Louisville Cardinals

Louisville football vs. Duke: Offense and Defense first half grades

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Louisville football is currently up 10-7 at halftime against Duke as we look at the first half grades for the Cardinals.

The first half definitely wasn’t what we expected between the Louisville football team and Duke. Lamar Jackson didn’t have a very impressive first half and Duke has hung around ever since kickoff.

Here are our first half grades:

Offense: C

That was a very uninspired performance in the first half for the Cardinals. Lamar Jackson was forced to throw off of his back foot on multiple plays, which didn’t turn out well for the Louisville offense. Duke does do a great job of generating pressure, but it’s not like the big plays haven’t been there in the first half.

Lamar Jackson needs to settle in and focus in the second half. It’s not a good look to struggle at home against a Duke team who is 3-3 and unranked.

Defense: B

They didn’t look very well on the first defensive series of the game, but they have settled in ever since then. You always wonder how focused a team will be after playing a close game in Clemson. However, they did do a better job towards the end of the half.

Daniel Jones look comfortable in the pocket and that’s the exact opposite of what Louisville wants in this game. They need to keep trying to get pressure up the middle and see what Jones decides to do with the football. Every time Louisville had a quarterback pressure, Jones panicked and forced a couple of throws. The Cards should hold the Duke offense in check in the second half.