BOZICH | Brohm fixing Louisville QB room that mystified Satterfield | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Over the last four seasons of University of Louisville football, the Cardinals were quarterbacked in 46 of 50 games by a guy who was not recruited by the coaching staff running the show.

Scott Satterfield and his staff never got the quarterback room right at Louisville. Those days are over.

Jeff Brohm, the Cards' new leader, is a thoroughly modern college coach who understands the most important position on the field is quarterback. He also understands the most important back-up position is quarterback. Add the third- and fourth-team quarterbacks to the list.

The surest sign of the difference in how Brohm will run his program and how Satterfield ran the Cardinals the last four years will be the quarterback room.

That message was reinforced Tuesday with the news that Brady Allen, a four-star recruit who put up jumbo-sized numbers as a high school player in southern Indiana, will follow Brohm from Purdue to Louisville by transferring into the program.

A quarterback room that typically had empty seats during the Satterfield era is already packed with Brohm. This is the place where quarterbacks have thrived, starting with Johnny Unitas and stretching into the Teddy Bridgewater and Lamar Jackson eras. Quarterback play should not be an issue at Louisville.

Jack Plummer arrived from California with plenty of knowledge about Brohm's system because he played three seasons for the Boilermakers before he went West.

Allen got reps (and action in one game) as a Purdue backup last season.

Brock Domann returns after starting four games for the Cardinals last season. Evan Conley will start his fifth season in the program. Pierce Clarkson, a guy who committed to U of L under Satterfield and held his pledge with Brohm, is a freshman with four-star credentials. Unfortunately, he missed most of spring practice with an injury.

There will be competition — game to game, practice to practice, snap to snap. That's how it is at programs that aspire to win big. Darwin rules.

There will be an emphasis on throwing the football with imagination and determination. That's the surest way to put relentless pressure on opposing defenses.

Under Satterfield, the quarterback room often seemed out of focus.

Malik Cunningham, a Bobby Petrino recruit, started 44 of 50 games the last four seasons. Jawon Pass started two with Domann getting the other four.

Cunningham delivered many wonderful moments. He beat Pitt and Wake Forest last season. He had a game for the ages against Duke in 2021. He won a bowl game against Mississippi State in 2019.

But I always wondered if Cunningham was really the quarterback that Satterfield preferred or if he kept to the job because Satterfield was unable to recruit a prospect who played his preferred style.

There was the Chubba Purdy de-commitment on signing day. There were the departures Tee Webb and Khalib Johnson without making an impact.

I don't have those worries about Brohm and his staff. They will find and develop guys who can excel at the style the staff wants to play.

The arrivals of Plummer and Allen are signs of that. Playing time will be earned not given.

I checked the passing numbers that Brohm's quarterbacks posted at Purdue the last four seasons against the passing numbers at Louisville during that period.

Prepare for liftoff.

Starting in 2019, the Purdue passing attack ranked 12th, 16th, fifth and 22nd nationally in yards per game.

Louisville never ranked higher than 48th (in 2020) and slumped to 99th last season.

The per-game average over that period was 313 yards for Purdue, 229 for Louisville.

For the Boilermakers' quarterbacks, the average game was 28 for 43 attempts (65.6% completion percentage) and 2.3 touchdowns with one interception.

For the U of L quarterbacks, the average game was 16 for 27 (60.7%) and 1.7 touchdowns with 0.8 interceptions.

Over the last four seasons, Purdue threw for at least 300 yards 16 times, 400 yards five times and 500 yards three times.

In the same stretch, Louisville threw for 300 yards eight times and 400 yards once. The last U of L 300-yard passing game was Nov. 18, 2021. The last 400-yard passing game as Oct. 5, 2019.

The last 500-yard passing game was by U of L offensive coordinator Brian Brohm 16 years ago.

Expect a whole new world — starting in 107 days when the Cardinals visit Atlanta to play Georgia Tech in Mercedes-Benz on Sept. 1. The quarterback room is under control at Louisville again.