Three games, three losses, 13 days, four quarterbacks and still many questions linger after loss number three. With Will Gardner seemingly sidelined and Reggie Bonnafon seeing limited snaps, Louisville’s offense is left with either a young gun true freshman or the Lexington kid with just a little more experience.
When the first depth chart of the season was released, there were a lot of “or”s listed next to the potential quarterback’s names. Head Coach Bobby Petrino was playing his cards close to the vest and keeping Auburn and every other future opponent guessing.
Now it’s Louisville fans that are left with the questions as to what in the world is going on in the Cardinal offense. Lamar Jackson had a coming out party in Atlanta. Though the Cards dropped the season opener to Auburn, Jackson finished with 106 yards on 16 carries and many saying this was going to be a new era of Cardinal football.
Cut to one week later, when Houston came to town and the kid finished with two interceptions and just 168 passing yards. Kyle Bolin came in to replace Jackson in the fourth quarter and finished with 157 yards and a touchdown. John Wallace couldn’t make a field goal to tie it up, and suddenly Louisville found itself at 0-2, with yet another Top 25 team on the horizon.
Clemson came in for Louisville’s third game in 13 days, and Bolin got the start. He finished with 19 completions for 238 yards, no touchdowns, negative 37 rushing yards and two interceptions. If that wasn’t a long enough night, Bolin was sacked five times.
Petrino brought both Bonnafon and Jackson in on some special trick plays, which breathed a little bit of energy into the Louisville offense. But even three quarterbacks weren’t enough as Louisville lost to Clemson 20-17.
What this offense needs more than anything is consistency. As a young Louisville offense tried to regroup after three tough losses, they need to know who the go-to guy is. It looks like Bolin is taking the reins, and is a good fit in the Petrino offense.
Bolin is a pro-style quarterback that can make quick decisions and throw bombs down the field, his longest completion in the Clemson game was 55 yards.
The quarterback situation was a good element of surprise for opponents in the beginning of the season, and all of the quarterbacks show some skill that can be used in different situations.
Consistency will be key as they try to right this ship. Kyle Bolin seems to be the go-to guy, if he gets the start for Samford and this team can start to build some positive momentum.
