Louisville Football: 3 key takeaways from Week 4 loss to Pittsburgh
By John Vogel
3. Javian Hawkins is the electricity that powers this offense
Louisville running back Javian Hawkins is clearly the player who vitalizes this offense, as evident with the fact that when he is running the football, this team is moving. Hawkins got the team back into the game late in the first quarter with an electric 75-yard touchdown run that flashed NFL level speed.
Hawkins carried the ball 13 times and gained 78 yards. If you take away the 75 yard touchdown run, Hawkins averaged 0.3 yards per carry. When he was unable to add that run element to the game, the team shut down offensively and could not move the ball. In fact, the team ended up 1-for-11 converting third downs.
After Hawkins busted the big play, the Pitt defense loaded the box and focused on stopping the run for the rest of the game, more than willing to take their chances with quarterback Malik Cunningham and forcing him to beat them with the explosive receivers on the perimeter.