LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Saturday's game between the University of Louisville football team and Georgia Tech could turn into a battle of the quarterbacks.
No. 19 Louisville (2-0) is coming off an early bye week. The Cardinals steamrolled Austin Peay and Jacksonville State by a combined score of 111-14, but they'll see a substantial step up in competition from the Yellow Jackets (3-1, 1-1 ACC).
Georgia Tech has already played four games and quarterback Haynes King is a big reason why his team won three.
King has completed 81-of-106 passes for 962 yards and six touchdowns, against just one interception. He has also rushed for 158 yards and three more touchdowns.
His dual-threat ability has the attention of UofL head coach Jeff Brohm.
"We were not great at stopping the quarterback in the run game in the first half last game," he said during his Monday news conference. "In the pass game, you can't allow [King] a lot of rush lanes. He has the ability to run the draw and get yards, scramble and get yards. There's designed quarterback runs, misdirection...you have to know where the ball is and where the quarterback is."
Brohm said his defense will need to defend the perimeter against the Yellow Jackets.
King is a fifth-year junior who transferred to Georgia Tech from Texas A&M prior to last season. He ranks 20th in Division I in pass efficiency, eighth in passing yards and fifth in completion percentage.
He completed 19-of-32 for 313 yards, three touchdowns and one pick against Louisville last season -- a 39-34 win for the Cards.
"He's a great quarterback," Cardinals defensive back Benjamin Perry said. "I feel like the Jacksonville State quarterback gave us a good warm-up. I feel like we have a good gameplan for him. He's going to do his thing, but we're going to try to flank him."
The Cardinals are also seeing plenty of success at the QB spot.
Tyler Shough, who played at Oregon and Texas Tech before transferring prior to the season, has completed 39-of-57 passes for 581 yards and six touchdowns. His coach said he'll have to continue to take care of the football as the schedule gets tougher.
"He's done a good job, without question," Brohm said. "He's been very efficient. He can throw the ball, he's practiced well. He understands what we're doing and how to do it. Now we're going to face some really good football teams that are going to challenge us more, so he's going to have to be good in his decision-making and make throws with people coming at him."
Shough is No. 8 in the country in passing efficiency.
Louisville and Georgia Tech will kick off Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
