After righting the ship in its last game, Louisville will try to prevent Syracuse from doing the same Saturday when the Cardinals visit the Orange.
The Cardinals (3-3, 2-2 ACC) suffered back-to-back three-point losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina State before facing Florida State on a short week. However, Louisville pulled itself together in time to secure a comfortable 44-20 victory against the Seminoles despite trailing 14-0 early in the contest.
Isaac Brown ran for a career-high 235 yards and two touchdowns on just 17 carries, including a 97-yard score. Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz chipped in with two rushing scores of his own, as the Cardinals finished with 397 yards and six TDs on the ground.
The offensive display came in the first game since coach Jeff Brohm handed off playcalling duties to his younger brother, Brian, the team’s offensive coordinator.
“Brian’s been ready for a long time,” Jeff Brohm said. “He’s been with me, he knows the offense, he knows football, he’s extremely smart.”
Syracuse (2-3, 0-3) is coming off a 28-25 loss to Virginia in which the team led by double figures late in the third quarter before things fell apart.
The Orange find themselves in the midst of a quarterback quandary. The team’s original starter, Steve Angeli, is battling soreness in his surgically repaired Achilles tendon, while backup Amari Odom is dealing with a shoulder injury.
Even third-stringer Malachi Nelson suffered a shoulder/collarbone injury against Virginia, forcing Danny Lauter into the game during the fourth quarter. Syracuse coach Fran Brown seemed to imply Monday that any of the four quarterbacks could be a possible starter this weekend.
“There’s a lot that’s going to happen within these next 48 hours,” Brown said. “You’ve got to go through these next 48 hours first and then we’ll continue to move on and take it from there, getting them as many reps as possible.”
In either case, the Orange will continue to rely on Umari Hatcher, who had eight catches for 126 yards and a touchdown against the Cavaliers. He has 37 receptions for 560 yards and six TDs this season.
Jeff Brohm cautioned that his team will be ready.