The biggest questions facing Louisville football entering preseason camp

Jake Lourim | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Football's Petrino talks recruiting & summer preview U of L football head coach Bobby Petrino discusses summer recruiting and some of what he's seen this summer as he looks ahead to football season.

The Louisville football team opens fall camp next week to begin the fifth season of Bobby Petrino’s second stint as coach and as many will view it, Life After Lamar.

But that’s not the only defining storyline of this season. Petrino resolved the quarterback question the day Lamar Jackson declared for the NFL draft, naming Jawon Pass his new starter.

Elsewhere, the Cardinals have questions. Here are three of the biggest ones this preseason:

Who will run the ball?

At several positions — especially on defense — it will take a few weeks for a depth chart to unfold as young players get acclimated, others prove themselves and the coaches set the finer points of their scheme.

But at running back, we’ll have a good idea of how the staff sees the pecking order on Sept. 1 by who takes the most carries against Alabama.

Louisville’s top three ball carriers from last season — Jackson, Malik Williams and Reggie Bonnafon — are gone. The top three returning candidates — Dae Williams, Trey Smith and Colin Wilson — received just 65 total carries last year and battled injuries in the spring. They’ll split the workload with converted fullback Tobias Little and converted linebacker Malik Staples to start camp.

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Earlier this summer, running backs coach Kolby Smith said Trey Smith was the leader at his position, but that wasn’t accounting for the injured Dae Williams. So we’ll see who ends up taking the lead during fall camp. Whoever it is could lend a big boost to Pass in his first year as the starter.

Chances are we’ll see Louisville stick with a running-back-by-committee approach. True freshmen Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall could get involved, too.

Who fires this team up?

As the calendar turned to November last season, Louisville was 5-4, coming off a demoralizing 42-32 loss at Wake Forest and a long off week. At that point, with the last three games against Virginia, Syracuse and Kentucky, the Cards were still flirting with a disastrous season.

But when they returned from their open date, defensive ace Jaire Alexander was healthy again. Before the Virginia game, he huddled the team together. When the game started, he flew all over the field congratulating teammates on big plays.

Louisville could really use at least one player like that on both sides of the ball this season. Otherwise, the Cards are at risk of seeing another disappointing loss spiral.

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The team hasn’t announced captains yet, but senior wide receiver Jaylen Smith figures to be one of them. Lukayus McNeil has also played a lot for Louisville.

The defense is harder to peg. Cornerback P.J. Mbanasor, an Oklahoma transfer, doesn’t seem afraid to be vocal. Safety Dee Smith made some big plays in the bowl game last season. It would help a great deal if middle linebacker Dorian Etheridge becomes a force in the center of the defense as a sophomore.

What about that speed?

Every chance he’s had since the end of last season, Petrino has expressed his excitement with the speed on this year’s roster. He talked about it with his returning wide receivers. He brought in an athletic recruiting class. He even came up with the idea of putting Justify on the team’s media guide.

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Petrino marveled at ACC Media Days, as he has in the past, about freshman wide receiver Tyler Harrell’s Florida state championship-winning time of 20.83 in the 200-meter dash. Petrino pointed out that Usain Bolt’s world record is 19.19. Louisville also added speed with slot receivers Marcus Riley and Tutu Atwell to say nothing of the top three returning receivers from last season — Jaylen Smith, Dez Fitzpatrick and Seth Dawkins — who appeared in front of Justify on the media guide.

The Cards have four weeks to race against each other before they have the ultimate test against Alabama.

We’ll know soon just how serious that speed is on the field.

Jake Lourim: 502-582-4168; jlourim@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jakelourim. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/jakel.