Football Cards On The Move - U of L Back In Contention For ACC Title

By RUSS BROWN Photos By Louisville Athletics

Louisville’s football season began with aspirations of an Atlantic Coast Conference championship and the berth of the enlarged 12-team College Football Playoff, but approaching mid-season, those goals looked like pipe dreams. The Cardinals’ erratic performances led to an upset loss at home to Virginia and, with a trip to No. 2 Miami on the horizon, they looked like they were on the verge of dropping out of contention in the ACC. 

That’s no longer the case, though. U of L pulled off a stunning 24-21 upset of the Hurricanes, who were a two-touchdown favorite, and now the Top-25-ranked Cards are in the thick of the league title race heading into their final four ACC regular season games. 

However, they’re going to need some help to get there. As the Voice-Tribune went to press ahead of a game at Virginia Tech on Nov. 1, U of L, 6-1 overall, stood at 3-1 in the conference. Virginia leads the league at 4-0 and holds the tiebreaker for a spot in the championship game in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 6 by virtue of its win over the Cards, who in turn have the edge over Miami. Georgia Tech is also unbeaten at 5-0 and the Yellow Jackets don’t face Louisville this season. 

So the margin of error and U of L can’t afford another slipup. 

Thus Brohm has warned his players that “you can’t take your foot off the gas.” 

In U of L’s favor is a user-friendly schedule the rest of the way. There are no remaining ranked teams, and after Virginia Tech, two of the last three ACC games are at home, the exception being a trip to dangerous SMU (5-3, 3-1 ACC). Miami is still considered the odds on favorite to reach the championship contest and Duke (3-1), another team U of L won’t face, is also lurking. The Cards will likely be favored in all three games down the stretch in November -- against California (5-3, 2-2 ACC), Clemson (3-4, 2-3) in L&N Stadium and the Mustangs. 

“Miami was a big game for us,” Brohm said. “Our players came ready to play and we played a full game to the end, but it only counts as one win. It’s a one-game season every week and we’ll continue to preach that. In my opinion, anybody can beat anybody. You see it every week. So you’ve got to prepare well, have a good plan, execute and do a lot of things right in order to win. That’s just how college football works. Hopefully, our team realizes that the work has to be put in, then you’ve got to perform and pass the test on game day. 

“One thing I think stands out about this team is that our guys play hard. Even when things aren’t super efficient and super smooth, we hang in there and we try to make adjustments. Some of them work, some of them don’t, but these guys want to win and we’ll continue to work as hard as we can to win the next one.” 

Some other things also stand out for the Cards. Offensively, they have two elite playmakers in preseason all-ACC first team running back Isaac Brown and wide receiver Chris Bell, another all-ACC first team selection. Brown is finally healthy, as he proved in a 38-24 win over Boston College on Oct. 25 by rushing for a career-high 205 yards on just 14 carries. Bell has had three 100-yard games in his last four outings. He leads the ACC in receiving yards with 687 (98.1 per game) on 48 catches and is third nationally. Then there’s Caullin Lacy, who is a threat at both receiver and kick/punter returner, and backup running back Keyjuan Brown, who is also capable of big plays. 

“We need to continue to try to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers as often as possible,” Brohm says. 

The offense gets plenty of help from U of L’s defense, which is one of the best in the nation. The Cards lead the ACC and are 10th in the country in total defense, allowing 286.3 yards per game. Their 12 interceptions also are on top of the conference and rank sixth nationally. 

So the stage is set to find out if the Cards can come up with a big finish in the conference going into their annual rivalry showdown with Kentucky in L&N Stadium on Nov. 29.