Brown: Jeff Brohm has pieces in place for Louisville football to air it out, but depth key

A year ago, Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm did what he had to do on offense with personnel that didn’t entirely fit his scheme. With what the Cardinals showed in Friday night’s spring game, Brohm will be able to do what he wants to do offensively this season.

Here’s a hint, it involves the ball getting thrown downfield.

Often.

The passing game should blossom in Year 2 under Brohm now that the comfort level in his system from returning players is higher. That should lead to more explosive plays.

“If we can get vertical fast with our receivers … you saw today that we hit some,” Brohm said. 

They didn’t waste any time doing so.

On the first play of the scrimmage, starting quarterback Tyler Shough connected with Chris Bell for an 80-yard touchdown. Bell benefited when defensive back Corey Thornton tried to jump the pass and missed, leaving Bell to streak untouched.

The second offensive drive ended in a similar fashion against the No. 1 defensive unit when Pierce Clarkson, who is in a battle to be the backup quarterback, found Jaedon King for a 62-yard touchdown catch. 

Bell, who was second on the team with 29 receptions last season, looks poised to fill the role of a No. 1 receiver. He finished with three catches for 126 including a second touchdown on a 45-yard catch.

“Now since I've been in the offense and then played in offense, I feel like it's just come easy and natural to me,” Bell said. 

Last season was the first since Brohm coached Western Kentucky in 2016 that his offense had more rushing attempts than passing attempts. It never happened in his six seasons at Purdue and doesn’t look likely to happen in the coming season.

Shough, a transfer from Texas Tech, is gifted in ways that last year’s starter Jack Plummer was not.

That was most evident when he completed a 27-yard pass to Cataurus Hicks despite such a small window between defenders.

U of L cornerback Quincy Riley said Shough makes throws that most quarterbacks shy away from on the regular.

“Most quarterbacks don’t want to make that throw; he’s comfortable making that throw,” said Riley, who did outsmart Shough to end that drive when he left his receiver to jump the seam route for an interception.

That was Shough’s only glaring mistake. He finished 8-of-12 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

“We have the ability to do a lot of things on offense and get into a lot of different scenarios and personnels. I love it for me just because it's very challenging,” Shough said. 

Two things could drastically alter Brohm’s plans. 

The Cards’ depth at receiver isn’t where Brohm needs it to be. It’s to the point where quarterbacks who are near the bottom of the depth chart are being trotted out to catch passes. Quarterback Sam Young corralled a 70-yard touchdown pass from Travis Egan that was tipped and nearly intercepted by cornerback Aaron Williams. Even though it didn’t happen as it was drawn up, the pass route Egan was trying to connect on was 20 yards downfield.

The transfer portal is still open for business, so there’s still time to change that before the fall rolls around. 

Keeping Shough healthy is a real concern. He’s never played a complete season in two years playing at Oregon and the last three at Texas Tech. The most he’s played in a season is seven games. 

He injured his fibula last season with the Red Raiders and was limited to four games.

If the receivers and Shough can hold up, Brohm will have this offense moving by air again. 

“It’s been a lot of fun so far, just kind of learning and growing in the offense,” Shough said. “And I think we’re just getting started.” 

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.