Jeff Brohm reveals his initial thoughts on matchup against Duke
On Saturday, the Louisville Cardinals will host the Duke Blue Devils in an ACC top-25 showdown. The Cardinals are in second place in the conference, just behind the undefeated Florida State Seminoles, sporting a 6-1 record and 3-1 in conference play.
Ahead of this significant ACC matchup with potential conference championship implications on the line, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm shared his thoughts on their Week 9 opponent.
“Well, they’re stout on defense. Their fifth and scoring defense, second and red zone defense; I mean, they’re ranked high,” said Brohm. “They play a solid brand of physical football that keeps the ball in front of them. They do some really good things up front, in the running game, and with stunts, creating some havoc for your offensive line. They’ve just been really good. Until the Florida State game, you could hardly score any points on them. And they kept that game extremely close to the end.”
Duke’s defense has allowed the fourth fewest points this season, only allowing 97 points over seven games. This puts their defense in with some elite company. Only Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, and Air Force have allowed fewer points this season.
While Duke’s defense has been impressive this season, they also have an impressive offense to match. Led by junior quarterback Riley Leonard, the Blue Devils sit fourth in the ACC, only a half-game behind North Carolina for third with a 5-2 record, and are 2-1 in conference play. And Brohm lives what he’s seen from Duke on that side of the ball as well.
“On offense, they’ve been efficient, and that’s what they are about. They’ve got an experienced quarterback who can run as well. They run the football with some physical backs, (and)get into manageable third downs; they try to win in the style that they believe in, which is playing great defense, with a solid running game, (and) taking care of the football… They are well coached; Coach (Mike) Elko has done a really good job.”
Louisville and Duke full face off October 28, at 2:30 PM CT from the Cardinal Stadium. The winner of this game will keep pace with Florida State for a chance at playing in the ACC championship game. Currently, ESPN‘s matchup predictor has Louisville slightly favored with a 53.5 percent chance of winning on Saturday. You can catch all the action live on ESPN or by using the ESPN app.