CRAWFORD | Brohm rejects the letdown narrative, but No. 19 Louisville must prove him right | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jeff Brohm is already nervous.

Not because of Miami. That one's over. Louisville won it with a fake field goal, some quarterback shenanigans and four interceptions against the No. 2 team in the country.

Now comes the real stress: what happens after.

The Cardinals will have to handle the success of jumping into the AP poll at No. 19 and the national praise that came with their win over the Hurricanes. Brohm said he'll continue to be creative, including the challenge of keeping his team sharp after a big win.

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

"I'm always scared we're going to lose at the beginning of the week," Brohm said Monday. "So I try to think outside the box. How can we create some plays and points? I hate losing. It's not till the end of the week till I start to feel more confident."

He doesn't like the word "letdown," because some of his team's losses after big victories came in pretty tough spots.

"You can't take your foot off the gas, and it's been talked about before," Brohm said. "As I've looked at that, we played Wisconsin one year, Ohio State, the next year Michigan State. Those aren't easy games."

They're also not the only ones.

Last season, Louisville knocked off No. 11 Clemson, only to lose its next game, as a 20-point favorite at Stanford. The year before, it knocked off No. 10 Notre Dame, then lost the next week at Pittsburgh.

In 2021, his Purdue team pounded No. 2 Iowa on the road 24-7, then came home and lost to No. 25 Wisconsin at home 30-13. Later that season, they beat No. 3 Michigan State 40-29, then lost at No. 4 Ohio State 59-31.

In 2018, they upset No. 2 Ohio State 49-20. Then they went on the road and lost at unranked Michigan State 23-13. Next game, they beat No. 16 Iowa 38-36 and followed that with a 41-10 loss at Minnesota.

Brohm doesn't need to be reminded about letdowns. He's lived them. He also knows that the teams they played the next week were good teams, whether they had a number by their name or not.

And he knows that Boston College, which visits L&N Stadium, is exactly the kind of team that could take advantage if his team isn't dialed in. They jumped out on Louisville 20-0 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., last season and had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"We had to fight and claw to get back," Brohm said. "If our guys don't remember that. There's something wrong with them."

So now, after all the creativity and emotion and catharsis of Miami, Brohm is shifting tone. Back to urgency. Back to tension. Back to the anxiety that fuels him.

"It is a one-game season, and we'll continue to preach that," he said. "... We've got to get back to work and put our foot on the gas."

He's not wrong to be concerned. This Boston College team isn't ranked, but it has senior receiver Lewis Bond, who leads the ACC with 50 receptions. It runs the ball with authority.

But the bigger concern isn't them. It's the emotional whiplash of college football. The idea that a win means you can exhale.

Brohm's entire plan this week is to cancel the exhale.

He doesn't want his players satisfied. He wants them suspicious. He doesn't want joy. He wants edge.

That doesn't mean he won't coach with flair. He called a fake field goal last week. He hinted at more tricks to come. But those wrinkles come from nerves — not comfort.

"Sometimes it works. Sometimes it looks like crud," Brohm said. "And then you ask yourself, why did I do something so stupid?"

Answer: because the fear of standing still is worse.

That's how you beat a top-five team on the road. And it's how you unlock the challenge of the game after, too.

So don't call it a letdown game.

Call it a test. Not of talent, but of maturity. Of memory. Of whether this team knows what history says — and refuses to repeat it.

Brohm knows. He's already pacing.