Georgia Tech's
season rolls on this Saturday, and they will be hosting Louisville
at Bobby Dodd Stadium this weekend. The Yellow Jackets have lost three in a row coming into this game and they are big underdogs against Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals.
Ahead of Saturday's game, I decided to check in on the Cardinals with WHAS 11's Matt McGavic, who covers the Cardinals, and check on the vibes of the other team heading into Saturday, while I answered questions about Georgia Tech.
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Louisville
1. Has Louisville fixed itself after three early-season losses or are they just playing bad teams?
"Early changes seem to indicate that there is some positive progress. After starting 2-3, head coach Jeff Brohm made a couple big changes. Most notably - he gave up play calling for the first time in his head coaching career, giving the reigns to offensive coordinator (and younger brother) Brian Brohm.This was partly so that Brohm could have a more hands-on approach with fixing Louisville's defense. Speaking of which, the other change he made was streamlining the communication with the defensive coaches. Co-defensive coordinator (and defensive play caller) Mark Ivey is now in the booth, and defensive assistants Dave Elson and Mike Cassity are assisting him here. Sure, playing bad competition certainly helps. But it seems that the Cardinals have made progress in becoming a more complete team."
2. Has the defense made adjustments and improvements since being picked apart early in the season by Ole Miss and Wake Forest?
"Yes and no. This is still a defense that is very susceptible to the big play - especially through the air. Up to this point in the year, they rank 121st in 40+ yard plays given up (12) and 136th in 60+ yard plays given up (6). Against Syracuse, 145 yards came on just three plays - while 156 came on three chunk plays against Stanford. But in between those few big plays given up, Louisville has slowly gotten more consistent. In the game against Syracuse, they allowed just 3.96 yards per play in the other 80 plays ran by the Orange. As for the game vs. the Cardinal, UofL allowed only 2.95 yards per play on the other 66 plays. The secondary is still a massive Achilles heel because of their propensity for back-breaking miscommunication - but the front seven is slowly getting more push."
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3. How has Lincoln Kienholz improved over the course of the season?
"He has slowly become a more consistent quarterback over time. In the first few games, Kienholz was prone to having a slow start and not really kicking into full gear until the second quarter or even the second half. But over the last month, he has bucked that habit, and established himself as a top-five quarterback in the ACC. For starters, he's an impact playmaker with his legs.
Thanks to his gritty nature and physical rushing style, Louisville has had a good amount of success on designed QB rushes - especially QB power. Not to mention that he might be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in terms of accuracy when throwing on the run. Speaking of which, accuracy was a little hit or miss early, but he has gotten much better in this department. On top of the fact that, his decision making has been mostly great. Oh - and he has an absolute cannon of an arm. If UofL was still ranked, I wouldn't be shocked if he was generating more national buzz."
4. What is the weak point of this Louisville offense?
"It's a toss-up between the offensive line and pass catcher depth. On the offensive front, Louisville has had a myriad injuries - whether it's Anwar O'neal, Cason Henry, Cam Gorin or others. They've had to mix and match the OL multiple times this season because of injuries. And this is on top of the fact that the line has just been average at best.
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With the receivers, Louisville obviously has a great WR1 in Tre Richardson and tight end Jaleel Skinner is having a breakout year. But Lawayne McCoy - their deep threat - is set to miss a few weeks due to injury. Others such as TreyShun Hurry, Brody Foley, T.J. McWilliams and Jackson Voth haven't established themselves as consistent options in the passing game. They all have the potential - but just haven't realized it yet."
5. How could Louisville lose this game?
"Penalties, penalties, penalties. Louisville is one of the most undisciplined teams in the nation - committing 7.25 penalties for 72.00 yards per game, which ranks 97th and 122nd in the nation. A lot of these have been 15-yarders after the whistle, such as unsportsmanlike conduct. If they can somehow contain themselves and not commit boneheaded mistakes - I like their chances."
Georgia Tech
1. What has been the primary reason behind Georgia Tech's supremely disappointing season? What is the vibe around the program?
"The vibes around the program could not be lower. Brent Key made bad coordinator hires (as well as a bad O-line coach hire) and brought in a poor transfer portal class. The offensive line, which is always supposed to be a strength under Key, has been a disaster. They are missing Buster Faulkner and Haynes King in a big way, and nothing is really going well.
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2. How much of a difference has losing OC Buster Faulkner made for GT?
"It's been a huge difference. George Godsey has been a disaster of a hire and does not bring the same creativity and the run game has fallen off a cliff. There probably has not been a bigger coordinator downgrade in the country at this point."
3. Has QB Alberto Mendoza lived up to expectations up to this point?
"Early on in the season, Mendoza was playing perfectly fine. He managed the offense well, made the open throws, and was accurate. Lately though, it has been ugly. He has been loose with the football, fumbling four times in the Pittsburgh game (losing two of them) and only completing 16 passes for 81 yards. He was benched in the game against the Panthers and it seems like his confidence is waning a bit and I wonder if there could be a change this week."
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4. How has the Jackets' defense been so good against the pass - yet so bad against the run?
"The pass defense numbers are very deceiving. Teams are running the ball so much against Georgia Tech and not really having to pass much, but look no further than the Stanford and Virginia Tech games as to why the Yellow Jackets secondary is not as good as advertised."
5. What is the one thing Georgia Tech must do if they want to pull off the upset win?
"They need to hope that Louisville has a lazy performance and does not take the game seriously, which has happened under Jeff Brohm. The Pitt loss in 2023, the loss to Stanford in 2024, and the NC State loss earlier this season are examples of Louisville not showing up and playing well against inferior opponents."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/georgiatech as Behind Enemy Lines: Previewing Georgia Tech-Louisville With Cardinals Insider Matt McGavic
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