"I'm a baller": Clev Lubin, Wesley Bailey, Louisville's defensive line steamroll James Madison

Louisville defensive end Wesley Bailey turned towards the James Madison sideline and waved the Dukes goodbye as the clock dwindled on Friday night. 

It was fitting. 

It wouldn’t have mattered, but it was also fitting that the Cardinals’ front seven was on the field with the opportunity to seal the deal with a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter. In fact, in the 28-14 win over James Madison, the Louisville defensive line arguably won the game. 

“It’s a beautiful thing, anytime you get to see the defense come together and just play football, it’s always a blessing,” said Bailey. “We did a great job communicating. We made some mistakes on the front and backend, but at the end of the day, it’s about the next play mentality.”

Statistically, the Cardinals’ pass rush was dominant. But you wouldn’t have guessed that with the way the game began, hence the “mistake(s)” Bailey mentioned. 

After Louisville’s offense went three and out in the game’s opening drive, the road underdog, JMU, decided to take a shot. On its first play, James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III threw on the perimeter, confusing Louisville’s defense as Dukes tight end Lacota Dippre was streaking downfield with no red shirts between him and the goal line. The second throw of the double pass missed. The Cards caught a break. And from then on, the Louisville defense had one of its most dominant performances of the Jeff Brohm era. 

James Madison is no slouch. They’re well-coached, talented, and should be considered as one of the best group of five programs in the country. With two quarterbacks in Barnett and Matthew Sluka, and an elite rushing attack, the U of L defense knew it would have its hands full on Friday. The Dukes put up 300+ yards on the ground in week one, but the Cards’ front was stout — holding JMU to 126 rushing yards on 47 attempts, a 2.7 yards per carry average. 

Mark Hagen’s group didn’t just stop them on the ground, but gave both quarterbacks a heap of trouble in the pass game. 

Both Barnett and Sluka combined for just 137 yards through the air, a touchdown, and an interception, only completing 60 percent of their passes. By the end of the night, the longest James Madison play from scrimmage was a 26-yard pitch and catch with less than a minute left in the game.  

Talk is talk, and Louisville’s pass rush got a lot of it in the offseason. So far through two games, the group has walked the walk, too. The Cards got in the backfield for six sacks — a total that Louisville hit just twice last year against two of the worst offensive lines in the nation (Austin Peay, Stanford). Ashton Gillotte led the 2024 Cardinals in sacks with 4.5. This season, the newcomer at edge Clev Lubin already has 3.5. 

Lubin burst onto the scene last week with his two-sack performance, but may have had one of the biggest plays in his career against James Madison. 

With the Dukes back up into their own endzone, Lubin made an inside move on the left tackle where he got to Barnett and jarred the ball loose. It was recovered by Louisville’s AJ Green for a touchdown. Lubin finished the game with 10 tackles (seven solo), 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. 

“I’m a baller,” said Lubin. “This is the moment I wanted to come here for. I knew Louisville had the program for it, and I think the pieces that we have are showing up every weekend so far.”

This Card’s defense should have been gassed by the fourth quarter, with JMU running 25 more offensive plays than the U of L, but the depth of this unit showed off. 

Aggressive and ferocious are two ways to describe this Louisville pass rush two games into the season. Louisville has several bodies that they feel good about on the edge. AJ Green is ready for a big leap, and both Lubin and Bailey are the real deal. Even the Cards’ interior linemen, Rene Konga and Jordan Geurad, got consistent pressure as the night went on. 

“We’re a real resilient group. We’ve got a lot of guys who have been through a lot of things, whether it’s on the field, off the field,” Lubin said postgame. 

That resiliency is noticeable. The front seven has been dominant through the first two games of the season, and with a sleepy offense, a defensive touchdown, and a disruptive pass rush was exactly what the doctor prescribed.