21 in the Ballard/Butler game.

13 in the DeSales/CAL game.

12 in the Trinity/St. X game.

 

 

What gives? Was it weather? Or has the focus of Louisville football shifted away from high octane offenses?

 

I'd imagine that this is close to some type of record in this era of football given the point in the playoffs we're at.

I think in the T-X game, both teams were at less than full strength in the RB position. However, I attribute the low score to conservative play calling (probably being a function of low octane offenses) and, more significantly, to two very tough, disciplined defenses.

Both CAL and DeSales defenses were only giving 8 points a game up going into this game... The best defenses in 2A (maybe in the states)

S-E-C! S-E-C! S-E-C!

 

* * * *

 

In truth, I think the defenses were both much-improved in the Trinity/St. Xavier game. I can't speak to the other, but CAL and DeSales (as has already been said) are two very stout defenses.

All very good points.

 

So is it fair to say that Louisville schools are staying ahead of the curve and while other areas are catching up with the offenses they ran awhile back, that there's been a paradigm shift to the defensive side of the ball?

All very good points.

 

So is it fair to say that Louisville schools are staying ahead of the curve and while other areas are catching up with the offenses they ran awhile back, that there's been a paradigm shift to the defensive side of the ball?

 

I think that's all possible.

 

The other, and obvious, conclusion is that we're talking about three games in one week of the playoffs: this is more than likely a strange statistical outlier.

 

Trinity and Male combined for 69 points last week.

 

DeSales scored nearly 40 on Glasgow in the regional semifinals.

 

* * * *

 

Another possibility is that coaches (possibly worried about these improved defenses) have gone the LSU/Alabama route and have gone fairly conservative. I don't know enough about what happened in the Ballard/Butler or DeSales/CAL games to know whether that's true.

 

If these Louisville schools emerge from this week and hang boatloads of points on opposing defenses, we'll have a better idea of whether this was just a weird week that doesn't match the statistics.