The Cardinal Countdown: 4 Days Until Kickoff

#4 TreSean Smith

Class: Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-1/210

Position: Defensive Back

Hometown: Hamilton, OH

Twitter: @Tre11Smith

Thoughts: Let me start with the “on field” stuff for TreSean. I love the kid’s game and the ferocity with which he plays. Can his aggressiveness bite him at times? Yes, and more than once he put the defense in a tough spot with over pursuit or trying to go full “hit stick” instead of wrapping up his man. But sometimes, it works out…

TreSean played well as a freshman, and appeared in all twelve games last year as a Sophomore. He has shown the skill set to excel at this level and I was hoping a new staff would aid in that progression and light a fire under him to improve. All signs pointed to that early as TreSean was one of the more outspoken guys when Satterfield arrived about a change in the environment, going so far as to call Satterfield a “god send” in one interview. His participation this summer during open practices was limited but he did show up as a backup at Free Safety on the initial depth chart.

While I had heard a few rumblings I was still surprised to hear Satterfield say back in early August that TreSean was suspended for the entire fall camp and his participation this season at all is still in question. Hopefully whatever happened TreSean can right his wrongs and get back in the good graces of the staff. If he is willing to make things right, we could use his talent in a secondary that still has me concerned.

Sweet Tweet:

With all the talk about culture change and better effort, even from me, I do think it’s important to note that a 2-10 season with better effort would still be considered unsuccessful to me. I know the challenge, I know the circumstances the staff has had to deal with, but they were brought in to not only impact lives but to win football games. While I still have a feeling this staff is slow playing just “how bad they think they are” I’m of the opinion that zero improvement in the win loss column is not going to help with attitude, or recruiting for 2020 and beyond. Got to see another ‘W ‘or two this year.

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#4 Jawon ‘Puma’ Pass

Class: RS Junior

Ht/Wt: 6-4/239

Position: Quarterback

Hometown: Columbus, GA

Twitter: N/A

Thoughts: Let’s take a moment to stop what we’re doing and let our mind drift to a different place. Put down the cup of coffee, put down that pencil, put down your phone (unless you’re reading this on your phone, then, well….you’ll need it). Lets travel back to a simpler time. September 2nd, 2018. Coming off a season with limited action (2017) Pass still went 23-33 (69.7% completion) for 238 yards (7.2/att) and two touchdowns on the year. He also had zero interceptions, 62 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. The Cards just got steamrolled by Alabama but the fan consensus was that the new starter at quarterback, one Mr. Puma Pass, held his own against one of the best defenses in football. Pass went 20-39 for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns. His completion % wasn’t great (51.3) but certainly respectable against the #1 team in the country. We had some areas of concern but to me, and many others, QB was not one of them. Now, lets imagine the season ended for Pass at that very moment. He became academically ineligible and never played another snap in 2018. How would you feel about him as a starter in four days? Pretty good I would think, right? Ok, let’s go back to present day (the chicken sandwiches are much better there anyway).

I know we can’t just ignore eleven football games, but there were certainly some external circumstances that affected the confidence and play of Puma after Game 1. Could he have performed better? Absolutely, and he’s actually said as much, but this is where we are. The highly touted recruit out of high school, who is now running an offense very similar to the one he lead during that time, is operating under a new staff, a coach who is trying to set him up to succeed with a less complex offense, and a coach who is looking to push some more of the onus onto the running backs to open up the passing game. We’ve talked about Pass around here until we’re red in the face, now is the time to get back to 600+ Louisville fans packing his high school stadium to watch ‘the next big thing’ in Cardinal football. Erase 2018 from your memory banks and get re-excited about Jawon ‘Puma’ Pass leading this team out of the gutter and back to respectability. (in my best T.O. voice) “That’s my quarterback”

Sweet Tweet: No twitter for Puma so let’s watch ten minutes of him slicing, dicing, julienne, and frying up some defenses.