LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If this is the way it’s going to be for the University of Louisville football team during Jeff Brohm’s first season as the Cardinals’ coach, I need to condition myself to rewrite a string of columns.
Because what I thought I saw from the Cardinals in the first quarter was remarkably different than the brutal ugliness I saw in the second quarter, when Louisville looked like a team that might win four games — or less.
Not so fast, Captain Over-reaction.
Jeff Brohm motivated the Cardinals at halftime and they responded to win 39-34 in his Louisville head coaching debut.
I had to delete the acidic words I composed about the Cardinals’ defense after they surrendered 28 points and 282 yards in the second quarter because that was not the way Louisville played in the second half. Not at all.
In the end, the good/bad/good Cardinals were plenty good to handle Georgia Tech, 39-34, Friday night in front of 36,101 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
I wasn't the only delivering one -- and getting -- mixed messages from Louisville's performance. What Brohm said about his team after the game was a tad different than what he said to them at halftime.
"We challenged our guys at halftime to play much harder, play much tougher and figure out a way to grind this thing out," Brohm said. "They gave way better effort (in the second half).
"We said, 'Look, we're going to judge effort and if you're not giving more effort than the other guy you won't play the rest of the year.' "
Rest of the year?
"He had some choice words for us at halftime and got us going and lit a fire under us," U of L quarterback Jack Plummer said. "I mean, Coach is here to win games, so when we play like that in the first half, he's got to do something."
It wasn't the smoothest opening victory but it could become the most memorable. Brohm's father, Oscar, said that during lunch he told his son that when the game started he would likely feel a bit nostalgic about returning to coach at the program where he, his 2 brothers and Dad played football.
"I just said that will pass when the game starts and then do what you've trained to do -- coach the team," Oscar Brohm said.
That's what happened as Brohm quickly answered two questions about his readiness to coach at the program that he loves. The first was that he could get his guys and his coaches to respond. The second was that he's considerably more than the offensive, play-calling maestro that some people consider him.
He told his defensive staff that the U of L defense was playing too much man to man coverage. He told the entire defense that guys were running around looking like they had no idea where they were going. He wasn't happy that the defensive front seemed static.
"We made adjustments and we made different calls, changed the front, stemmed the front, played more zone and did a much better job," Brohm said.
What did Brohm say in the defensive meeting room at halftime?
"Well, I ain't going to lie," U of L defensive lineman Dezmond Tell said. "I don't even remember anything. I was just hyped.Â
"It was crazy. Felt like a dream. I felt we were going to win, regardless. I felt like everybody had the energy back that we brought in the first quarter and we just came out and competed."
Long ago former U of L coach Howard Schnellenberger taught Brohm that to believe was to be strong. The Cards believed and were plenty strong enough to win a game that had edged into the danger zone at halftime.
After riding a pair of field goals to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, the Cards were buried in a blizzard of Georgia Tech points and U of L missed opportunities in the second quarter.
They allowed 28 points in the second quarter, which was twice as many points as they allowed in any quarter over 13 games last season.
They trailed 28-13 — and the only reason it wasn’t worse is Tech missed a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the half following a Jack Plummer interception.
Go back and check what people were saying about defensive coordinator Ron English on social media. It was not flattering.
It was certainly different than what they said about the Cardinals after Louisville outscored Tech 26-6 in the second half.
Louisville limited Tech to six points and 162 yards in the final 30 minutes.
Plummer found Jamari Thrash in the right corner of the end zone with a 20-yard TD pass to put U of L ahead, 29-28 with 8:08 to play. After a shaky first half, Plummer said that U of L offensive coordinator Brian Brohm told him to forget his mistakes and make the necessary throws in the second half.
That is what Plummer did. He finished 18 for 31 for 247 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Plummer also ran for 51 yards on nine carries.
"Not my best half of football, that's for sure," Plummer said. "I came back.
"Proud of myself for battling back in the second half and I thought I played really well in the second half. Just got to start off quicker and it's probably a different game if I start the game off right and do my job."
It was not the most direct route to a 1-0 start to kickoff the Brohm Era but it was a route that should bump U of L’s season ticket sales closer to 38,000 by next week.
Brohm will make his home debut Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when Murray State visits L&N Cardinal Stadium, the first of seven home games this season.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
