Game Rewind | How U of L slowed Duke Johnson

Any in-depth look at Louisville's 31-13 win over Miami on Monday night will include several major defensive stats for the Cardinals:

* Miami's 1 of 13 on third downs.

* Miami's 12 first downs, three of which came on the last-gasp drive of the game.

* Miami's 70 total rushing yards on 27 attempts, good for 2.6 yards per carry.

* Miami's one touchdown in five red-zone trips.

And if you read the stories from Monday night, many of them will discuss the Louisville defense's performance, including my own game report.

But how did the Cards' defense do it? How did they stifle one of the best running backs in the country in Duke Johnson, who ran 20 times for 90 yards? (Here's a good spot to remind you that two of Johnson's carries accounted for 45 yards; the 18 others accounted for the other 45 yards.)

I re-watched Monday night's game and tried to pinpoint the how in all of this, and I came up with a few relatively simple things:

1. Louisville shed blocks really well. In the short Instagram video below, just look at the two plays I highlighted. The first, a 1-yard run near midfield, was undone by a simple shed. Lorenzo Mauldin, rushing the edge as an outside linebacker in a nickel set, took on Miami tight end Clive Walford on the left end. He shook one way and then back, dropping Walford on the third jolt and grabbing Johnson with his spare arm. Mauldin's strong enough to pull on Johnson and then catch up and yank him down.

The second play in that short video shows the late arrival of Andrew Johnson. Louisville lined up in a 3-4 base, but both safeties came up to the line of scrimmage. You'll see No. 2, James Sample, blow up the left side, where the run's going, and occupy two blockers -- including Duke Johnson's lead fullback, Walter Tucker. That allowed Andrew Johnson, who blew right past Phillip Dorsett's block about 5-10 yards upfield, to come screaming in and sweep Duke Johnson's legs for the tackle.

2. Louisville tackled well.

In the video underneath this item, you'll see a few good cases of either swarming to the ball and gang tackling, or just solid solo tackles. Duke Johnson's a slippery guy. He can bounce off tackles. He can make people miss. He can run over people. But that didn't happen much on Monday night. You'll see Johnson bumped outside after Louisville's D-line blew up the line of scrimmage, and then you'll see Deiontrez Mount finish the job with a sure tackle.

You'll see Sheldon Rankins and BJ DuBose team up, and you'll see Keith Kelsey come downhill through a gap and grab hold of Johnson's leg. Both times, the pursuers slowed Johnson down and the rest of the defense finished the job.

3. The defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.

I'd been critical of the defensive line in the preseason, wondering about its depth and size after losing some really good college players and a first-round NFL draft pick. But the big fellas did their jobs on Monday night. Louisville started with Sheldon Rankins and BJ DuBose as first-team defensive ends and DeAngelo Brown in the middle of that three-man line. They shuffled in Pio Vatuvei, who coach Bobby Petrino praised in the post-game press conference.

But the group as a whole just controlled the points of attack so many times. The photo below is a solid illustration of that. Where is Duke Johnson going to go in that situation? And once there's no interior gap, the running back has to bounce outside, which points back up to Nos. 1 and 2. The defensive backs lost their blockers a lot on Monday night, and even if it was a shoelace grab, they found ways to slow down or bring down Duke Johnson. That's how Sample led the team with eight tackles, and safety Gerod Holliman (5), safety Terell Floyd (4), cornerback Andrew Johnson (4) and cornerback Charles Gaines (2) racked up multiple tackles of their own.