College GameDay crew debates if Louisville is new version of 2022 TCU team
No. 14 Louisville is rolling in Year 1 under Jeff Brohm, starting the season 6-0 and College GameDay debated if this was the next version of TCU.
For reference, TCU ended up going undefeated, lost the Big 12 title game, snuck into the College Football Playoff and lost to Georgia in the national championship after knocking off Michigan. In 2023, perhaps Louisville is that team this year, a team who came out of nowhere.
Pat McAfee was very impressed with what Brohm did immediately coming back to his alma mater.
“I mean, what a fairy tale story for Sonny Dykes and TCU last year to get to the national championship and then lose by half 100, but that’s neither here nor there, they had an incredible run, but nobody thought they’re gonna be able to do it,” McAfee said on College GameDay. “Because are you able to instill that culture quick enough?
“I think Jeff Brohm, going back to Louisville bringing his brother as the offensive coordinator, they have used the transfer portal to their benefit just like TCU did. They bring in Jack Plummer and although he’s not the star of the offense, Jawhar Jordan is, and you can find similarities in their use of the transfer portal to find guys that fit their culture. It turned around much quicker.”
Kirk Herbstreit thought Louisville could go on a make run this year, from what he’s seen so far. But he preached caution.
“I think when we saw Jeff Brohm was gonna leave Purdue and go back home, I think a lot of his thought, obviously a great fit,” Herbstreit said. “He understands what it takes to be able to get this Louisville program back up and going so you got to celebrate what he’s doing. But to compare them to what TCU did and all of a sudden assume okay, this is going to be the outlier team that’s going to make a run, this is a team that can maybe win any Saturday, and they can lose any Saturday including today on the road at Pitt, so I love it.
“They got a veteran quarterback who’s been around … So he’s a guy that’s been around and gives you a chance. But they got to be careful watching shows like this and hearing about how great they are. Because again, they could stumble at any moment.”
Desmond Howard was impressed by Louisville, but noted the difficulty of TCU’s schedule in 2022 compared to the Cardinals’ in 2023.
“Yeah, I look at this Louisville team and obviously, big win last week, but you try to compare them to TCU a year ago, it’s one thing to go undefeated but then there’s another thing completely different to go undefeated against a tough schedule,” Howard said.
“And TCU, they were really building momentum last season because of the teams that they beat, not just because they were undefeated. So that’s the difference. Louisville’s schedule is a lot lighter, to me, than TCU’s schedule was a year ago. If they do run the table, then their ACC championship game will probably be their best win.”