The star receiver loafed across the field during regional championship week, so Jawon Pass did what quarterbacks do – said something.

Pass went over to Carver High School (Columbus, Georgia) head coach Joe Kegler and delivered a message: “Coach, get him off the field. I don’t want him out there if he doesn’t want to play.”

“This is his sophomore year,” Kegler told 247Sports.

Half a decade later, Pass is again taking command of a team. In this case, he’s leading the Louisville Cardinals as a redshirt sophomore. That’s the same Cardinals team that’s been so defined by Lamar Jackson the past three seasons.

That’s no matter to Pass.

He’s adopted Louisville as his team now with the Cardinals preparing to face the defending national champion Alabama Crimson Tide in Week 1 (7 p.m., ABC). It's no easy starting debut; the Tide are 24.5-point favorites.

“I’ve seen him demand kids pick it up at times,” said Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino at his weekly press conference. “That was really good to see. He’s ready. He’s been preparing for this for a long time.”

Pass arrived at Louisville in 2016, a time that coincides with Jackson’s meteoric rise.

It’s been two years of waiting for Pass. So, in case people forget, he signed with the Cardinals as a highly-decorated player. Pass, the No. 5 overall dual-threat passer in the 2016 class, ranked higher than Jackson as a prospect out of high school.

Offers rolled in from across the country for Pass, and his recruitment, a bit ironically considering his upcoming first start, came down to Louisville and Alabama. Pass ultimately chose the Cardinals, and the Crimson Tide took Jalen Hurts that cycle. Alabama head coach Nick Saban, when asked about Pass this week, called him a "Cam Newton-type" passer when remembering his recruitment.

“He’ll be excited to show what he can do against Alabama,” Kegler said.

Pass’ career is already littered with sparkling debuts. His first significant action for Carver came in a playoff game as a true freshman because the team’s starting QB got hurt. Pass led the Tigers to a victory that day. In his first starting season for Carver, the Tigers won 11 games.

“He’s a different kind of kid,” Kegler said. “You could always tell he had a bigger purpose.”

There college proof of Pass’ talent, too. Even if it’s in limited action. In backup duty last season, Pass completed 23 of 33 passes for two touchdowns and a 69.7 completion percentage.

Pass is a different sort of player than Jackson. He’s more of a pocket passer and is going to do most of his damage with his arm – Jackson never completed more than 59.1 percent of his passes in a single season. Jackson pulled the ball down 19 times per game during his two seasons as a starter. Pass has only 13 career rushing attempts.

The Cardinal offense is going to look different under Pass’ direction, harkening back to Petrino’s pro-style roots. Prior to Jackson, a full-time Petrino starter never rushed for more than 405 yards in a single season.

“He does a really good job of throwing the ball up the middle,” Petrino said. “That’s something that’s really shown up in practice, making those passes where you’ve got to hit the top of the helmet. I think it helps with his height and his release in doing that. He also does a good job of moving and throwing the ball on the run. He has a really short, quick release and does a good job getting his body in the right position.”

Much of the focus entering Saturday’s contest surrounds Alabama’s quarterback situation. Will it be Tua Tagovailoa or Hurts? But one battle is firmly decided, and it’s been that way for a while.

Pass will start for the Cardinal, and he just might surprise a few people against an Alabama secondary that’s replacing five starters.

“I think there’s going to be a bunch of people that are going to be shocked by how good he is,” Kegler said.