LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB)— The vibe around the University of Louisville football program remains precisely the way any coach or athletic director would script it 20 days before the start of the 2023 season:
Upbeat, dynamic and driving conversation.
Louisville football season ticket sales are approaching 36,000, an increase of about 20% over last season. Within the administration, there is talk of bumping that number closer to 38,000 before the home opener while adding as many as 10,000 new season ticket holders.
As expected, Cardinal fans are considerably more gaga about new coach Jeff Brohm, his staff and the rebuilt roster than they were about the outgoing regime.
Indiana is officially concerned. As I first wrote last winter, the IU administration approached their counterparts at Louisville about cancelling the 3-game series set to begin at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at noon Sept. 16.
Game 1 in the series will be played in 5 weeks. Game 3 will NOT be played in Bloomington in 2025, according to sources from U of L and IU with knowledge of the situation. Both schools have agreed to that.
Game 2, currently set for L&N Cardinal Stadium in 2024, remains under discussion but my sources said that IU would also prefer to scrub that game from its calendar.
Consider it a topic for Louisville fans to discuss Monday when a gathering of 1,200 or so is expected downtown for the season Kickoff Luncheon at the Galt House.
Expect questions about the IU series, the Cardinals’ season opener against Georgia Tech at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Friday night Sept. 1 and the Cards’ first legitimate scrimmage, which was moved to the Trager Indoor Practice Center because of rain Saturday morning.
Matching first teamers against first teamers, Brohm liked the play of quarterback Jack Plummer. He sounded upbeat about the play of his offensive line.
But he lamented several injuries, especially one that Brohm said would likely make defensive back M.J. Griffin unavailable for the 2023 season.
"We've had some nicks," Brohm said. "Unfortunately, M.J. Griffin will probably be out for the year with a lower leg injury."
Griffin, a transfer from Temple, put grit in the defense last season at safety. He started the last eight games, finishing with 45 tackles and two interceptions.
"DeAngelo Hutchinson (sophomore cornerback) will be out for an extended period of time," Brohm said. "So that hurt the depth there a little bit.
"Stephen Herron (defensive lineman from Trinity High School, who transferred from Stanford) has been nicked up a little bit. Should be back next week.
"And a handful of others are out for a short period of time. But overall you don't want to lose anybody."
A primary reason Brohm brought Plummer here from California is that Plummer played for him over three seasons at Purdue. Plummer is at ease in Brohm's offense and showed that Saturday.
"Jack's done a really good job," Brohm said. "He's a great leader. He understands our system. He can see the field. He can make all the throws.
"Just consistency. Being able to do that all the time is the goal and that's what really anybody. Sometimes third down, third and long he'll get a little greedy and force a few things. We've got to just be smart ...
"... I really want to build this thing around him so that he can have a great year. And we can win football games because obviously that makes a quarterback look even better."
Considering it was merely the first scrimmage and the opener remains nearly three weeks away, Brohm does not have to rush personnel decisions. He wants to study film -- and watch how his players react to competition.
"The key is being able to train yourself to play in game-like situations," Brohm said. "Put pressure on yourself to perform, demand the best from yourself to every single play, be able to focus and come back and do it whether you're making good plays before or after bad plays.
"And those are things you've got to just train yourself to do. The next guy's got to be ready to go. We got to build some depth.
"And then we've just got to keep some of these guys healthy. So it's good to get good live action. And it'll be it'll be fun to watch the film and see who really stood out."
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