Mario Cristobal praised Louisville QB Tyler Shough who he coached at Oregon

Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough was in the first class under Mario Cristobal as head coach at Oregon in 2018. Shough was the 140th prospect, seventh pro-style QB and top player in Arizona in 2018. On Saturday, Shough will be on the opposite sideline from Cristobal on Saturday when Miami plays at Louisville.

In three years under Cristobal at Oregon, Shough completed 64.8 percent of his pass attempts for 1,703 yards,16 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 282 yards and another two scores. After Justin Herbert left for the NFL following the 2019 season, Shough became the primary Oregon starting QB in 2020.

During the Covid shorted season, Shough completed 64.8 percent of his pass attempts for 63.5 percent of his pass attempts for 1,559 yards, 13 TDs and six interceptions and had 271 rushing yards and another pair of scores in seven games. Shough spent the three previous seasons at Texas Tech before transferring to Louisville this year.

Fully healthy, Shough is having his best season. Shough has completed 63.4 percent of his pass attempts and already set career highs with 1,674 passing yards and 14 TDs while throwing just three interceptions. Cristobal praised Shough for being a leader and how he sees the field.

"Tyler Shough was a quarterback for us at the University of Oregon in (20)20 and helped lead us to a conference championship...I can speak...very personally on behalf of him. A great competitor, great quarterback, he's big, strong, can run, sees the field extremely well, has a live arm and can make every throw and is a super high level competitor. All right awesome young man from an awesome family and he's a natural leader."

- Miami head coach Mario Cristobal

Louisville is 4-2 with a pair of seven-point losses to Notre Dame and SMU. Shough helped Louisville break a two-game losing streak with a 24-20 comeback win at Virginia last week. Shough and wide receiver Ja'Corey Brooks are one of the best tandems in the ACC.

Brooks is second in the ACC with 572 receiving yards, 11th with 30 receptions and leads the conference with six TD catches. The two-best receivers in the ACC will match up on Saturday at high noon. Miami's Xavier Restrepo leads the ACC with 585 receiving yards, is seventh with 32 receptions and tied for second with five TD receptions.

Louisville projects as the best team Miami will play in the 2024 regular season. The Cardinals are 15th in the ESPN Football Power Index. Miami needs a better performance from their secondary. The Hurricanes cannot allow Shough and Brooks to connect for explosive plays.

Shough leads the ACC in completions over 30, 40 and 50 yards. Brooks leads the ACC in receptions of more than 20, 40, 50 and 60 yards. Miami faces a better-passing offense in Louisville than they did at California two weeks ago. Cal had four completions of 50 or more yards versus Miami.