Gameday Central: Louisville Football vs Indiana

Louisville football is officially the road team against a sneaky tough Indiana Hoosiers squad in Indianapolis.

Louisville football travels to Indianapolis for another “road” game against Indiana on Saturday. The Cards will travel approximately 100 miles, while the Hoosiers will venture 50 miles to Lucas Oil Stadium, where the two regional foes will square off for the first time since 1986.

Indiana coach Tom Allen put together a magical run in 2020, but since then, the Hoosiers have been offensively challenged and struggled mightily against Power Five opponents. IU has only defeated Michigan State and Illinois over the last two seasons.

This is a chance for Louisville football to notch another Power Five road win, but also prove that its first half against Georgia Tech was a fluke more than anything.

Who: Louisville Football at Indiana

Where: Lucas Oil Stadium | Indianapolis, IN

What: First meeting since 1986

When: Saturday, September 16th at noon

How to Watch: Big Ten Network

How to Listen: 93.9 FM in Louisville

Series History: Indiana leads 2-0

Last Meeting: IU won 21-0

Spread Check: Louisville -10 (-360) | O/U 50.5

Thread Check:

Confidence Level: 7.2

Weather Check: High of 78, partly sunny; 3% chance of precip

Roof Status: Probably closed?

Second Down: Louisville football depth chart

QB: Jack Plummer
(8 other dudes)

RB: Jawhar Jordan
Maurice Turner
Isaac Guerendo

WR: Jamari Thrash
Jadon Thompson

WR: Jimmy Calloway OR Chris Bell

LT: Willie Tyler III
Trevonte Sylvester

LG: Michael Gonzales
John Paul Flores

C: Bryan Hudson
Austin Collins

RG: Renato Brown
Joshua Black

RT: Eric Miller
Vincent Lumia

DE: Ashton Gillotte
Ryheem Craig
Rodney McGraw

NT: Dezmond Tell OR Tawfiq Thomas
Selah Brown

DT: Ramon Puryear
Jeffery Clark OR Jermayne Lole OR Jared Dawson

Edge: Stephen Herron
Kameron Wilson
Popeye Williams OR Adonijah Green

ILB: Jaylin Alderman
Keith Brown
Stanquan Clark

ILB: TJ Quinn
Gilbert Frierson
Jackson Hamilton

Safety: Josh Minkins
Cam’Ron Kelly

Safety: Devin Neal
Cam’Ron Kelly

Punter: Brock Travelstead

Placekicker: Brock Travelstead
Nick Lopez

Kick Returner: Jawhar Jordan
Isaac Guerendo

Punt Returner: Kevin Coleman
Quincy Riley
Ahmari Huggins-Bruce

Third Down: What to Watch For

IU 3rd down D vs. UofL 3rd down O

Indiana has been strong on defense, allowing 15 points per game and only 23 against a playoff frontrunner in Ohio State.

However, the most crucial stat we dug up is the disparity between the Louisville football 3rd down offense vs. Indiana’s 3rd down defense.

IU is 4th nationally in 3rd down defense. Louisville is 129th in 3rd down offense after a 1-for-11 effort against Georgia Tech.

The Cards will have to find more ways to move the ball efficiently on first and second down to create more third and manageable opportunities.

Indiana will try to take away everything over the top, and the coaching staff will likely be best served to get the ball quickly into the hands of its playmakers.

Can Indiana QB Tayven Jackson continue momentum?

The Hoosiers began the year amid a quarterback “controversy”. However, it appears that Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson has won the job for the Hoosiers, and will look to continue to improve upon a stellar performance against Indiana State.

The redshirt freshman was 18/21 for 236 yards and a 180.1 rating a week ago.

Jackson was 1-for-5 for 24 yards against Ohio State.

Was the game against the Sycamores more of Jackson settling into the action, or a good showing against a bad opponent?

Louisville football should look to pressure Jackson early and often against the inexperienced QB.

Who is the next playmaker up for Louisville football?

It’s apparent that Louisville football really has something with the tandem of Jawhar Jordan at running back and Jamari Thrash out wide. The duo has accounted for 462 yards and 7 TDs through 2 games.

Receiver Kevin Coleman has also played a key role, going for 19.6 yards per catch and a touchdown of his own thus far.

Louisville football may need a supplemental playmaker to emerge against a stout IU defense.

I’d look for that to be a tight end.

Louisville’s Joey Gatewood is the only tight end to catch a pass this season; 1 catch for a 34-yard score against Murray State. Look for the staff to try to work in plays to the tight ends and be intentional about finding other options in Indianapolis.

Can the Louisville football offensive line hold up?

So far, so good for the Louisville football offensive line.

The Cards boast a front five that has only allowed one sack, and that was in garbage time against Murray State.

The starting unit has been as solid as you can get in the opening weeks, creating massive lanes for the backs and proving excellent in pass pro for Jack Plummer.

Louisville football will see its strongest test yet in Indiana’s front seven on Saturday.

Right tackle Eric Miller has been fantastic situationally for Louisville, but he has given up the most amount of pressures among his unit. Indiana has a prolific transfer duo up front in Andre Carter and Lanell Carr. Both are multifaceted run-stoppers and pass rushers, and both guys will look to exploit potential mismatches on the edge.

If Louisville football can hold up against the pressure, it will bode extremely well looking towards the rest of the season.

Can Louisville avoid self-inflicted wounds?

The only way that Louisville football keeps Indiana in this game is poor decision-making.

Untimely penalties and turnovers will allow IU to control the time of possession battle- Something Allen and co. will desperately want to do.

Indiana lacks the weapons on offense to keep up with a high-powered Cardinals squad, but would be completely content to pound the rock and make this an ugly one.

Hold on to the ball and this could be a pretty straight-forward day for Louisville. Lose the turnover battle, and you allow an inferior team talent-wise to hang around.