Brown: Scott Satterfield left Louisville football with strong run game. Jeff Brohm should use it

Scott Satterfield’s fingerprints weren't only sprinkled on Louisville’s season-opening win over Georgia Tech. They’re gripped on the blueprint for success this season.

The former U of L coach is long gone to Cincinnati, but he left behind the remnants of a successful running game. The Cardinals need to build around it to be in the best position to win games.

That’s a bit of a break in how new U of L coach Jeff Brohm’s offenses typically operate. In his final two years at Purdue, Brohm’s teams had more passing attempts than rushing attempts in 85 percent of their games.

He’s no stranger to promoting a strong running game, though. In Brohm's three seasons at Western Kentucky, he had a 16-0 record when the Hilltoppers had more rushing attempts in a game than passes.

Friday’s win moved Brohm to 28-3 in his career in games when his teams run more — a key reason why, based on the current Cards’ personnel, staying grounded is the best way forward.

Jack Plummer isn’t the kind of quarterback who needs to throw the ball 40 times a game for the offense to succeed. In his past two seasons, one at Purdue and last year at California, he has a 3-0 record when he has fewer than 30 pass attempts.

Plummer is the kind of quarterback who is better suited being protected by a commitment to the running game with play-action passes that set him up for high-percentage throws, taking the pressure off him to win it with his arm.

Brohm acknowledged as much by changing his philosophy in real time Friday night. Facing a 28-13 halftime deficit against the Yellow Jackets, Brohm focused on the run game instead of taking a stubborn approach to throwing.

The Cards ran the ball 12 times in the third quarter compared to just nine pass attempts and climbed back in the game with a 10-0 result. They stuck with that trend in the fourth quarter, finishing the night with 34 rushing attempts for 227 yards and 31 passes for 247 yards.

“We came out in the second half and really, we tried to establish the running game and build off that and mix in the pass and I thought that helped us,” Brohm said afterward.

Running backs Jawhar Jordan and Maurice Turner, who both played for Satterfield, picked up their production against the Yellow Jackets from where they left off last season. Jordan, who had 100 yards rushing in four of his last five games, had 96 yards — including the 74-yard score that put the game away — while Turner, who led the team in the Fenway Bowl win over Cincinnati with 160 yards, added 30 yards on the ground.

The interior of the offensive line are all holdovers from Satterfield’s teams. Right guard Renato Brown started a combined 34 games the previous three seasons. Center Bryan Hudson started 12 last season and played in every game in 2021. Left guard Michael Gonzalez played in all but one game the past two seasons. Along with transfers Willie Tyler and Eric Miller at both tackles, the starting five played the entire game against Georgia Tech.

They helped clear the way for the Cards to average 6.7 yards per run and helped them stay out of third downs — where they were only 1-for-11 against the Jackets — by creating second-and-short situations.

Turner pointed out that the run game benefitted from the threat of the passing game as well, as receivers Jamari Thrash and Kevin Coleman Jr., delivered with big plays combining for three touchdowns. They worked in tandem, and they won the game.

“Having defenses being scared of our passing game will open up the box more so we can run the ball,” Turner said. “… I feel like it’s going to be a great season with the running game because of our passing game.”

Somewhere up Interstate 71, Satterfield is saying, ‘You’re welcome.”

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on Twitter at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his column.

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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football: Georgia Tech win shows running backs are critical