Breaking news: Louisville 5-star commit stuns  college football world with decision to flip and…. 

 

WATCH! TCU’s Ben Abeldt Meets with the Media Ahead of 2025 College Baseball Season

 

2024 Louisville Football Position Breakdown: Special Teams

The Cardinals have a plethora of questions that need answering all across their special teams unit.

Matthew McGavic | Jul 7, 2024

Sep 1, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Louisville Cardinals place kicker Brock Travelstead (40) kicks a field goal against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Sep 1, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Louisville Cardinals place kicker Brock Travelstead (40) kicks a field goal against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Louisville Cardinals

 

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As we inch closer to the start of the 2024 college football season, Louisville Report will break down each individual position on the Cardinals’ roster. Concluding our positional breakdown series, we t

As any well-versed football fan knows, you have to win all three phases of the game to put yourself in the best position possible to come out with a victory. But while Louisville was able to post a their first 10-win season in a decade and get to their first ever ACC Championship Game, when you look at the special teams numbers from last season, it almost feels like the Cardinals won in spite of their special teams.

 

In the punting game – whether it was kicking the football, returning the punt or defending the opposing returner – Louisville struggled immensely in 2023. Their 40.51 yards per punt ranked 103rd in the FBS, their 4,39 yards per punt return was 112th, and their 8.89 yards allowed per punt return was 83rd.

While punting wasn’t great overall for Louisville last season, it did get better in the second half after the the staff made a change. Travelstead started out as both the field goal kicker and punter, but midway through, walk-on Brady Hodges took over as the starting punter. While Travelstead averaged 39.7 yards and 26 punts, Hodges improved that mark by averaging 42.8 on 28 punts.

 

But if there are signs of slippage with Hodges to start the year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Louisville try out another punter. Hodges himself had a good spring and got plenty of hang time on most of his kicks, but it was fellow walk-on Carter Schwartz who usually had the most distance on his punts in spring ball. If anything, Schwartz will probably be the guy the Cardinals go to as their kickoff specialist. Adam Winkenhofer, a true freshman walk-on, also joined the roster earlier this summer.

At placekicker, Louisville brings back their starter here in Brock Travelstead. However, Travelstead’s 2023 season was up-and-down to say the least. He went just 17-of-24 on his field goal kicks, with his 70.8 field goal percentage ranking just 88th in the FBS, and even went 39-of-41 on extra point attempts. It was the first season that Louisville as a team missed multiple extra points in a season since 2019.

 

Even with his struggles in his first season as the full-time starter, Travelstead still has potential. His 53-yard field goal against NC State set the program record for longest field goal, and he did seem to have much more consistant spring. That being said, these efforts will have to continue heading into fall camp.

 

Kickoffs weren’t much better for the Cardinals. While Louisville did do a good job at actually booting the ball in these situations, with their 62.69 yards per kickoff ranking 38th, what happened when the ball landed wasn’t as adept. The Cardinals’ 23.40 yards allowed per kickoff ranked 115th, while their own kickoff yardage mark of 20.21 was 63rd.

There were even times where Louisville fans had to hold their breath when the field goal unit trotted onto the field, but more on that in a bit.

 

Heading into the 2024 season, there isn’t massive turnover at the kicking spots for Louisville like there was last season when they lost both James Turner and Mark Vassett. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t questions across the board on special teams.