LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Jawon Pass will start at quarterback for Louisville against Notre Dame next Monday night.
That’s not breaking news. That’s confirmation of what everybody anticipated from the minute quarterback Malik Cunningham missed extended practice time with a knee injury.
U of L coach Scott Satterfield said Pass has enjoyed practices with extreme accuracy of 73-74%. Satterfield also said Pass has worked though other drills when the number was closer to 50%.
Expecting 73% is more than unreasonable. Teddy Bridgewater and Stefan LeFors threw as accurately as any passers in U of L history. Neither delivered a season with 73% completions.
But 50% won’t work.
Not only will it not beat Notre Dame. It might not beat Eastern Kentucky, Western Kentucky or others on the Cardinals’ schedule.
That might explain Satterfield’s answer Monday when I asked what areas of the team gave him confidence and about players who impressed him in camp.
He started with the receivers, raving about the potential of Tutu Atwell. Satterfield compared Atwell’s ability to T.Y. Hilton, the ace receiver of the Indianapolis Colts.
“I feel really good about five or six guys in that (receivers) room, particularly Tutu Atwell,” Satterfield said. “He can play for anybody in the country. He’s that kind of talent.”
Satterfield said he liked the depth at running back. He likes his offensive line, at least the first unit.
Linebackers, especially the depth at inside linebacker, were another group he mentioned.
“You’d like to have some more depth at every other position,” Satterfield said. “The one concerning thing is the depth. And we’ve talked about that. There’s a bit of a drop-off between our starters and second team.”
Not mentioned? The secondary. The defensive line. Tight ends.
And quarterback.
Surprising?
Not really.
For all of his faults as a head coach, Bobby Petrino was typically able to develop winning quarterback play at Louisville, Arkansas, and Western Kentucky.
Louisville did not have winning quarterback play last season. It’s absolutely one thing that sank Louisville’s 2-10 season.
The Cards’ 53.3% completion percentage was the program’s worst accuracy since 1992.
The 10 touchdown passes were the program’s fewest since 2009.
The 2,533 yards passing were the fewest since 2010.
Louisville’s passing game ranked 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 89th nationally — after ranking first in the ACC and 15th in the nation during Lamar Jackson’s 2017 farewell season.
Maybe Satterfield’s more encouraging style will enable Pass to relax and deliver on the production predicted for him as a four-star high school prospect in Georgia in 2015.
After redshirting in 2016 and playing in five games as Jackson’s backup in 2017, Pass threw two interceptions in the season opener against Alabama and at least one more pick in the next five games.
He was in and out of the lineup — and in and out of favor. His confidence appeared to crash. Safeties caught him having tunnel vision on receivers, a flaw well-coached defenses will exploit. He struggled with mid-range throws.
Nobody needed a coaching change more than Pass. The word around the program for months has been that Pass has relaxed and played with more confidence.
That’s wonderful. Will he be more productive?
Satterfield said he needed his quarterback to complete the occasional deep ball, but that he needed his QB to complete the mid-range pass consistently to move the chains.
“He’s been really good,” Satterfield said. “He’s had some days, a lot of days, where he, and we chart every pass in practice, where he’s above 74, 73%. Hovering around the 70s, which is outstanding.
“He’s had some days when he’s down around 50 percent. We’d like for him to be at least 60, I think, in order to give us a chance to win.
“We’re going to take some shots down the field. A lot of times when you’re taking shots, you’re not going to complete a big majority of those. But you are stretching the defense out and (saying), ‘Hey, you better back up.’
“But we’ve got to be able to hit the intermediate, short passes. We’ve got to hit a high percentage of those. And he’s done a good job with that.
“There’s times when he looks unbelievable, really, really good. He’s a, obviously, a big, tall, strong quarterback. When he stands in there and really follows through, he looks how you’re supposed to look.
“There’s times when his footwork is off and the ball sails on him. But he’s gotten a lot better with that.
“He’s got an opportunity to really have a good season and play well for us.”
Maybe Satterfield can reach Pass in ways that Petrino could not. A major improvement in Louisville’s offense depends upon it.
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