Our favorite moment from each Louisville football senior.
The Louisville football senior class of 2020 faced a ton of adversity. Through difficult times, however, this class brought Cardinals fans plenty of great moments and fun memories.
Here is a great memory, moment, or tweet from each Cardinal in the Louisville football graduating class of 2020/21.
Ean Pfeifer, TE
Big Ean Pfeifer is a converted offensive lineman who got to live out every big man’s dream for not one, but two graduate transfer seasons.
The running joke and absolutely awesome stat for Pfeifer for a good while was that each of his first three receptions were touchdown catches. While he was still mainly used as a blocker, it really is a hell of a site to see such a large man with such great hands.
Roscoe Johnson, WR
Roscoe Johnson, a graduate transfer from North Carolina, only recorded 2 receptions for 20 yards this season, but played important role, providing valuable depth for the Cards during a tough year.
Here’s Johnson juggling his balls off.
Puma Pass, QB
Puma Pass is a player that went through some adversity during his college career, but that does not mean that he didn’t provide us with some good memories.
Perhaps the biggest moment for Pass was his impressive start to Louisville football’s home opener against Notre Dame.
Dez Fitzpatrick, WR
I’m not sure a Louisville football player has been more underappreciated in the last decade than wide receiver Dez Fitpatrick.
After an electric redshirt freshman season, Fitzpatrick was kind of taken for granted as a sure-handed pass-catcher with ridiculous playmaking ability. Fitzpatrick leaves the Louisville football program in the top 10 in receiving yards.
Though we will likely appreciate him more when he is gone, Fitzpatrick’s top moments probably came when he captured the hearts of a fanbase during his aforementioned redshirt freshman season.
Rodjay Burns, LB
Jacob and I often marvel over the fact that Louisville football has to be the only program in the country where one of the starting linebackers will make a big play on third down and then casually jog back to return a punt.
That’s what Rodjay Burns brought to the table for Louisville football, and it has been an absolute pleasure to watch. A corner his first season at Ohio State and third year at Louisville, Burns was moved to linebacker under the new coaching staff, and thrived in the hybrid CARD linebacker role.
Maybe his best moment, however, was in that 2018 season when he housed a punt return in a monsoon.
Tabarius Peterson, DE
As we’ve mentioned, when the dust settles and Louisville football is heading into the 2021 season, there is a chance that many of these players wind up using their extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of COVID-19 restrictions.
If that were to happen, Peterson is near the top of the list of seniors who could stand the most to gain from returning to Louisville.
There have been so many flashes from Peterson, who has served as a linebacker and defensive end in his time as a Cardinal. It would be amazing to see what he could do with an extra year.
Peterson’s top moments may have come on special teams. Twice under Satterfield, he has had his number called on a fake punt, and he has recorded two carries for 40 yards and, most importantly, two first downs.
Isaiah Hayes, DB
Sticking on the trend of guys we’d love to see a bonus year from, how about Isaiah Hayes?
The Arizona transfer has taken some heat in his time as a Cardinal, but you can certainly see the growth that he has made on the back half of his senior season. Like Peterson at defensive, Louisville football is could certainly use another safety next year.
This season, Louisville football did a series each Monday called Ville 4 Change to coincide with the 2020 social justice movement. Hayes’ moment on the October 12th iteration of Ville 4 Change stood out to me.
Maurice Burkley, RB
If you are a fan of college football, I don’t know how you couldn’t be a fan of Louisville running back Maurice Burkley. The fifth-year senior out of Naperville, Illinois began at Louisville as a walk-on.
Although Burkley was a consistent performer under both Bobby Petrino and Scott Satterfield, he was always just a step behind the competition.
There are a lot of stories like Burkley’s out there; guys who aren’t quite gifted enough to be a power five starter but are not deterred by labels placed upon them by coaches and scouts.
Burkley’s persistence paid off right before his junior year when he was awarded a full ride scholarship by the coaching staff.
Robbie Bell, OL
Robbie Bell made the transition from center to right guard in 2019, and he has started every game since for Louisville football.
Bell and Cole Bentley were always battling for that center spot during the Petrino era, but the new staff came in and recognized the need to have both players on the field.
Bell’s flexibility and leadership are a testament to the player and person he became at Louisville.
A mainstay on Twitter, Bell has been a favorite personality of Louisville fans, as illustrated by his breakdown of Meredith Ledford’s cookies.
Derek Dorsey, DE
If you are plotting a graph of the ascent of Louisville defensive end Derek Dorsey, it’s a near perfect 45 degree line from his redshirt freshman year to now.
The Manual product was never the biggest or most athletic at his position, but he continued to bring it and showed marked improvement each year as a Cardinal.
There’s not a massive play or moment from Dorsey for me, but how about this awesome dad tweet from Jacob a few year back?
Russ Yeast, S
Russ Yeast was not a Louisville Cardinal after his sophomore season. The defensive back left the program after two rocky years at corner with an uncertain future lying ahead.
Then, Yeast decided to come back. The new Louisville football coaching staff welcomed Yeast back with open arms, and he became a new player in his final two seasons.
Yeast switched to safety, and was a mainstay in 2019 and 2020.
A perfect example of Yeast improving during his time in college was during Louisville football’s season opener against WKU. Yeast helped over the top, jarred the ball loose after a deep pass completion, and recovered his own forced fumble.
CJ Avery, LB
CJ Avery came to Louisville as a player that felt like he was meant to be on the field in a Cardinals uniform from day one.
As most of these seniors have, he went through some trying times and a lot of ups and downs with the program. However, if there was won constant on an ever-changing Louisville football defense, it was Avery.
Maybe his best play as a Cardinal was this ridiculous hit on Hendon Hooker on Halloween. Goodness.
Marlon Character, CB
Speaking of hard-hitting defensive players, none lay the wood better than Marlon Character.
The JUCO product became an integral piece on this Louisville defense, and man there were a lot of crazy hits to choose from.
Dorian Etheridge, LB
Alongside Avery in the middle for Louisville’s defense, Dorian Etheridge was another staple for the Cardinals’ defense.
Etheridge, like Avery, is as consistent as they come, versatile, and a sure tackler.
When thinking of his best moments, maybe his best game as a Cardinal came in a game at Pitt this season where we could really start to see Bryan Brown’s defense beginning to take it’s mold.
Mitch Hall, LS
The only player that goes more unnoticed than traditional offensive linemen is the long snapper.
To the average fan, it’s pretty difficult to tell if you have a great one, but it’s quite easy to tell if you have a bad one.
Hall, one of Louisville’s highest-rated recruits in his class, was a stud in his very specific field of practice entering college, and not much has changed over the course of his time here.
From Grant Donovan to Colin Holba and now Hall, Louisville football has been blessed in the long-snapping department.
Cole Bentley, OL
Louisville center Cole Bentley has been a mainstay on the offensive line during his time as a Cardinal.
Though he began on a porous offensive line under Petrino, Bentley has worked his ass off to become one of the best players in his position group. He routinely earned honors this season for his play at center, but this distinction from PFF is probably his greatest moment.
Cameron DeGeorge, OL
Louisville football needed a committee of players to fill the void of Mekhi Becton and Tyler Haycraft in 2020. So, when the Cardinals reeled in transfer Cam DeGeorge, it was huge for the offense.
The versatile offensive lineman was moved all over the line, filling in in areas where we initially expected younger Cardinals to help out.
I was going to say DeGeorge’s best moment was transferring from UConn (sorry, UConn) but then I remembered he put a man on his ass on one of his first plays of the season.
Jared Goldwire, DT
During the offseason, we talked a lot with former Louisville football defensive tackle GG Robinson. The 2019 graduate was adamant that his replacement was due for a breakout year.
Robinson was right. Defensive tackle Jared Goldwire was one of the better players on the defensive line this season, and was probably the strongest player on the team.
This one-arm sack against Syracuse is disgusting.
