Quantifying The (Lack of) Louisville Defense in 2017

Mark BlankenbakerNovember 8, 2017

The University of Louisville Football team has not played up to expectations thus far in 2017. That’s not news to anyone who reads TheCrunchZone.com. We decided we wanted to QUANTIFY just how poorly Lousiville Football has played on the defensive side of the ball thus far in 2017. We’ll do this in a variety of ways beyond the simple fact that UofL ranks 83rd in Total Defense (410.1 ypg) and 95th in Total Defense vs. Power 5 Oppnents (494.4 ypg).

Louisville’s Defense Allows 98.01 More Yards Than Their Power 5 Opponents Typically Gain

	Avg Total Offense	Avg YPP	UofL Allowed	YPP UofL Allowed	Season High Yards Gained	Season High YPP
Purdue	388.9	5.62	344	4.41	558 (Ohio)	8.21 (Ohio)
North Carolina	344.2	4.93	401	6.57	511 (Old Dominion)	6.72 (Old Dom)
Clemson	442.9	5.94	613	7.57	665 (Kent State)	8.53 (Kent St)
NC State	447.3	6.04	520	7.32	520 (UofL)	7.32 (UofL)
Boston College	370.1	4.77	555	6.38	555 (UofL)	7.21 (UVA)
Florida State	336.5	5.39	403	6.11	425 (Duke)	6.97 (Duke)
Wake Forest	445.0	6.14	625	8.56	625 (UofL)	8.56 (UofL)

This chart above really stresses how much the Louisville defense has underperformed in 2017. The ONLY Power 5 team (in 7 games vs. P5) that Louisville has held to fewer yards than the opponent currently averages thus far in 2017 is Purdue… a game the Cards trailed in the 4th quarter.

Louisville has allowed 3461 yards in these 7 games, which is 686 yards more than its Power 5 opponents currently average.

Bust Plays

UofL Allowed	10+ Yards	20+ Yards	30+ Yards	40+ Yards
Long Scrimmage Plays	122 (60th)	45 (82nd)	26 (113th)	12 (84th)

Busts happen….. college coaches only get so much time with their players. Young players make mistakes…. and veteran players get caught slipping from time to time.

BBBBBBUUUUUTTTTTT Louisville holds distinction on busts in 2017. 113th in plays allowed of 30+ yards in 2017. There are 130 teams in FBS Football this season and Louisville pays on the very upper end for its defensive coordinator and coaching staff.

Steady Decline of Sacks

The chart speaks for itself.

Sacks Per Game
2017	1.89
2016	2.31
2015	2.92
2014	3.15
2013	3.31

Decline of Turnovers in 2017

Turnovers Gained
2017	14	on pace for 20
2016	25
2015	26
2014	30
2013	27

Considering that Lousiville paid Todd Grantham $1.3 Million per season and now pays Peter Sirmon $950,000 per season to be the school’s defensive coordinator UofL SHOULD be getting better results on the defensive side of the ball. Peter Sirmon is not listed as the primary recruiter for ANY of Louisville’s current commitments for 2018 with the majority of the work currently being done by Cort Dennison, LD Scott, Lonnie Galloway and Kolby Smith.

Louisville is a national program they’ve made the facility & financial commitments to the program and spent the better part of the last 6 years ranked in the Top 25. Defensively Louisville has been in Top 25 of Total Defense for 10 of the past 15 seasons as well. There is A LOT more expected of Cardinal Football on the defensive side of the football than the program has given its fans thus far. It’s time to get it done or move on from the new parts.

If you aren’t recruiting anybody….. and you aren’t stopping anybody then there is the door.