CRAWFORD | For Louisville, the opponent is No. 2 Miami, and the assignment is no mistakes | U of L Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- If Louisville football was looking for a nice, quiet bounce-back game, it must've clicked the wrong tab on Expedia.

Instead, it booked a one-way trip to the corner of Speed and Violence. To a town where the palm trees wave at 40-yard dash speed and the defensive linemen arrive in your backfield before the snap.

The No. 2 Miami Hurricanes. Friday night. On their turf. On your screen. And, according to Jeff Brohm, in a whole different weight class.

"I think Miami is as talented as any team in the country," Brohm said. "... This is the most talented team they've had since I've been here, at every position. Great defensive front. NFL prospects on the defensive line, which will be a challenge. Athletic as heck at linebacker and in the secondary. On the offensive line, big and strong. Big, physical running back. Great quarterback. Really good receivers and they're well coached. But that's why you practice all week — to get ready to play a great opponent."

Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford

Louisville (4-1, 1-1 ACC) arrives with a limp. The Cardinals spotted Virginia 14 points — a fumble return touchdown in the first half and pick six in the second, to take their first loss of the season, 30-27.

Brohm's Week 7 message? Don't hand the other guy the hammer.

"We have to make sure that we're not giving the other team points," he said. "Fewer turnovers. Fewer negative plays. And we need to be better and more consistent up front."

Running it against Miami's front, though, is like trying to garden in a hurricane. The Canes have Rueben Bain — part edge rusher, part demolition expert — and a line that coaches in the state have compared favorable to some really good SEC defensive fronts in recent years.

"Trust me, it shows up on tape," Brohm said. "They've got two defensive ends that are really talented at fast and strong along with some big guys up front and fast linebacker. … They're not overly complicated, but when you're that talented, you don't have to be. They come off the ball, they strike and they do a very good job."

VIDEO | UofL's Jeff Brohm previews Louisville’s game at No. 2 Miami

The Cards face the Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Friday night at 7 o'clock.

Louisville, meanwhile, is patching up its backfield. Both Isaac Brown and KeyJuan Brown are banged up, but expected to go. Their availability — and the line's ability to protect Miller Moss long enough to send a text — will go a long way toward determining whether this one is close or clinical.

Moss, to his credit, has kept the offense afloat – though he also has sprung the occasional costly leak. He threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns last week. Chris Bell has 305 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games and leads the ACC in making defensive backs feel bad about themselves.

But the air game only works if Moss stays vertical, the receivers stay open, and the Hurricanes don't get to play their favorite game: Strip, Sack and Score.

Brohm has pulled off these kinds of upsets before. He's been the guy with less horsepower but a better map. And he knows the formula.

"You've got to have an aggressive plan, and you've got to execute it," he said. "You can't beat yourself. That means no turnovers, no big breakdowns. Mix in aggressiveness with clean football."

A Familiar Foe. A Different Monster.

This will be Louisville's third straight meeting with Miami, but it may as well be a different sport.

Two years ago, the Cards pulled off their first-ever win in Miami — a 38-31 shootout. Last year, the Canes came to L&N Stadium with eventual No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward and won 52-45 in a game that required a calculator, three lead changes and a spotter plane.

This time, Miami isn't just fast and flashy. They're mean and methodical. They've added an NFL prototype in quarterback Carson Beck, a Georgia transfer who has thrown 11 touchdowns and barely broken a sweat doing it.

The Hurricanes haven't trailed much this season, which means Louisville's best shot may be to hit them early, confuse Beck late, and somehow steal a possession or two in between. But that's like saying your best shot in a hurricane is a stronger umbrella.

"You've got to disguise some things," Brohm said. "You've got to create some pressure on them. You got to find ways to make them do things they haven't had to do all year, because they've had the lead in pretty much every game, and they've been in control. And we have to find a way to do that ourselves, if we can, if we want to win.."

The Stakes: Everything and Nothing

There's a certain danger in looking at a game you're expected to lose and calling it a "must-win." Louisville has other big games this season, against Clemson, SMU and Kentucky. There's plenty of meat left on the bone.

But a win in Miami would be something else. A resume-changer. A program-definer. Maybe even a Brohm-era bookmark.

"You don't get this kind of opportunity very often, to play the team this caliber," Brohm said. "It can really show what you can do if you're ready to go, and at the same time if you're not, they will expose you to a great degree. … It's a great opportunity to play just an outstanding football team that's playing as good as any anyone in the country right now, and we're going to have to really play well in order to win."

No pressure. Just a nationally televised date with the No. 2 team in the country, in a stadium where the turf is fast, the hits are loud, and win would reverberate through college football from a program hoping to get itself back into the national conversation.