Louisville, Ky. – Following a strong first year under head coach Jeff Brohm, the Louisville football program is once again leveraging the portal to preserve its success. According to On3, the Cardinals now have college football’s No. 1 transfer class, which includes many four-star transfers. While transfers like running back Peny Boone, wide receiver Caullin Lacy, and defensive tackle Thor Griffith have generated the most buzz in the class, quarterback Tyler Shough is likely the most impactful gateway signing. With incumbent quarterback Jack Plummer’s eligibility running out, Louisville sought another experienced quarterback. Despite a bit of an injury history, Brohm is pleased with what he has seen from the former Texas Tech and Oregon quarterback thus far.
“I believe you can still add value by accumulating experience, particularly at the quarterback position, like we did with Tyler. I believe that by bringing him in for his seventh year, he is coming here with a genuine desire to show himself. To demonstrate his ability to stay healthy, to play a complete year and contribute to the success of this football club, and to go to the next level. We like all of the dynamics that go with that.”Does he now have to prove that he can stay healthy? Sure, he does. Is he completely healthy now? No, he is not. He’s still getting back to full health, but we have time. But we enjoy what we’ve seen so far.
Shough’s injury history is somewhat lengthy, since he was unable to play a complete season in all three of his years with the Red Raiders. He fractured his collarbone in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons, then shattered his fibula this season, and is still healing from the injuries. As a result, Brohm and the rest of Louisville’s coaching and support staffs made certain to conduct thorough due diligence during Shough’s recruitment. They “analyzed everything” about his injury, even performing a physical during his official visit. Brohm compared his current fibula injury to those experienced by Plummer and fellow quarterback David Blough while he was head coach at Purdue. In the end, Louisville found that Shough’s injury history was more a result of pure poor luck than injury proclivity, and that he will be able to fully recover.
“Yes, he’s had some injuries,” Brohm admitted. “We studied exactly what they were, brought him in for a checkup, and examined everything he had. We discussed it in great depth. He has had some unfortunate injuries that occurred during the season, causing him to miss some activity. That happens from time to time, but we’ve all experienced injuries at some point in our lives. I just believe that there will always be a chance of injury, and he will work hard to get his body ready to play, while we will work hard to put him in a wonderful position and surround him with tremendous talent. Another reason Brohm is ready to risk re-injury is that Shough has proven to be a capable quarterback when healthy. In 15 games with Texas Tech, the 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback completed 62.4% of his throws for 2,922 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, while rushing for 432 yards and eight scores. The Chandler, Arizona native played the first three seasons of his undergraduate career at Oregon.
He redshirted as a true freshman, serving as the backup in 2019, before being named starter in 2020. In seven games during the COVID-shortened season, which remains his last full season as a starter, he completed 63.5 percent of his throws for 1,559 yards and 13 touchdowns against six interceptions, while also rushing for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He helped the Ducks win the Pac-12 Championship by 31-24 over USC and advance to the Fiesta Bowl against Iowa State, where they lost 34-17.
Leave a Reply