Episode Details

Seventeen of Louisville's twenty-two starters are transfers. All five offensive linemen came from somewhere else.

Steven Willis joins Brian Smith of Locked On the Portal to break down the Cardinals eleven days out.

IN THIS EPISODE:

📋 The roster, counted. Brian went through the OurLads depth chart and tallied it: 17 of 22 offensive and defensive starters are transfers. And the detail underneath it matters more than the number — all five offensive linemen. When you miss on high school linemen, it usually doesn't end well. Isaac Brown is on another level — maybe the fastest back in college football at roughly 7 yards a carry — but Brian's projection is that on 80% of his carries it's four yards or less, because Ole Miss out-talents them at the line of scrimmage.

🎯 The quarterback, and the one thing that decides the game. Lincoln Kienholz was a top-100 recruit out of Pierre, South Dakota who couldn't crack second team at Ohio State — and ran for about 1,400 yards as a high school senior. More athletic than he is a thrower. Jeff Brohm is a Bobby Petrino guy — go look at what a Petrino system did with Lamar Jackson at Louisville. So it's down-and-distance: get them into third-and-five or longer. Except they might run QB power on third-and-five anyway, and past their own 40 on fourth-and-one they're going for it every time.

🛡️ And the best scouting on this show all month. Brian covered Edwin Joseph at Florida State: the Seminoles were a top-five man coverage team when he arrived, then changed coordinators and went to zone — and that's when he moved off corner. Most good man corners struggle once zone gets in their head. So Joseph going back outside tells you something about how much man Ole Miss intends to play — likely Saban's MOD: man on the boundary, zone or match to the field.

🚨 Plus the diagnosis that explains this whole season. The secondary cost Ole Miss the Miami game — a missed tackle, a busted coverage, and a defense that had to rush three to protect its own back end. They couldn't do their normal stuff. If the back five is self-sufficient this year, that front can go to work.

And: the SEC's Week 1 must-wins, and Keegan Croucher looking like Trevor Lawrence.

🎧 Follow Brian Smith and Locked On the Portal wherever you get podcasts.

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00:00 Louisville Cardinals lineup and recruits

03:30 Bobby Petrino's offensive strategy

08:22 Discussing Ole Miss football strengths

10:06 Upcoming segment on Edwin Joseph

15:25 College football transfer controversy

18:56 College sports and advertising issues

22:20 Discussing Ole Miss cornerbacks

24:05 Cornerback depth and versatility

27:39 Discussing early season college football games

29:43 Where to find the podcast

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