Louisville football comes off bye week to face potentially the best team in the country, the Miami Hurricanes. Here’s what to expect from Miami, and how the Cards can pull out the upset.

Welcome inside the lines for writeups that I will be posting weekly on Louisville Football. The purpose of these articles is to help you, the fan, gain a better understanding of the next opponent… and, also, to beat any and every allegation that fullbacks can’t read/write.

Bye week number two is finally over, and Louisville football is back every week through the end of November!

Taking a loss sucks, but it sucks even more when you have to sit on it an extra week during the bye.

The Cards take to the road this week for a big matchup vs the Miami Hurricanes. Miami is on a roll and hands down the best team in our conference at the moment. Head Coach Mario Cristobal has done a phenomenal job with getting the right mix of transfers and young guys from high school to come in and make an impact for the team.

Let’s take a look at what we will be seeing from Miami this week. 

Miami Offense

Offensively, Miami goes as quarterback Carson Beck goes. Beck, a Georgia transfer, is blossoming in a resurgent season after being injured last season. Behind this offensive line Beck seems to have all day to throw the football.

Much like last season with Ward, Beck looks like he could smoke a cig while in the pocket with the amount of time he has. Beck looks like a true NFL quarterback while going through his progression. He a really pretty deep ball as well.

The thing that henders Beck is his play making ability with his feet. He is basically a non threat if he were to ever take off to run the football. 

Beck’s main target this season has been true freshman Malachi Tony. Tony is FUN to watch as a football fan, but terrifying to watch as an opposing teams defensive coordinator.

Miami is not afraid to move this kid all over the field. My favorite comes from the Florida State game where Tony was motioned from one side of the field, to a squeeze set on the opposite side, but Tony was aligned with his inside leg on the outside leg of the tackle. That motion set Tony up with a mismatch nightmare for the defense, leading to a Miami touchdown. Tony knows how to use his size and leverage to get open, which reminds me of former Louisville football star Tutu Atwell a lot. 

Rushing wise, Mark Fletcher Jr. will be the hammer for the Canes. Fletcher is a back who is currently averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Cristobal looks to Fletcher to keep this team ahead of the chains and on schedule. Watch for Miami’s offensive line to make things muddy up front with Fletcher making them right at the end of the day with a good cut.

Fletcher is not much of a receiving threat, but Miami will run screen plays that involve Fletcher. 

Miami Defense

Defensively, Miami is led by a name ALL Cards fans will know, Reuben Bain Jr. Bain is going to be a menace on the field Friday night. He is basically the complete package when it comes to the defensive line.

Bain rushes very hard, his get off is top tier, he possesses violent inside hand placement, there truly aren’t many flaws in his game. Bain will play very fundamentally sound football as well. Be it trick plays, misdirections, QB options, it does not matter. Bain is going to be in the spot his coaches have aligned him to be. 

Bain’s partner on the line is redshirt senior Akheem Mesidor. Like Bain, Mesidor has a great get off and violent inside hands. Usually you can say, “okay if we shut down X, we don’t have to worry about Y on the opposite side of the ball because he isn’t as good.” Well folks, this is not that situation. Our offensive line will have their work cut out for them this week with these two guys.

Together, these guys have helped Miami generate the No. 1 non-blitz pressure rate in the country at 47.2%.

Rounding it out for the defense, we have linebacker Mohamed Toure. Toure hits like a Mack Truck going full speed down the highway. The main thing that is noticeable between Toure and the rest of the LBs we have played this season is speed.

Toure plays FAST and will shoot gaps without hesitation. Which for our offense, has been a problem the entire year. 

How does Louisville football beat Miami?

Now you might be sitting there thinking how in the HELL do we have a shot here? Well, let’s look at the facts.

When it comes to Miami’s offense we have to stop the run first and foremost. A back that averages 5.5 yards per carry is a keep us on schedule back. So, let’s hit him in the backfield, wrap up, and get them playing behind schedule.

Secondly, we need pressure in Beck’s face the entire night. Beck is far too comfortable in the pocket, so let’s make it as uncomfortable as possible on him while limiting one-on-one matchups with Tony as well. 

One thing to keep in mind: Miami has not faced a defensive front seven as stout as Louisville’s yet this season.

Per PFSN College, Louisville football ranks 9th among the best defenses in the country, boasting Rene Konga as a first-team midseason All-America selection and Rene Konga as a second-teamer.

As an offense, Louisville football must establish the run game. To do that the offensive line is going to have to play an exceptional game. Quite frankly, they should be embarrassed from their performance vs Virginia. Multiple plays where guys are just standing killing grass on the field. Louisville must come off the line of scrimmage HARD and hit them in the mouth FIRST.

As for our quarterback, you have to play smart. The looping long pass throws will be picked off this week and staring down receivers will not end well. My thought process is to get into the quick game and control time of posession.

Get the ball out of Miller Moss’s hands as fast as possible to eliminate the threat of Miami’s pass rush and to try and eliminate bad offensive line play. It’s going to be a tough one, but if I have faith in any coach to get his squad ready to play for a big game, it’s Jeff Brohm. Thanks for reading and as always, Go Cards!