LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — There were no statistics released from Louisville's first full scrimmage of fall camp Saturday. No play-by-play. No yardage totals or touchdown counts.
Jeff Brohm did provide a winner.
For perhaps the first time this fall, it was his offense.
"We have not been as good as this on offense throughout camp," the Louisville coach said after a closed scrimmage inside L&N Stadium. "This was a good day for us."
That was encouraging. The other side of it was not.
Brohm was pointed in his assessment of a Louisville defense that he believes has plenty of talent but gave up too many explosive plays, suffered several blown assignments and, in his estimation, lost some of its focus and toughness as the scrimmage went along.
"I was not real happy with the defense," Brohm said. "… Gave up way too many big plays and had a couple busts here and there that really cost us. So that needs to be fixed. But it's very fixable. It's a good wake-up call there for us."
That's the nature of a preseason scrimmage. Every offensive success comes at the expense of the defense, and every defensive success raises questions about the offense.
For most of this camp, Louisville's defense has given Brohm reason to feel good about it. Saturday, the offense finally made him feel better about itself.
Quarterback Lincoln Kienholz had his best review yet from Brohm in a game-like setting. Brohm said Kienholz made throws, handled opportunities when Louisville moved the pocket and continued to show a better grasp of the offense.
"I thought Lincoln had a good day," Brohm said. "It's good because he's had a good camp, and I think he's getting a better grasp."
The next step is finding the right balance in an offense Brohm wants to be multiple without becoming cumbersome for a quarterback in his first season running it.
"We're going to have to make sure we have enough in there to challenge the defense, and enough in there where he feels comfortable with it to execute early on," Brohm said, "where he can handle not only executing but calling the play and mastering what everyone's supposed to do."
Louisville threw the ball more Saturday than it has during much of camp. Brohm said receivers made plays, the tight ends were productive and the offensive line continued to make progress.
But if the offensive progress was welcome, the way some of it came concerned him.
Louisville has changed defensive leadership this season, with Mark Ivey taking over the play-calling duties. Brohm has encouraged an aggressive approach, but Saturday provided a reminder of the risk that can accompany it.
Brohm said some of Louisville's problems were execution. Some may have been calls that left the defense too vulnerable.
"Probably half of it is execution," he said. "Half of it is we've got to reexamine the play call and make sure that we're in something a little sounder, a little safer. Learn and manage when to take our risk and make sure when we do that we hit, and if not, then we've got to pull that back."
That distinction will be part of Louisville's review of the scrimmage.
Brohm said coaches will examine not only where players made mistakes but whether the staff put them in the best position to succeed. He also said some problems that surfaced Saturday were things he believed the defense previously had corrected.
"Sometimes, I ain't gonna lie, it's the call," Brohm said. "You've got to make sure you put them in the right position. They've got to understand the call. They've got to understand all the different combinations that could come at it and the adjustments. So that needs to be studied by the coaching staff, and we've got to do a better job of that."
Still, Brohm didn't sound alarmed.
He estimated four or five plays were damaged by assignment busts, noting that one mistake among 11 defenders can make an entire unit look bad.
And if Louisville was going to have those problems, Saturday wasn't a bad time to expose them.
"This is good. It happened," Brohm said. "I think our defense has talent and has done a good job. Getting in situations like this where it's as close to live bullets as you can, we just had a couple busts. All it takes is one guy busting out of 11 guys, and it makes everybody look bad."
The scrimmage also underscored a continuing issue at running back.
Isaac Brown, who had steadily increased his practice work during the week, did less Saturday. Brohm said Louisville continues to manage Brown's workload while trying to get him back to where the staff wants him physically.
Other running backs also are dealing with strains after a demanding opening stretch of camp.
"We've had some other running backs with a few strains too, because the workload has been pretty good," Brohm said. "We'll have to manage that. But it's something they all can come back from and get healthy."
The shortage has created opportunities elsewhere.
Among the true freshmen, Marlon Harbin has worked at both receiver and running back and continues to impress Brohm with his versatility and competitiveness. Gavin Waddell has made plays from the slot, while tight end Julius Miles has done enough that Brohm already is thinking about ways to use him.
"I think Julius Miles is an interesting tight end that can play outside and on the inside," Brohm said. "We've got to make sure that we have a package for him ready to go."
Veteran tight end Justyn Reid also had a good scrimmage, Brohm said, while Brody Foley is working his way back after missing time in camp with a concussion.
The Cardinals will move into a different phase of preseason preparation Monday when classes begin. The all-day rhythm of fall camp gives way to a more traditional practice schedule.
They'll get another test Friday, when Brohm plans a second scrimmage.
By then, he'll want Saturday's offensive performance to look less like a breakthrough and more like a trend.
And he'll want the defense's bad day to look exactly like what he hopes it was:
A useful one.
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