Louisville upsets Miami behind four Carson Beck interceptions

On Friday, Louisville handed No. 2 Miami its first loss of the season, in a 24-21 nail-biter. It’s only Louisville’s second win against a top-2 team in the country in program history.

The Cardinals’ defense was incredible in the win, picking off Miami quarterback Carson Beck four times. For reference, Beck only had thrown three total interceptions through Miami’s first five games of the season.

With just under four minutes left in the game, Miami stopped Louisville and received the ball on its own 15-yard line. The Hurricanes drove down the field, while milking the clock.

It looked like they would, at least, tie the game with a field goal and potentially find the end zone to secure a win. However, with 32 seconds remaining in the game, Louisville’s TJ Capers made a stunning interception on a Miami out route to propel the Cardinals to victory. After the game, Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm raved about his team’s pass defense.

“When you get the lead on him, and you make them throw more then they want, then you’re going to have the advantage, which we finally did that for once this year,” Brohm said. “Our defensive plan was to disguise coming after the quarterback a little bit, get some blitzes that really landed. But, just a great effort from our guys to come on the road and beat a really good football team.”

Louisville’s secondary wasn’t its only unit that thrived. The Cardinals’ run defense was also stellar, limiting Miami to 63 rushing yards in the win.

Of course, Louisville’s offense had to hold up its end of the bargain as well. Louisville quarterback Miller Moss completed 23-of-his-37 pass attempts for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the triumph, without throwing an interception.

Running back Isaac Brown paved the way for Louisville’s ground game, tallying a game-high 113 rushing yards. With the win, Louisville improved to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.

“This is what college football is all about,” Brohm said. “Every week, it’s going to be a contest down to the very end, no matter who you play. We knew we were playing a great team.

“We knew we had to really be sharp and do some different things. I thought we started hot, got a little cold there, but just kind of hung in there. And our guys just played to the end. That’s what you got to do.”

It was a bounce-back win for the Cardinals, who suffered a 30-27 loss to Virginia in Week 6. Louisville took advantage of its bye last week and entered Friday with a fantastic game plan.

Miami entered the game with a 30.7% chance of finishing the regular season undefeated, per ESPN. Now, the Hurricanes will have to regroup to attempt to enter the postseason with no additional losses.