monty Montgomery (grate name)) departure to Olè Miss is not just a target, it is a Centrist invite outright. Good sized 2nd-layer right here; right where you’d want ’em to be cross-training be.
• 8’ish of X in Secondary Havoc. On paper, the Card’s third layer or Secondary is the alpha unit here. Both safeties (Fs1), Josh Minkins, and (Ss1), M.J. Griffin are in return. ’22’s Cb2, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. is back… as is U.n.c.’s ex-Cb1: Storm Duck. So, the starting 4 is downright solid here. Can L’ville solidify any (credible) depth behind that? However, remains to be proven. As the 1’s are gonna be less than easy to throw at and yet the hind-4s 2’s are the easy pick to pick upon. Other than Cb3, Jarvis Brownlee Jr.; who prolly starts for at least 50% of the rest of the A.c.c. As they are pretty close to being 1-deep in hind-4 terms here. Marquis Groves-Killibrew (Texas A&M) Cb2, Cam’Ron Kelly (S1, virginia), Devin Neal (S3, Baylor), and Gilbert Frierson (S2, Miami) make a good safety situation even better around veteran Fs1, Josh Minkins. Unlike the forward 2-defensive layers; the L’ville 3rd layer is Marianas Trench deep. Accordingly, I am informed that the pre-season Coach Dickens of a (Great) Expectation here is… to only… lead the All-Chucking Conference in interceptions. This after only being ’22 runner-up in Picks, (15).
  This is a tall/heighty secondary and they are right in the pants. Nearly downright physical for it to boot. The edges are better than the mid-fielders. Or, at least coverage rule(s) sticker… as they seem mixed-up or ill-aligned on late calls to me. Pitt stopped them good with several seams splitters of which there are 2 or sometimes 3 here with the Cf Fs1 splitting the field when he is Omar Moreno deep.

• D overall: Last time out, and Louisville downright aggressively led the nation in sacks (5o), had the 5th defense in the A.c.c. (331 ypg) and tied for the league’s top-scoring defense allowed and a parsimonious (19.2 ppg). That’s pretty dang good end-game results, right?
  Now however Brohm’s impact also will be felt on the defensive side, as the Cardinals are switching from a 4-3 base defense to a 4-2-5. Not a radical change though a change nevertheless. As this is his *pet* sytermS plural, *his* way. i.e., everything is on him O.D.’ed if you will.
  (Film-study): L’ville says they line up in a base forty-three or 4-3.
  Correct. Though it has symmetrical or near forty-four looks at times. With Cover-1 Fs playing Cf behind all of that.
  So, among a LOT of B— to B+++ or even lowest ever A— likable thingys Eye saws… I saw a D that really does ‘rally’ to the ball well. They play a very tight version of contain. Very strict rules/keys are in play here and they are quite educated in pre-game planning/ferreting your tendencies out. L’ville tries to keep most things inside or close to the hashmarks via design. They help tackle and stand you up and wait for inside-out pursuit to clean you out. This is s smart/sharp D more so than it is a Greased Lightening D. Mo’ parts Gene Wilder than Richard Pryor, think of it that way. Though they are VERY well-schooled in what they scheme to do. They make very few misQ’s. You have to go’on and line up and whoop ’em.
  L’ville will flash a 3o set and a near 5o look with two quasi OLb’s evening the L.O.S. (line-of-scrummage) up. They have mo’ medium Man on edge than you today see. They rotate or roll coverages into zones off the Z or opposing Slot-Wr. They ask a lot of their Lb’s in passing situations as well. They do strengthen into a mo’ jam-Man in Lo.FM or mo’ obvious passing situations. They do play the ball not the man and Pitt hit that up a couple of times as well. Tho’ 21st best in passes pilfered say it pays off mo’ often than not. D tackling is okay, tho’ they do miss a few Trival things in space and charging across the L.O.S. in over Pursuits at times. Nice middle-G/Dt1 push, our G-c-G will be sore on Sunday here. The team does close down YAC (yards after catch) pretty tightly. Lb’s align just a bit deeper and it creates a nice midfield pileup for texting when driving. Lotta congestion as they read-n-react. This is a quick/plucky D, though not a buncha track stars or maulers. Just a Hoosiers hoops film version of Right Spot Right timed guys.
• ∑ (summary): returning D production=5o% (1ooth most!) De’s or next year is your conflict defender here. As they ALL ’24 return.
  The L’ville offense will (eventually) be fine; however, here’s the question mark considering how disruptive the Louisville defense was last year. Purdue defensive coordinator Ron English comes in to take on the same role. The Boilermaker D was okay-not-great finishing 1oth overall in the Big Ten with little to no production behind the line of scrimmage (L.O.S.). Louisville was No. 1 in the nation in sacks, seventh in tackles for loss, and allowed –7o fewer yards per game than Purdue did.
  As Eye hinted at below… do you see a Fu’D trend here? What if Fu’ had brought his whole D over from Memphis? As you got your boy now be careful what you wish for ¦ as it might get you… as in the similarities are nearly eerie indeed.

Defensive letter-grade:

 

Louisville Offense: (returning starters=)

• Nepotism the: new(er) mo’ passing-friendly O from big-Brohm and his little bro, Brian, who will O’coordinate.
• 25th in Total O.
• 32nd in ground O.
• 42nd in aerial O.
• 33rd in Passing Efficiency O.
• Tho’… 72nd in zone O. Interesting…
• Rb1a/Rb1b: Co-1’s: Rb’s: Jawhar Jordan (foot ding, St.Sebastiani bless) and Maurice Turner are back after combining for 1,129 yards last season. They are steady if not spectacular. The coaching sewing circle ‘whispers’ say they are wanting mo’ Rb1’s passing-production under this new jumped-up aerially affordable scheme. Wisconsin’s Rb2 or one Issac Guerendo adds depth. Maurice Turner is the quickstep or jitterbug WWII-savvy dancer. Jawhar Jordan is the one who can air it out; as he can be dangerous once he breaks contain and hits any given open field. Jordan is a 5′1o″, 181 lb., r-Jr. year Spiderman and artsy gallery kinda fan. Don’t always get that… though he does not (even) look his listed metrics to me. Narrower/shorter alike. Though this does speak to his being built for speed-breaking/making plays. No.46 Rb in America by ESPN. Suffered a breakout year last year and Jordan was very November strong. That after he suffered a ’21 knee-ending injury (St.Culbreth bless). Still yet, this was a: T&F jetter in H.S. terms as well. So, maybe his is bigger than his, build? Turner is a 5′1o″, 185 lb., true-Soph’ per: Coffee, Georgia. Where he was Rivals 158th ranked Wr1 nationally. Now he is a Rb1b ranked Cardinal. So, you’d have to think the good-hands game is Rb1b handy enuff. His nifty-looking: 4.2 20-yard shuttle and his lengthy broad jump 135″ tell you this kid has some pop in his kinetic cans. As this is a shifty, stutter-stepping, start-stop-start-again kinda rusher. Seems big time in luv’ with his H.S. (prom queen) G/F. Good on settling down with him. Though Turner the burner -same as air-Jordan- seems slighter than his listed digits to me upon breaking tape. As this is a quality darty good 1a-1b combo’ Rb punch. Although, you do gotta wonder how that red zone or short-yardage goes?

  

• ex-Qb1: Malik Cunningham is now a Ne.Pats Qb3/4. So, Qb1 Brohm himself brought in his very own pet Qb1 his ownself. Cue Purdue ex-Qb1: enter CAL-ex-Qb1 and grad’-transfer: Jack Plummer. As Jacky transferred from Cal, where the pocket passer threw for 3,o95 yards and 21 touchdowns last season. Before he was there, he spent four years with Brohm at Purdue. Ergo, therefore, to wit; you’d have to think he is on the right side of the Learning Curve (and Experience Curve) already alike. Big ole 6′5″, and pretty cut-lookin 219 lbs. VERY experienced guy, age=23, in his 6th cv19 season of ball. Academic All-Big Ten honors in each of his final three seasons (2o19-22); that does not suck and helps a pigskin Pt.Guard’s head game and literacy all the mo’. r-shirted way back ’18; and has started off-n-on here-n-there ever since after that. Curiously, Jay-P has only played in: 8 games last year, 7 games in ’21, 3 games in ‘2o, and 7 games as a first time Qb1 starter in ’19. Do you see a trend here? Eye see a Qb1 who has had a slew of dings & dents. Most of the leg and/or ankle variety; (St.Philp bless). Or, rather, a Qb1 who has been Qb(n)one in at least 25% of his scheduled contests/season! As the next time Mr. Plummer gets unstopped and plays a whole entire docket will be his… first. Godspeed. As Jake was the no.3o Qb in the country by ESPN.com; and the 451st baller overall from: 247Sports. This was an okay to pretty-good Gilbert, ‘zona Qb1 D-1 P5 prospect; though not a brilliant one. Now mix in his kinda pokey looking 4.95 forty; his seasonal decline in rushing each-n-every year (–129 yards last year); and his 20-Yard Shuttle of a modest looking: 4.51 and you see what Eye means. What Eye means is that this kid does not get outta the way really well -much less often enough- and that plus his limited kinetics make this a ceiling kinda guy to we. As Jake is a highly serviceable+ Qb1 or a veteran game-manager extraordinaire. As Plummer fluctuates roughly between ~55% and 72% passing days during any given season(s). He is kinda good when he is good; -or in better health- and he struggles to get it going good when he is not. Jake does court a: ‘quick release’ and he is not scared easily; typically riding any given V-passing-cup for as long as he can stand (pun intended) to take an additional looksee downfield. Jake is not the best or snappiest mid-field thrower and mobility or shake-n-bake is not his 70’s entrée thang. This is a rotisserie or potluck-caliber guy. You will get a good one for a few weeks; a missing one for a few more and a possibly dingy one after that to boot. Jake -to his credit- does a lotta off-season camping; so, the will to get well soon and actually improve is onboard. It is more so, that this kid is prolly pitching Mister Scott footballs. Or, ‘giving all she’s got.” (And frankly would that we all could say that). As splits went: better Home than @Away Qb1, better in the 1st-half than 2nd; and yet a closer with November (betterment) to remember. Go fig’ on all of that? ’cause this is not a bad kid with bad stories, this is rather a kid all Pivot1 grown-up and basically outta ‘headroom’ itself.
• the: Qb2-Qb5 room: Yes, the strapping or Bearish veteran chucker can spread it around. Granted, however, there are other options with 2o22 backup Brock Domann, 2o21 main backup Evan Conley, and a slew of other imported passers – transfers Harrison Bailey (UNLV, formerly Tennessee) and Brady Allen (Purdue) – are all on the way. This is a very DEEP Pivot room. Maybe the deepest we will see all ’23?

  

• oLine: some (possibly) still stirred-up MI(not)LF’s might recall this one… Bryan Hudson. 2nd-string All-A.c.c. C2 does not suck. Kinda good in Pass-Pro’, among the whole oLine A.c.c. best in run-shapes as the G-c-G vanguard itself goes. A very quality run-blocker here men. Overall, this is a solid/veteran oLine; built around all-stars Bryan Hudson at C1 and Renato Brown at even-Ot1. The transfer portal is helping the odd or left side out with Tackles Eric Miller (Purdue), Willie Tyler (Rutgers), and  G1 John Paul Flores (virginia) filling the holes. Possibly opening the same.
• Wr’s/Te1: this is a real hodge-podge or mishmash here… as (nearly) nobody here was here last, year! Jamari Thrash comes atcha from: Georgia State, where he caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards and 7 TD’s. Jadon Thompson comes in from Cincinnati, Jimmy Calloway from Tennessee and Kevin Coleman from Jackson State to try to not leave the Cardinal catch-crop blue in the face. Wr3, Ahmari Huggins-Bruce is the Cardinals’ only returning (real) contribution in situ or having played in Kentucky this time last year. Georgia State’s Jamari Thrash is the most experienced and dangerous of the bunch. Kevin Coleman was a big-time Wr1 recruit for ‘neon’ Deion Sanders at Jackson State, and Cincinnati’s Jadon Thompson and Tennessee’s Jimmy Calloway will be thrown into the rotation. Tight ends play a big role in Brohm’s offenses, and the spotlight will be on 6′5″, 26o lb. stud Te1 recruit Jamari Johnson to step in right away. He’s an interesting one… has every tool in his bat-belt to boot.
  BONUS: one source (in August Camp) told me that he thought Jamari Thrash had a chance to break Louisville’s single-season receiving record. Even if he does not, that’s TALL praise indeed, in spades actually. Wr’s are okay on verts not as okay on wides.

• O overall:
• ∑ (summary): returning O production=61% (85th most). Brohm’s offensive system didn’t rip it up at Purdue quite as much as sum would have you misthink. Check it… Purdue finished 55th in the nation in total offense and 74th in scoring offense last year in ’22. In ’22 Louisville finished 48th in total O and 73rd in scoring O. In 2o21 you ask? Well, Purdue was 33rd in total offense, and Louisville was 21st. The bad 2o2o year for both programs? Purdue 70th, Louisville 29th. Purdue was 75th in the nation in total offense in 2o19, and in Satterfield’s first season, Louisville’s O finished 24th. Do you see(s) what Eye means, yets?
  What I means is… is this ex-L’ville-Qb1 offensively or fu’fensively oversold?
  (Film study): L’ville runs a typical ’23 Spread/Gun set. At 3 to 4-wide intensity with a single Hb1, who is actually behind the Qb1 at times. Their Rb’s are good, they are deep and they are diverse. They run to set up high high-percentage throws when they pass. Jack is not a rusher as his –34 career carrying yards would suggest. Tho’ he does operate mo’ R.P.O. or options looks over in Kentucky.
  (hare)-Jordan is just that, a kinetic, darty rabbit of a rusher who really does jitterbug WW2 style well to be an undersized Rb1 between the Ot’s. Like a d.McClease max’ with better court vision if you will. He also houses a lotta 1-cut looks, a very vertical player when fresher earlier in games. As he is dynamite in the 1Q and even better in the 2Q, then mo parts tasseled M-80s after that. Though he does Plunge or Iso’ well following a Fb/H-back into the zero (right) or 1-hole (left). The Fb/H-guy is a real O.G. lead hitter. He really good at blocking in front of whichever L’ville Rb.
  O plays pitch-n-catch on quick nearly left Coast looks. Lotta angular, old-school Outs, and not much rounding off or waiting on the ball. Almost throwing to a spot if you will. They really under-zone flood things well and our Lb’s need a good pass-combat game right about now. Not much Te love; though their Wideouts really stretch things 53.33 yards sideline-to-sideline in front of your S'(s).
  L’ville will even work under C (remember him?) in a Big-8 era deep I. They counter and scissor a lot here. They also yesteryear toss-sweep off of this.
  Also saw a few Pistol sets. As wimminz species rejoice… this is a: “Multiple-O”!!!
  This is a good O. Not epic or whoop you individually O, tho’ good overall. It is patient, and you will even see oLineman hustling in late to block way way downfield. They trying to be sure. Plus it is VERY balanced. Thus, making it a very difficult O to Key or defensively isolate and make them beat you some way that you prefer.
  That said, Jackie is not an Onassis on pigskin integrity; he has butterfingers and he will let his azz overload his arm and make a forced throw at times. Jack is our lifeline IF, he has one of his about 1 in 3 splotchy looking career games. After that he is a good quick-hurler or everything Fu’ would want a JAX/Willis hybrid to be.
• 56% run:pass 44% mix. Jordan catching the ball (or Wr2, Bell) gets a LOT of YAC, they are your secret sauce offender here. Under first-year head coach Jeff Brohm, the Cardinals will feature a more potent passing game than in previous years. Adding California graduate transfer quarterback Jack Plummer to the roster will help in that effort; Plummer spent his first four years with Brohm at Purdue before spending one season with the Golden Bears. With the Boilermakers, he totaled 3,4o5 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions after redshirting in 2018. In 2022, his lone season at Cal, Plummer threw for 3,095 yards, 21 TDs and nine interceptions. Louisville’s most obvious strength on offense is the returning running back duo of Jawhar Jordan and Maurice Turner, who also will have the opportunity to catch the ball out of the backfield now more than before.
• Coach Brohm says his magic number is: a buck-seventy or 17o yards rushing. He is .875 coaching historically when posting ground-gaining digits north of that. So, Eye’d be inclined to agry, and that from a passing-fancy reputational coach mind yah.

Offensive letter-grade:

‘cards Special Teams: (return)

Louisville drop-kicked ’22 P1, Mark Vassett, now at Colorado, to the transfer portal after he had served as the team’s punter for two years.

This year Louisville ranks 91st in Net Punting and so does newfangled P1, Mr. Brock Travelstead.
Double dipper here folks… twice times twosies in footsies.
Which does leave your Travel Roster+1.

• 1o2nd in Punt Returns |  113th in KO returns.
• 48th in punt coverage | and 68th in suicide-squad.
• L’ville has blocked o kicks and allowed o kicks to be blocked.
• L’ville has blocked o punts and allowed o punts to be blocked.
• BONUS/Wildcard1: Wr, Kevin Coleman should also see action as a return specialist this season. He had success in both roles at JSU, earning 2o22 SWAC Freshman of the Year honors. This guy has that playing-with-fire vibe to him if you kick to the, same.

ex-K1, James Turner and his stunningly Cobra Kai 80’s p0rnstache are done/gone. Or fighting Cubas/rookies for the: “Wolverines!” PK James Turner to Michigan is a bit two-step hit. He of the: mere: 2o-of-22 field goals last year.

This year that leaves… Brock Travelstead. Who handled most of the kickoffs last season and returns in that role for ’23. In addition to playing wide receiver for U of L. Punt, Pass, Kick vujà dé all childhood over again. Brocky has leigt range out to the mid-fiddys (5o’s). As he and sasquatch both have a big… foot. He can kick it from here to Tennessee. The only thing is that it might land in… Kentucky. Typical punch-style kicker. Could see a block here for the rangy lowercase line-drive look. PROPs @Texas to boot.

Anywho… this is basically a 3 in 4 Field-Goaler historically as make-percent goes. 6′1″, 2o5 lb. kind flinty looking K1— well, as much as any K1 can look flint… locked. Buzz cut hair, looks like he is militia locked, cocked, and ready to rock. Like Sons of Revolution right as rain. There is an edge to this kid here you seldom K1 see. If you doubt any of that or think me trying to out-FOX you? Do not doubt on his being named Team Captain (1 of 3) or on his having worn his football uniform to his graduation last campaign. Scholastic hurler, so trickeration must be on the table here to. He also wears a crown in the locker room and that takes cock of the walk to a whole new different level. All work and no play will not make this Brocklyn a dull, boy. 247Sports no.5 K1 outta high school does not suck. Neither did the silver medal or runner-up for National K1 of the ’21 year. Has tried to run one this year (punt-fake), and has six, that’s (6) punting boots of ≥ 55 yards thus far. Does handle KO duties which also speaks to his leg strength. Did Eye mention the leg-Talent, yet? That and he has three more ’23 tackles than you and I do combined! Mister Travelstead seems a keeper K1, P1, and KO-Specalist1 to me. The only calculus is… how much headroom does his legroom have, here?

As this kid is something of a kick coup as a rarefied ***** or penta-star kicking recruit goes. No word yet if he gets called for traveling in hoops or has a N.I.L with Travelers itself.

Jackson State transfer Kevin Coleman should also see action as a return specialist this season. He had success in both roles at JSU, earning 2o22 S.W.A.C. Freshman of the Year honors. He was good in traffic and can scoot too.

Special Teams letter-grade: return game caps this a bit though this is a B-level grouping overall.

Unit Rankings:

1. L’ville D.
2. L’ville O/VT D. (tied).
3. VT O.

X-factor(s):

• motive: The Hokiebird’s have some kinda squirrely ‘control own destiny’ A.c.c. title tilt path in remote theory in play here. L’ville needs this win to say the same too, and they are the hostess with the mostess. Both should be up, though I’d doubt the homesteaders are up less. EDGE=Cards.
• weather: Should favor offense or in this case, the mo’ matriculated Qb or Jacky of L’ville. EDGE=Cards.
• health/off-field: …there are ‘whispers’ that L’ville is ducking/hiding some hurts here. 40% of 1’s on oLine and 2nd-layer and hind-4 alike on D. That would EDGE=VT, if/when legit/true. If it is Talse, (mostly false) this one is a a push. Time=tell…
• penalties: L’vile fields s a Metro’ looking ‘whistling’ advantage here. Denny Crumb polyester gone full-court press. It is not umpossible, though 3o-50 spots is enuff of a marker to expense you any close game late. EDGE=Cards.
• intangibles: T.O.P. (time of possession) is nearly awash here… just a few sec’s in L’villes favor. Though they are up a decent amount in all-important Turnover Margin and VeeTee must play a squeaky-clean game to have any looksee at nicking this one, late. EDGE=Cards.
• fatigue: VeeTee is +2 for this one here. EDGE=Hokies, we have the logo-3 fresh legs this time out.

 

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of  ‘cards who could shuffle @Tech=12

the takeaway:

…the takeaway here is that Louisville is trying to get taken with its very own mini-me version of Foster’s on Tap (on D) and its very own Fu’fense on O.

How well will this O + D (seemingly) grand chalkboard coaching the verb mesh take as a marriage goes remains to be seen. Even if it seems okay enough so near growing into so far itself…

As this concoction should seem familiar to Hokie Fans everywhere.

Brohm is legit as a offneisvve guru goes. No if’s and’s or butt’s need apply there.
And if the D is right as rain? And if too many chefs do not spoil the gumbo?

This could be a bit of an All-Coaching Conference sleeper pick… down the road.

^^^(not ½ bad for going on 5+ months, ago)^^^

***

formulae here favors

Brohm’s offensive system didn’t rip it up at Purdue quite as much as most -not named little ole me- would have you think. As in… Purdue finished 55th in the nation in total offense and 74th in scoring last year. Louisville finished 48th in total O and 73rd in scoring. In 2021 you ask? Purdue was 33rd in total offense, Louisville 21st. The bad 2o2o year for both programs? Purdue 7oth, Louisville 29th. Purdue was 75th in the nation in total offense in 2o19, and in Satterfield’s first season, Louisville’s O finished 24th.

…as in… the real formulae might just favor patience over patient or time itself.
This may take a season or three to, cook.

Game Ball or mag·num o·pus:

L’ville D… check it…

The Cardinals limited Duke to 2o2 yards for their first shutout of a ranked opponent in school history and second overall this season.

They’ve held their last four foes below 3oo yards for the first time since 2o13-14.

#ChallangeA.c.c.epted… there are 1,440 minutes in a day and we gotta suffer every single second of every single minute of all quad-quarters at a proverbial 11o% calorie burn here.

(And you gotta wonder where that leaves us for up on Chestnut Hill, right?)

the optics…

…the Eye test here says… that the Brohm Boilermakers had a Top-22 passing offense in each of his final five years at the school, getting all the way up to No. 5 in 2o21. Or in other words, the best time to face this passing fancy club was in the 1-hole. Or at least early September early on; before they get their throw-points down pat. That, and you’d better have some cover guys to match up downfield vs. any Coach Brohm bomber squadron.

the skinny…

Louisville wanted Brohm. He’s the favorite son who was born in Louisville, stayed home to go to school, and was considered a mortal lock to take this gig at some point in his coaching career. Right?

ex-big whistle (not Nati’s head coach): Satterfield won just 51% of his games in four seasons at Louisville, and no one was the slightest bit shocked to see him move on. (The ‘whispers say he was selfie-shopping his ownself). And even with his teams winning 18 games -sure, throw in the Fenway Bowl he didn’t coach in- over the last three seasons; he is gone. Right?

Brohm won 51% of his games in six seasons at Purdue and won 19 games over the last three years.

Do you 2-quarters and a penny-ante see(s) what Eye, means?

Be careful what you wish fo’… it might get, you!

WWI: “The Great War”…

Trench Warfare favors…

Lo.FM (Long-field Management©)

• L’ville is a serviceable 55th best in 1st-down O scheduling | whereas VeeTee is a downright salty 15th best in 1st-down D allowed.
• VeeTee is a near-average 71st best in 1st-down O scheduling | whereas L’ville is a brutal 8th best in 1st-down D allowed! (wow).
• L’ville is is a below-average 85th best in 3rd-down O | whereas VeeTee is a quite reasonable 36th best in 3rd-down D allowed.
• VeeTee is, however, a balky looking 111th best in 3rd-down O | whereas L’ville is a nasty hood-rat 9th best in 3rd-down D allowed! wowow!

Lo.FM Analysis:
Well, this one favors the D’s to be sure. Though the L’ville O’s are okay to kinda so-so and that wins both bookend downs for them. The L’ville D is dealing from the bottom of the deck on the bookend downs with a signature 3-finger-slide. So, either the VeeTee D must level up to cover the O’s arse or the O must expel any and all stink and (somehow) not get swamped on the 1st-stanza here. EDGE=Cardinals and their downright stifling D.

TTT (Time To Throw©)

• The Cards are a blocky 25th best in T.F.L. (tackles for a loss) allowed O | whilst the Hokies are a spartan 11th best in T.F.L. inflicted D! (dangnation…)
• The Hokies are, however, 75th best in T.F.L. allowed O | whilst the Cards are a nearly as moderate 7o best in T.F.L. inflicted D. (Curious…)
• The Cards are a centrist 71st best in Sacks allowed O | whilst the Hokies are a thoroughbred Trojan horse 4th best in Sacks inflicted D! (wowzo!)
• The Hokies are a matched 71st best in Sacks allowed O | whilst the Cards are a decent 45th best in Sacks inflicted D.

TTT analysis:
Well, here it is… your one and only one single, solitary, statistically backed, science-fact, objective, Coach Spock method to the 7-year-itch, madness. IF, the Fn’ Gobblers Foxtrot with the Cards? It will be via playing a high-water mark of plum gettin’ after peeps with our burnt-orange Pry-bar hair on fire. As VeeTee must not only win this, VeeTee must go adam bednarik of hateful w.v.u. fame and ‘punk’ this. Prolly needing a defensive major or a 6-pointer scoop-n-score or pick-6 from this just the same. EDGE=VeeTee by at least a bit…

3-game splits…
So, here we sees that… VeeTee is is bettered by about ≅5o ypg of total O of late. All of it on the ground as the O&M airwaves are down by closing on a 1st-down. The L’ville halt-unit is however contracting by a nearly matching ~–41 ypg less allowed of late! wow. And they were pretty damn much vice-like already at that. Recently and we see that they are playing some: Hard, Smart, Tough or black-n-‘Decker D. As they are really super strict vs. the rush and pretty dang strict vs. the hurl. This is a very quick, spry, high on-court I.Q. D, too.

When L’ville has the rock. we sees that they are cutting the deck for a socking –76-ypg worse of late! wowow! As the Cards are nearly wings-clipped as their throw shapes go. Just a little down on rushing and way down on chucking the pigskin itself. As Plummer and Co. are not real super far removed from approaching stall speed in aerial terms. The Gobblers have stiffed stop-unit-wise by another nearly matching ~–39 ypg less allowed of late! As Marve and Co. have nearly slammed the carrying the mail door shut down on the ground. Which makes the modest airwaves slip a modest slip indeed. (Plus, that is pretty wild when you see just how dingy/denty the O&M defensive backfield has been for weeks— A.K.A. V.P.I. coaching the, verb!)

Edge=the Defenses. Plural. As you could/might type that this one has the makings of an ‘ugly game’ in basketball on grass terms here.

H/A splits…
So, here we see that… VeeTee is unsurprisingly about –fiddy or –5o ypg worse @Away than @home in Lane. Go fig’ on dat? Ha-ha. Though do figure upon the Techmen gobbling up nearly the same rushing yardage @Away, just a mite better here actually. Factually however the Hokie throw-fit O is mysterious and cooky out on the road. As our throw-fits are unfit by a whopping near –75 ypg worse! Meaning, if we have to really chase… we may get chased outta the building. We MUST maintain contact and stay within (run-shapes Drones+King-Tut’) striking distance early to have any shot at all, late. The Cardinal D is virtually 30 ypg thriftier @Home than @Away. They pour a mean bourbon in their L’ville halt-unit backyard; in particular in support of their D overall. As their neighborhood run and pass-fills fill in to the better virtually equally alike over in Kentucky. This is a good damn D @home ‘men! (6th roughest if you are interested).

We also see that… the Cardinal O is roughly about +35 ypg superior in the bluegrass state. As Louisville basically goes straight-flush on the ground and drowns you in a very northward-bound virtual +60 ypg bonus rushing on their home court. As they really do not need the tweleveteen whole entire whopping throw-yards they miss @Home. The Gobblers D however is not exactly Road Warriors Animal+Hawk ready just yets. As they lilt by right at 60 ypg to the softer when visiting. The Marvelous ones are nearly a centennial or C-note or -1oo ypg available to the suck as traveling run-fits go. Maybe this was an earlier ’23 anomaly and maybe it was not’ We should ~8 PM know either way.

EDGE=Louisville, in particular, if they start to run away and hide on the ground. In serial particular if they begin to do this from the jump. We could be in for a long day if they run-shape shipshape our formerly leaky visiting U.S.S. Duck Pond early on.

Our handy dandy friend, the so-called: Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is merely calling for a totally krunk (kra-kra + drunk) looking ➕34-point Tech Triumph. LOL… Hopefully, Eye am proven ‘rong… nevertheless, his single-shot data point (Pitt’) seems rather dismissible to me.

Triangle Theory says that… you need to find me a second and a third (in common) vertice!

the call…

Inspect, circumspect, retrospect, suspect,

• Inspect, seems to want to connote, posit, and aver that we are -or maybe even have- learnt how to win @Home.
• circumspect, however, seems to hint, whisper, and vibe that this one is not a home one. And as said above, home is where the Hokie heart is under Pry bar so far. (.
• retrospect, as .857 of Pry’s wins are like totally New River, Valley.
• suspect, ’cause .833 of Pry’s L’s are Road hard and hung up, wet.

L’ville Projected S&P+: 44th.
L’ville Projected S&P wins: 8.1 W’s.

–oOo–

So, when I ran the Pivot splits… Eye saw that Jakey -although something of a Smothers Brothers yo-yo’ routine on the season; and dropping three, that’s (3) multi-pick games- is about +18% to the great when running ball @home.

Eye also saw that Drones is about –7% worse @Away so far.

Such is a Pivotal near ~25% swing, vote.

Guess where this game, contests?

♥  ♣  ♦ ∪

In other words, we need the off -if not sucky- version of Jakey like a dead man needs a coffin. Which is to say… did you see or detect anything Home vis-à-vis Away all-read-dee? Additionally, several of the L’ville offensive stalwarts are: 23, 24, or a quarter of a century, old. That’s not just football, that’s Game of Life experience and learning curve checkmarks and therefore advantages as well.

the sportlight…

Here in the sportlight and in final words… that seems a mite unlikely 383 miles Nor-by-Nor-West to we.

As Louisville was picked to finish eighth and Virginia Tech 11th before the season started. And yet as things (currently) stand, both stand to make a (back)Door-Dash at a potential Atlantic Conference Championship run.

---

---

Then Eye ran the βeta’s for this week…

Suffice it to say that Louisville is ahead; be that solidly or just enuff’ly. They are not (entirely) beyond our reach— although they are likely beyond our Coach Ro.Browing, grasp.

Meaning: we almost surely need(s) some L’ville help(s) if we wanna steal this one here. And we must land our A-game punch.

🍁🏈🍁

The VerdicT:

The βeta’s spoke in potato-po-ta-toe, tomato-toe-mah-toe terms.
What we could do the Cards could do just a little bit -to mo’ than a little bit- better.

Efficiency itself in particular on D spoke to -if not screamed to- such.

So, and even while on vacay… Eye herby gar-ron-damn-tee a Vee, o, m, i, Tee.

L’ville is just a Bridge Too Far for Torggie and Co.

Here is hoping they save a few things and keep a few bullets in their F’n Eagle gun.
As streaking BeeCee is the other A.c.c. squadron on the, come.

However, if Pry somehow wins here— Pry summons what it takes and wins… out❗️

🙏>>>🏈

upset Index=28%

#EarthEatsPandora!

#wimps!

Virginia Tech=1o, Louisville=34

“LETS GO!“

Please support the VT F.C.A.!

“HOKIES!“

bourbonstreet**