Quotebook and video: Adam Fuller on Louisville, Malik Cunningham

Similarities between Malik Cunningham and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels?

“I think Malik has done it for a long period of time in a dynamic way in this league. I think he’s got everybody’s respect around the country. He plays every week, he’s the leading rusher, he is a dynamic playmaker. He’s beat people over the top with the football, he’s beat people running the football, he’s beat people making good decisions. He’s one of the better players in the country. It’s important for us to play as a team against him.”

What does Louisville do schematically to put him in position to be successful?

“Number one, he’s a dynamic mover and athlete. So I think there are a lot of offenses that would fit his skill-set. I think traditionally, they’ve been a really good running football team. They run the stretch as well as anybody and if you run the ball, it sets up other things. Whether it’s him pulling the ball and going the other way, whether it’s routes coming back against the grain, whether its misdirection plays off of run-action. When you can set up things off of your major play, which they do, it creates misdirection plays. They’ve done a nice job of creating big plays over the years with that offense.”

What else stands out about Louisville’s offense?

“They’ve really established themselves at running back. They’ve got three guys that can all play. The guy that played a lot last year is probably third on the team in carries, fourth if you include the quarterback. I think they have really improved that room, worked to make that a strong point. Their tight end is one of the better route-runners, catchers in the league. Any time you can be a lead blocker and then run routes, I think that’s always something. And then, they’ve really added to their wide receiver room on the outside, you see that. Their offensive line is a veteran group. They’ve got two All-ACC players up front. It’s a seasoned offense. They know exactly what they’re doing. They’ve been doing the same scheme for awhile so they feel comfortable in it and it starts with the trigger man.”

Communication issues late vs. LSU

“There was one. The bigger play before the last play, they decided to chip a defensive end, which usually in that situation, you don’t do very much. And so once that happened, we were in man coverage underneath with guys over the top and there were no routes. That route just kind of released late and the guy’s eyes got put somewhere else. If it wasn’t for that route, we’re never in that situation. That’s something we’ve got to learn from. Just a guy trying to do a bit too much in that scenario.”

Is there a learned behavior to closing teams out?

“I think there is. There’s a time in a game when you’re up in a game, and we have names for this, in two-minute mode of letting them know what the type of situation is. Whether they can be aggressive on the route or whether they should be softer for double moves or if the team needs more chunk yardage. We practice that, we put them in situations, but it’s another thing to go execute, especially on good players. That last team had some really good perimeter players, that quarterback is a good player. Whatever your job is, you’re still thinking, ‘Well, what if this happens?’ You really want people to just walk in and focus on the ability to do their job.”

What did you like from the defense’s performance in LSU game?

“We played connected for the most part. I thought coverage was where it needed to be, for most of the game. I thought we developed some pressure. I thought some of the pressure things that we did were things that got executed well. I think that was important. We showed them some different looks and we were able to execute. That’s stuff you work on. That’s not something you put in for that game. It’s just stuff that we have pre-planned to put out in game two.”

Impressed with how quickly Jared Verse has acclimated to this level?

“Not really. Our job is to evaluate players and then see what the skill-set is going to do in our scheme and our football program. Whether it was his personality, whether it was his skill-set, whether it was just his mindset, we knew he was going to be a really good fit here. The way we play at that position fits to everything he’s about. He’s gone out there and made a lot of strides. There are still a lot of things in his game that he can clean up, but he’s the player we thought he would be and I think there’s a lot left in him.”

Bye week beneficial for Omarion Cooper to recover more?

“I think so. He went out there and gave us his best. You didn’t notice him a bunch, but when you did, that’s part of playing corner. Hopefully this time will get him a little healthier, get him to full speed.”

Dennis Briggs Jr. still getting back into game shape after last year’s season-ending injury?

“A little bit. He’s probably averaged about 35 snaps. We’d like to get him a little bit higher than that, but we’re going to play the guys that are fresh, the guys that are playing the best. We have high expectations for Dennis.”

How has Jarrett Jackson performed? How has he grown since getting here?

“I think his ability to push through things has gotten better. I think that’s a development thing in the weight room, with the amount of practice time he’s put in with us. He’s as skilled from a size, strength, speed and movement (standpoint) as anyone we have. It’s just the consistency of playing with the right pad level for him and doing it again and again and again. He’s been somebody that has gone in for four or five plays and we’ve gotten him back out. When it’s needed and he’s in for six, seven, eight plays over two series, that’s when we really need for him to grow. I think he’s capable of doing that.”

Have a good sense of what Louisville is going to be because of the two prominent games it has already played?

“We do. Coach (Scott) Satterfield has been running offenses for a long time in college football. You see his fingerprints all over this thing. I think we’ve got a pretty good sense of who they are, identity-wise.”

On final drive of LSU game, should it be all defensive ends instead of mix with DTs because of prevent coverage scheme?

“Some. We’ve got a rabbit package that goes in. There were a couple drives there at the end of the game where you’re trying to make a decision of your personnel and who’s fresh. You’re trying to roll that. You’ve got to be mindful that in those situations when you do make those decisions, it’s hard to get them off the field, too. You need a dead ball, you need something like that, a quick pass, for us to be able to sub. You always plan, sometimes things happen, you’re able to rotate guys a little differently. But like I said, we’ve got to cue on that second-to-last play of the game, there’s not a last play. We’ve got to be better in all areas there.”