LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Louisville football program’s 2024 season couldn’t have gotten off to a better start.
While a handful of power conference teams across the nation struggled some with week one FCS opponents, the Cardinals did not play with their food. Welcoming Austin Peat to L&N Stadium, Louisville put their foot on the gas from start to finish, eventually coming out on top with a 62-0 win.
On paper, many would be led to believe that a somewhat similar result could be in line this weekend. Jacksonville State is marching into L&N Stadium this Saturday, and Louisville opened up as 25.5-point favorite.
That being said, the Cardinals’ coaching staff knows better than to overlook the Gamecocks, and that’s primarily because of their head coach: Rich Rodriguez.
Yes, *that* Rich Rodriguez.
“He’s the forefather of that system,” defensive coordinator Ron English said. “He’s proven over years and years to be successful. So he’s going to challenge you in a lot of ways. Your discipline, are you sound? Did you put your guys in the right position? They’re going to be conflicted at times where they have to do exactly what they’re told to do. The coaches have to spend a lot of time making sure that we are telling them the appropriate things in terms of assignment and alignment.”
Rodriguez might be at Jacksonville State, but at one point in time, he was one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the sport. As English noted, Rodriguez is considered the grandfather of the run-heavy and zone read-based version of the no huddle spread offense, and he has seen a lot of success with this system.
“In that type of offense, you are always going to have to count for the quarterback as a runner, which does make things harder,” head coach Jeff Brohm said. “They gain an extra blocker, they are taking out extra defender, a lot of times in your defense you are trying to plus-one in what you are doing in the run game to make sure you have a extra hat. When he is running the ball, you don’t have that extra hat. You have to be really good, you mix in the play action off of it, mix in the tempo of them trying to get plays in and snap before you are ready and set, and get your calls in. It’s always has been beneficial for them. The speed of the game can throw you off guard, and that’s challenging.”
As the head coach at his alma mater of West Virginia from 2001 to 2007, Rodriguez turned the Mountaineers into a national championship contender. In fact, with an overall head coaching record of 181-126-2, he entered the 2024 season seventh among active FBS head coaches in career wins.
Louisville fans are certainly familiar with the man known as “Rich Rod,” facing the Cardinals three times from 2005 to 2007 while at West Virginia. Their 2005 matchup in Morgantown saw Louisville blow a 24-7 lead en route to a 46-44 triple overtime loss, thanks in part to the emergence of QB Pat White and RB Steve Slaton. The 2006 matchup in Louisville is quite possibly the best regular season game in program history, with the Cardinals claiming the top-five Thursday night blackout game to the tune of 44-34. Louisville came close to upsetting West Virginia on the road for the 2007 matchup, but fell 38-31.
