U of L prepares for pair of QBs at Virginia
The University of Louisville football team will arrive in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday with a good idea of what it's facing, except for one thing.
University of Virginia has Kevin Parks, a 1,000-yard rusher last year. UVA's defense has nine takeaways and 31 points off turnovers in two games. And it has a near-upset of College Football Playoff contender UCLA under its belt.
What UVA doesn't have is a quarterback.
As Louisville preps for its 12:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Virginia, the Cardinals' first road game of the season, they have to study both Matt Johns and Greyson Lambert.
The Cavaliers have shuffled both quarterbacks in and out of the lineup, and they have no intention of changing that rotation on Saturday.
"You just have to work on getting ready for both of them," U of L coach Bobby Petrino said. "You still have to be able to line up and adjust to all of their different shifts and motions and formations, and it kind of starts with that."
Lambert began the season as the starter. But the way Johns, a redshirt sophomore from the Philadelphia suburbs, played in Virginia's 28-20 loss to UCLA, the common assumption was that he'd be the starter going forward.
Virginia lost three turnovers for touchdowns in the first half of that game: Two Lambert interceptions were returned for scores and a fumble return for another. UCLA led 21-3 at halftime, and it appeared the Cavaliers were well on their way to an embarrassing home rout.
Virginia coach Mike London inserted Johns into the lineup, and it was a day-and-night difference.
Johns engineered three scoring drives and led Virginia to the UCLA 17-yard line in the fourth quarter before the drive stalled.
A week later, both quarterbacks played in a 45-13 win over Richmond.
"They've done a good job thus far in doing the things that we've asked them to do," London said.
"Right now, with two games under our belt, going into the third game against a very good football team, we'll find out more about them."
London told reporters on Wednesday that Lambert's more of a pocket passer, while Johns can move a bit more. That much was evident against UCLA.
But Louisville doesn't see many differences between Johns and Lambert. Both quarterbacks are 6 feet 5, with Lambert having about 20 pounds on Johns.
They are Nos. 12 and 13 in the ACC passer rankings.
Johns has 219 passing yards; Lambert has 214.
Johns has a 149 quarterback rating, while Lambert has a 121.8, a negligible difference in the college quarterback ratings system.
The Cavs run similar sets regardless of the quarterback, U of L players and coaches said this week.
"They're going to run their offense," U of L defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "We've seen them both. We'll be familiar with both."
Grantham, who was previously the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia, is already familiar with Lambert, a former high school standout in southern Georgia.
Lambert, along with U of L starting quarterback Will Gardner, was on the UGA's radar during the recruiting process.
Gardner and Lambert obviously chose elsewhere — UGA didn't have room for a quarterback in that 2012 recruiting class — but Grantham knew about both of them.
"He was a highly recruited guy," Grantham said of Lambert. "He's got a lot talent to him."
That kind of history would be a lot more helpful if he was the only quarterback playing for Virginia on Saturday.
Instead it's just part of a larger scouting process for Louisville's new Atlantic Coast Conference foe.
"We just have to be ready to play," Grantham said.
Reach U of L beat writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).
UP NEXT
Louisville at Virginia
12:30 p.m. Saturday WAVE-3
UP NEXT
Louisville at Virginia
12:30 p.m. Saturday WAVE-3