LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jeff Brohm knows a few things about beating top-5 opponents. He did it three times at Purdue, twice as a heavy underdog. There's no simple formula, or everyone would do it. It's about catching lightning for one game, bringing the elements of coaching and execution and inspiration together and pulling off something that few envisioned.
And, he'll be the first to tell you, it takes a bit of good luck.
That's the task facing Brohm as Louisville coach in Saturday's ACC Championship game in Charlotte. The Cardinals will face No. 4 Florida State at 8 p.m. Louisville is an underdog – but not as big an underdog as it has been. The unbeaten Seminoles opened as a 6.5-point favorite, but as of Wednesday morning were favored by just 2.5.
That matches the smallest point spread of any conference championship game this weekend. Maybe somebody has studied Brohm's magic against top programs. In five years, Brohm's Purdue teams managed to take down three top-5 teams. In Louisville's football history, it has beaten four.
At Purdue, Brohm's Boilermakers upset No. 3 Ohio State 49-20 as a 12-point underdog in West Lafayette in 2018. In 2021, they beat No. 2 Iowa 24-7 (as an 11-point underdog) and No. 5 Michigan State 40-29 (as a three-point underdog).
Brohm called FSU, "tremendous." But he said the first step in big games against higher ranked teams is giving your team an expectation of victory.
"You don't want to ever put it past your team that you can do it against great football teams," Brohm said. "So you know, that's when this thing gets really special and fun. And then you can have a feeling in your heart for the rest of your life that, 'Man, we did something that no one thought we could do.' That's what the goal is and I think these guys understand that, 'Hey, we've got one shot to win a championship. We fought our way into this game.' While we're playing a great, undefeated opponent that has played outstanding to this point, it's a one-game deal now. Can we just figure it out for one game and put it all together? And then cut it loose from there."
Brohm is the first coach in football history to take different Power 5 programs to a conference title game in consecutive seasons. He did it at Purdue last year, a 43-22 loss to then No. 2-ranked Michigan.
That was a one-point game at the half. But turnovers, and allowing Michigan big plays, made the second half a different story. There's little room for error in this setting, Brohm said. Preparation, as always, is key, and the margin for error is smaller. Brohm kept saying the word "sharp" in discussing the game on Sunday.
"We're now in the national spotlight against an undefeated opponent that has a great chance of making the playoff," Brohm said. "For us, we've got to prove our value and we've got to go out there and make this a competitive game, give it our best shot, come ready to play, prove that we're a capable team and do it for four quarters. Anything can happen if you come prepared and you play your best for four quarters and that's what we want to try to do. But we know against this type of team that the margin for error is very small and that we've got to really have a great week of practice and attack this thing head on and be really sharp come game time.
The first step has been diagnosing errors from the past several weeks on defense and trying to find a way to correct them, whether through tinkering with scheme or simplifying the calls. Like a bowl game, Brohm said, a conference championship game requires some new wrinkles that haven't been shown previously.
But Brohm has seen all those things come together before. Louisville saw them come together in an upset of Notre Dame at home earlier this season. In fact, Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer was on the roster for Purdue's pair of upsets in 2021.
Transmitting that belief isn't a problem.
"Our players are charged up to play in this kind of game against this caliber of opponent," Brohm said.
The more difficult part is getting the level of execution needed. Teams like Florida State do the little things well on every snap. That's how you go undefeated. To beat them, Brohm said, you have to match that kind of consistency – and hope for a few breaks.
"I think we know what we're capable of," Brohm said. "And I think that because of that we understand if we can put it all together for one game and four quarters, anything can happen. That's what's special about this -- can you find a way to do that for four quarters and match up against a team like this? Figure it out, be aggressive, take some chances and see if you can win the small battles of turnovers and penalties and all that."
While Brohm has been more conservative that perhaps his past performance has indicated this season, as an underdog in big games he makes no secret about the need to be more aggressive and, when the chance presents itself, to roll the dice.
"I think you have to think outside the box have creativity, take a few chances and then do what you do best," Brohm said.
But the rewards of playing in this kind of game — and being competitive — can be substantial.
"For us to be able to play a team of Florida State's caliber after the year they've had, to have an opportunity to try to beat them in the conference championship game, is huge for us and our program," Brohm said. "So, between now and then we've got to put her head down and go to work and see what we can figure out to try to put a plan together to see if we can knock this great football team off. These games are a lot of fun, because it's basically the end of the year other than the bowl game and you know if you can find a way to win, you can really create some attention and some momentum for your school. We're going to work hard to try to do that.
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