CRAWFORD | Brohm talks the good and the bad of Louisville's final camp scrimmage | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It’s always a bit dicey writing about a football scrimmage that you didn’t get to watch. The University of Louisville conducted its final scrimmage of preseason camp inside L&N Stadium on Saturday morning, with only friends and family in attendance.

No sketch artists or pool reporters were present. No leaked video or smuggled stat sheets.

Still, first-year Cardinals’ coach Jeff Brohm made no effort to dress up the workout, which was the team's final session before classes -- and game-preparation -- begin on Monday.

“We had some setbacks,” he said of his offense. “We had way too many penalties today. . . . We got off to a slow start, and then were able to pick things up halfway through.”

Though this is generally the time when coaches will voice public displeasure with a team to make sure to get its attention heading into two weeks of serious preparation for the first game, there’s not much choice to do anything but take Brohm at his word.

And his word is that while the team has made steady progress during fall camp, there’s plenty to clean up in the 13 days until Louisville opens its season against Georgia Tech in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium.

After Louisville’s second scrimmage, Brohm voiced concern that transfer starting quarterback Jack Plummer sometimes tried to do too much in long third-down situations, and acknowledged, “there was some of that today.” But he added that the team put itself in third-and-long far too often, and far too often with penalties.

“When we have some penalties and some things set us back, he's got to be smart and not try to do too much. And I think sometimes that can happen to a good quarterback when you're trying to impress. But he's got to take what the defense gives him. And we've got to be smart with our play calling and do what he does best. But you know, for the most part, it was a good day, it was productive and a lot of things to learn from.”

Brohm said he’s feeling comfortable with his offensive line depth, and likes the development he sees on his defensive front. While the defense has absorbed some injuries, he said when the secondary is lined up correctly and knows and executes its assignments, it has looked good.

“Early on our defense played well,” Brohm said. “They got pressure on the quarterback. They were able to disrupt routes. They were able to disguise coverages and fronts and give us a lot of different looks, and that gave us problems. I just think that if we can build on that, but also be precise in what we're doing and create some turnovers and sacks it'll definitely help us. We’ve got to play complimentary football. . . . If our defensive line is healthy, they can be very productive and do a really good job. I think our linebackers have improved. It's not a ton of experience, but they've have improved and we’re starting to settle on who the starters will be. I think the secondary took a few hits with injuries, but the ones that are out there -- the first line guys -- have done a really good job. We’ve just got to build some depth there just in case.”

Offensively, Brohm said, the team has playmakers, it just has to get them the ball consistently and have everybody understand, “that there’s only one football.”

From now until the opener, the focus narrows to Georgia Tech, and the playbook narrows a bit.

“We’ll work on game-type situations and plays from the sideline and substituting guys in and understanding the call and getting the call -- all those things are vital,” Brohm said. “I think if we know exactly what to do and how to line up and can go full speed, good things will happen. But you can't have miscommunication. You’ve got to be precise. . . . We just want to make sure that we're exact on things, and if that means, as we start to game-plan for Georgia Tech in more detail, we narrow things back quite a bit, we’ve got to do that.”