One big thing: Miller Moss has chance to carve up Bowling Green's secondary
Louisville’s Jeff Brohm doesn’t like that one of the Cardinals’ bye weeks was this early in the season, but it still gave his offense time to clean up after a relatively slow start to the season — of course, compared to Brohm’s standards.
In the 28-14 win over James Madison in week two, quarterback Miller Moss was sacked three times, but in the end did enough to get the Cardinals the win, throwing for 151 yards on 13 completions and a touchdown.
Moss hasn’t had an excellent statistical start to his senior year; he threw two picks in the opener against EKU, but there have been flashes of playmaking, an accurate arm downfield, and athleticism in the pocket.
Tomorrow, when the Cardinals return from their bye week against Bowling Green, it’s time for Moss to lead Louisville’s offense to a clean, dominant performance with an elite passing attack.
In our “at a glance” preview, we discussed the Falcons’ risky defense, which takes chances, leading to turnovers or giving up a big play. So far this season, this has been the recipe to beating Eddie George’s 2-1 team. In BGSU’s lone power conference game this season, a 34-20 loss at Cincinnati, the secondary gave up 333 yards on 19.6 yards per completion. The Bearcats hit on six pass plays of 20 yards or more. With some nice use of play action and using the middle of the field, UC carved up Bowling Green’s secondary.
The Cards’ passing game is on the verge of eruption, entering the third game of the season with guys like Caullin Lacy and Chris Bell showing capabilities downfield. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Bell is explosive in space, even hitting 22 miles per hour on his 64-yard touchdown versus JMU.
Bell has been on the radar of several NFL teams since this past spring and possesses excellent straight-line speed, complemented by strength when running through traffic. He’s far and away Louisville’s receiving leader through two games, hauling in nine balls for 146 yards. The Cards slot receiver, Lacy, was bottled up for the majority of the James Madison game, with Louisville struggling to defend the pass rush. But the redshirt senior flashed downfield against EKU, also showing off his elusiveness on a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown.
The wide receiver duo of Lacy and Bell should give the Falcons a heap of trouble on the backend. The Bowling Green pass rush isn’t up to par with JMU’s, and the return of tight end Nate Kurisky will be valuable in multiple ways as a blocker and in the passing game. The opportunities will be there for Moss to pick apart the BGSU defense, but the Falcons have forced five turnovers this season and have done a reasonable job against the run. Still, it should be a step down from JMU.
For Moss, this is an important game exiting the bye week. He’s done enough to get by to start the season, but the Cards are just eight days away from their first ACC and road test of the season at Pittsburgh, and a defense that Pat Narduzzi always has dialed in. Building momentum should be a priority for this Louisville offense and its transfer quarterback heading into the ACC schedule.
These weird first four weeks of the season leave a lot to be seen a month into the season, as it seems we’re going to find the most about this team in the next few weeks. A bye week this early doesn’t do Brohm any favors, but it does give him an extra week to work with his quarterback and perfect the little nuances of the offense.
Keeping the ball out of harm’s way while still taking advantage of the opportunities downfield through the passing game will be key for Moss when Louisville hosts Bowling Green at noon, Saturday.
