Louisville will start freshman Reggie Bonnafon again at quarterback against Syracuse, head coach Bobby Petrino said during the Atlantic Coast Conference coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning.

Bonnafon completed 16-of-32 passes and threw for 206 yards in his first college start last weekend at Wake Forest, a 20-10 Cardinals’ win. Redshirt sophomore Will Gardner started Louisville’s (4-1, 2-1 ACC) first four games at quarterback before sustaining a knee injury, and will be an option when the Cardinals and Orange (2-2) kick off at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome on Friday night.

“There’s a chance he’ll be available,” Petrino said. “Will was out there last night, did more in practice. Reports from the training room this morning was there was limited swelling, so we get a chance to get him out today at practice again.”

Through four games, Gardner has thrown eight touchdowns, completed 56.3 percent of his passes and he averages just short of 200 passing yards per game. Bonnafon, who’s played in three games, has connected on 57.7 percent of his throws. He has thrown for 357 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for a pair of scores.

Prior to Petrino’s announcement, SU head coach Scott Shafer discussed the Orange defense’s approach to preparing to face either — or both — of Louisville’s signal-callers during his weekly press conference.

“I think both kids are a little bit different. I think Bonnafon probably has the edge, with his ability to take off with the ball,” Shafer said. “But the one thing about Coach Petrino is that he’s very systematic with the way he runs his offense and what he has those quarterbacks do.

“So you’re not going to have two different offenses when one guy’s in.”

Shafer said the Louisville offense is different in that it keeps tight ends on the field often to try to avoid third-down situations. The Cardinals’ offense sways back and forth between strong and weak formations, he said, and many of their linemen are capable of playing more than one spot.

The keys for the Syracuse defense, Shafer added, will be its ability to stop the run on early-down situations and force Louisville into long-yardage positions where the Orange can “attack the scheme” and try to get to the quarterback.

“For the most part, we’re going to see an offense that stays true to what they are, which is an offense that breaks their tendencies all the time,” Shafer said. “Short week, I’m sure they’ll stay with what they’ve had success with but I know Coach Petrino will have some good wrinkles in the game plan for us.”

Published on October 1, 2014 at 12:43 pm

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb