What to watch as Louisville and Boston College face off.
Set Number: X164430
THOMAS CASTELLANOS MIGHT JUST GO OFF
BC found their quarterback early on in their season opener. While Emmitt Moorehead looked good last year as a reserve and spot starter, he struggled a lot against Northern Illinois. Castellanos came into the game and showed that his dynamic playmaking ability would be a huge addition to the offense. He hasn’t looked back and the offense appeared to be crafted around him this past week.
Castellanos is a real talent with the ability to beat you with his legs as well as his arm. He has consistently shown that he can deliver the ball down the field with outstanding accuracy and he also does well to protect himself as a runner and take what is given as opposed to putting himself in danger of turning the ball over.
Louisville hasn’t shown the ability to rush the passer so far through three games and that has to worry the staff going into this game. If you let Castellanos sit in the pocket, he will find the open receiver or at least pick up yardage by tucking the ball and running. He could have a coming-out party this weekend after looking very good against a very good FSU defense last weekend.
LOUISVILLE’S DEFENSE HAS TO CREATE SOME HAVOC
Louisville has two sacks on the season. The defense is also ranked 116th in tackles for loss. The six turnovers by the defense are about the only thing the group has done to actually combat the other offense from doing what they want. This isn’t to say that the defense is bad, but the defense is playing passively so far this year. It’s not talent as Louisville has players like Ashton Gillotte and Stephen Herron on the edges with Dez Tell and Jermayne Lole being veteran talents inside.
Jeff Brohm has stressed that he wants an aggressive defense but I don’t know that I’ve been able to figure out what that means specifically. His defenses have been notorious for being passive but with the additions in the secondary that were brought in via the portal this offseason, I expected more pressures to be called. Ron English has the secondary to take some risks. That needs to start this week.
BIG PLAYS SHOULD BE APLENTY
Louisville has one of the best big-play offenses in the country. The emergence of a strong running game has opened up things for the passing game on top of the big plays Jahwar Jordan has brought to the table. With Jack Plummer making some very good throws down the field last week, there is a lot of potential for UofL to take advantage of a very average Boston College Defense.
On the other hand, we’ve all been able to see what it’s like when you have a dynamic player at quarterback. The best defenses can look silly trying to tackle a guy like Castenellos in the open field. Then you have the factor of an offensive coordinator designing the offense around that player. Throw in BC’s very fast wide receivers and this game could be full of big plays.
LOUISVILLE SHOULDN’T LET THIS GAME GET WITHIN THREE SCORES
BC looked flat-out bad through two weeks of the season. They let a Northern Illinois team that was coming off of a three-win season and NIU looked like the better team for the majority of the game. Holy Cross (A very good FCS team) ran for 268 yards, 7 yards per carry, and 4 touchdowns on them. While their offense looked better last weekend, they still struggle to run the ball, and that makes them one-dimensional.
As for Louisville, they haven’t played to their potential yet and it’s about time for that to happen. We’ve seen flashes on both sides of the ball but they really had no business being in close games with Georgia Tech or Indiana. This team is more talented than BC. It’s up to them playing as the more talented team.
