Imagine Louisville’s defense plus Caleb Williams — that would have been special

Louisville lacked the quarterback it needed to reach the next level.

The USC Trojans and Louisville Cardinals will meet in the 2023 Holiday Bowl. They will come to San Diego knowing they both had half of a winning formula, and that their opponent owned the other half.

USC and Louisville are good examples of “half a loaf” teams. USC had the offense but not the defense. Louisville had the defense but not the offense.

Just imagine what Louisville could have been in 2023 if it had Caleb Williams at quarterback.

Louisville scored just six points against Florida State in the ACC Championship Game. The Cardinals scored only 10 points in the first half against Kentucky on November 25. The Cards were shut out in the second half of a loss to Pittsburgh on October 14. Put Caleb Williams on the Cardinals, and they probably go 12-1 this season.

Louisville won 10 games in spite of the fact that Jack Plummer, the former quarterback at Cal, piloted the UL offense this season. Louisville was strong enough in the running game to move the ball in most of its games without Plummer’s help. Plummer made some important plays at various points in the season, but he also held back Louisville with a lot of critical turnovers, including a bad fumble in the loss to Kentucky and a huge interception against Florida State this past weekend.

If USC could have used Louisville’s defense in 2023, Louisville could have used a great quarterback this year.

Both teams will regret not having what the other side has. It will be fascinating to see how these very different teams fare against each other in San Diego.

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