CRAWFORD | Rare air: Brohm, Louisville move into special position with win over Virginia

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Nobody said it would be easy. Technically, nobody said anything at all about the Louisville football team getting to the ACC Championship game before this season.

That's the same Louisville team that was picked to finish eighth in the conference. On Thursday night, the Cardinals beat Virginia, 31-24, to improve to 9-1, 6-1 in ACC play. Mathematically, they can now do no worse than a tie for second.

Depending on what happens this weekend, the Cardinals may have punched their ticket to the Dec. 2 conference championship game against Florida State on Thursday night. If not, they may need to finish the job in Miami a week from Saturday. There are still several tiebreaker scenarios they could lose.

Regardless, that Louisville is in this position at all under first-year coach Jeff Brohm is remarkable — and not just because it had lost all momentum after a 42-yard fumble return touchdown by Virginia put the Cavaliers up 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

It had been one of those bad quarters, of which Louisville had experienced three others coming into Thursday night. The second quarter against Georgia Tech (28 points allowed). The third quarter against Indiana (14 points allowed) and the third at Pittsburgh (17 points allowed). In all, those four quarters (including the third quarter Thursday) represent 47% of the points Louisville has given up all season. And they represent deep ruts for the Louisville offense.

This game had looked more or less in hand, then UVa scored 14 points in 10 seconds: A Jack Griese 1-yard touchdown run with 4:15 left in the third quarter, and a Kam Robinson pick-six with 4:05 left. A little more than three minutes later, Virginia would make it three straight TDs with a fumble return touchdown to take a 21-14 lead.

That kind of change in fortune can make your head spin. But this Louisville team, having come back before, shook it off. Or maybe it danced it off. The fourth quarter arrived, "The Joker and The Thief" played over the stadium PA. Louisville players bounced and danced, as they usually do. The L&N Stadium crowd of 44,628 roared, and if there was a spell (maybe from only the second lost coin toss of the season), it was broken.

There were big plays on defense. A sack by Ashton Gillotte. A batted pass by Mason Reiger. And a passing game that had been misfiring finally connected — a 52-yard touchdown pass from Jack Plummer to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce tied the game at 21. Then the Louisville running game, which had been landing body blows all night, finally scored a knockout, when Isaac Gurrendo broke through the line and rumbled 73 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Louisville has outscored opponents 73-30 in the fourth quarter this season. It has outscored them 76-7 in the first quarter.

That kind of thing will win you a lot of games. It has won Louisville a lot of games.

The win earned Brohm a $250,000 bonus.

As Gurendo thundered across the goal line for the go-ahead score, he reared back and spiked the ball emphatically, immediately earning a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff. A Virginia personal foul on the extra point try nullified his transgression.

Virginia didn't help itself with 13 penalties for 100 yards.

But Louisville gave as many chances as it received.

"They were getting some breaks," Brohm said. "But I'm sure we got breaks, as well, the last couple of weeks. They capitalized on it. We knew we just had to keep fighting and playing to the end."

The transfer portal is about acquiring talent. What you can't predict is whether that collection of players will mesh together, whether they will have any resilience about them. Those things are a product of coaching.

The game-tying touchdown was good execution, yes. A good — but not perfect — pass by Plummer. A well-run route by Huggins-Bruce. The ball was underthrown. He had to wait for it a bit, but he was so open because of the play call that it didn't matter. It's an example of coach and players combining to make something happen.

"Everything is not always going to go perfectly," Brohm said. "Everything is not going to be exactly how you design it. Some days some guys are going to make more plays. Some days another guy is going to make more plays. You just have to hang in there and play together. These guys stuck together. We have had some close games that we easily could have lost. I would be sitting here not in the great position that we are. But we found a way to win. Hats off to our coaches and our players because they have done enough to win the game. You go back, circle the wagons, figure out how to get better and correct things. We have done that every week. We aren't bashful about identifying the mistakes we make and how we can get better. So, we will do it again. I think our team should enjoy this and get a mental break because like I said, we finish the season with two really tough opponents that we are going to have to be more efficient and play better in order to win."

Now Louisville finds itself in a strange situation. With two games remaining, it already has exceeded season expectations. Yet at Miami, it is chasing a foundational goal for the program – an appearance in the ACC championship game. And back home against Kentucky, it is chasing an emotional goal – ending Kentucky's recent dominance of the football series.

Those will be taller tasks than the past several games Louisville has played.

That this team has put itself in position to make those games count for so much, however, shouldn't be overlooked.

I don't think anyone is. Generally, when the next home game is Kentucky, the chant of "beat UK" rings through the stadium at the end of a victory. It wasn't heard on Thursday night. With bigger goals in front of it, even the Louisville fan base is staying in the moment.

And that, whatever happens in the next couple of weeks, is a special thing.

Related Stories:

• CRAWFORD | Virginia player carted off during loss to Louisville gets 'encouraging new'
• BOZICH | Louisville outlasts Virginia, 31-24, inching closer to ACC title game

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.