By Russ Brown
KyForward correspondent
LOUISVILLE — Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino has long been regarded as an offensive whiz, a reputation he began to earn in 1998 as the offensive coordinator for coach John L. Smith’s 1998 UofL team that ranked fourth nationally in scoring (37.5 ppg), sixth in total offense (466 ypg) and second in passing offense (335.2 ypg).
That squad scored more than 60 points three times.
After succeeding Smith because he had impressed UofL athletic director Tom Jurich during his one season on campus, Petrino took up where he had left off five years earlier. In his first stint at UofL from 2003-06 his clubs were annually among the most productive in the country, with scores in the 40s and 50s commonplace, and then it was much the same story at Arkansas and Western Kentucky.
But during his second tenure in Derby City, his two Louisville teams have failed to reach those lofty heights. In fact, they haven’t even come close. Last year the Cards were in the middle of the pack in the FBS, averaging 31.2 points and 394.7 yards per game, both modest figures, especially in this era of wide open, high-scoring spread attacks.
And the dropoff has been even more severe this year. It’s difficult to fathom that a Petrino-coached team could rank 116th of 128 FBS teams in rushing yardage (109 ypg), 104th in total offense (357.3 ypg) and scoring (24.0 ppg), No. 56 in passing offense (248.3 ypg) and 112th in turnovers (eight).
“Offensively, we’ve struggled,” Petrino says. “We haven’t done the things we normally do. We’ve had uncertainty at the quarterback position.”
Petrino has started a different quarterback in each game. And, although sophomore Kyle Bolin started the 20-17 loss to Clemson last week and has been the main signal-caller for the last six quarters, Petrino says he is undecided about whether Bolin or freshman Lamar Jackson will open against FCS foe Samford (2-1) Saturday night in Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium (6 p.m. EDT, no TV).
He says he had hoped to settle on a regular starter by now, but none of the four candidates — sophomore Reggie Bonnafon and the currently injured Will Gardner — are the other two — has distinguished himself.
“Nobody has separated himself and said, ‘I’m the guy,” Petrino says. “That’s what we would like to see happen, see take care of itself. But we really haven’t seen any separation. So we have to continue to work through that and see where we’re at.”
Against Clemson, Bolin completed 19-of-34 passes for 238 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions and five sacks. Jackson, who started in the 34-31 loss to Houston and had a hand in four turnovers, played in a special short-yardage package against the Tigers. He carried once for eight yards and completed one pass for 15 yards.
Petrino says both quarterbacks have been too inconsistent, executing the offense well at times, but making costly mistakes at other times.
“Lamar is a guy who is a tremendous athlete, very talented and has a real strong arm,” Petrino says. “He can throw the ball down the field, can get it out of his hand quick, and he probably has the quickest release of any quarterback that we have. Kyle has just been a guy who’s been able to execute and make good decisions and move the football by distributing it around. Unfortunately, the decision-making when you’re struggling on the offensive line, you don’t get to take the time that you really need.”
As Petrino noted, UofL’s offensive problems don’t start or end with the quarterback situation. In fact, a case could be made that the offense’s lack of production have more to do with the shortcomings of the young offensive line than the quarterback musical chairs.
The Cards have been unable to generate a running attack and have allowed 11 sacks.
“Obviously, it’s not just the quarterback,” Petrino says. “You’ve got to help the quarterback by being able to run the ball and having better protection. Being precise on our routes. Even though we are getting some production from our young receivers, at times they’re not where they need to be, not on time with their routes. So we have a whole lot of work to do offensively, there’s no question about that.”
Toward that end, much of the emphasis in practice this week has been on trying to shore up the offensive line’s performance after losing three starters from last year’s unit.
Unlike the shifting around at QB, the same five linemen have started and played virtually every snap so far — senior Aaron Epps and true freshman Geron Christian at tackle, junior Pedro Sibiea and sophomore Skylar Lacy at guard and senior Tobijah Hughley at center. But that could change against Samford.
Redshirt freshman Lukayus McNeil saw some action at guard against Clemson and junior college transfer Kiola Mahoni could also get some time as a sub as UofL tries to snap a four-game losing streak.
“The schedule we’ve played has not allowed us to play a lot of guys, when you could get different guys in there and develop,” Petrino says. “So we need to try to develop a few more guys on that offensive front.”
Offensive coordinator Garrick McGee said after practice Tuesday that all five positions on the offensive line are up for grabs. McGee says he has been impressed by both McNeil and Mahoni, but that the latter still has to learn the offense better.
“(Lukayus) is physical and he’s big,” McGee says. “The last couple of weeks he has shown us that he has learned a lot more. He can handle himself out there when the fronts change, so that’s why he’s out there a little bit and he did a pretty good job. (Mahoni) is a tough guy, very competitive. But he got here late in the summer, so he didn’t get a lot of teaching in the off-season.”
Not only has inefficiency and inconsistency on offense had much to do with Louisville’s 0-3 start, but Petrino even blames the offense for some of the defensive struggles.
“Some of their issues are caused by the offense,” Petrino says. “When you’re really good on defense and you get a lot of sacks and you make a lot of plays, you’re playing with a lead. The offense goes out and goes up and down the field and scores points, and now you force (the opponent’s) hand. We haven’t been able to do that and I put a lot of that on the offense. But what I know is, keep working hard, keep a positive attidue and good things will happen.”
UofL’s offense could get a boost Saturday with the return of by far its most experienced wide receiver. Petrino said on the ACC teleconference Wednesday that there is a “good possibility” that James Quick could return after missing the last two games with a sprained ankle. All of Louisville’s other receivers are freshmen and sophomores.
“James hopefully will be back,” Petrino said. “He practiced yesterday. He looked good in practice. He actually got probably three-quarters of the work in, and he woke up this morning and felt good.”
Quick, who earned All-America honors at Trinity High School, played in 21 games the past two years and started all but one last season, with 36 catches for 566 yards and three touchdowns. He had four receptions for 28 yards in the season opening loss to Auburn before his injury in the second half.
“He was our guy who was coming back that had experience running routes, making plays, knowing the speed of the game,” Petrino says. “He was the guy that we relied on to play different positions and be the leader of that group. So with him out, it’s been young guys and We just have haven’t been consistent enough.”
Russ Brown has covered University of Louisville athletics for over 30 years, including 15 for The Courier-Journal in Louisville. He is senior writer/editor for the Louisville SportsReport, which he helped found, and also writes for Cardinalsports.com.