One big thing: Louisville must keep foot on the gas against Boston College
Louisville enters its seventh game of the season at an all-time high. Coming off their Friday night lights upset over No. 2 Miami, the Cards will now face struggling Boston College.
The Eagles are on a six-game losing streak and sit dead last in the ACC. Led by former New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien, Boston College has not given many teams a good fight.
Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm has a history of struggling after a big-time win. The Cards will need to keep the pedal to the metal if they want to keep their college football playoff hopes alive.
Staying consistent
In 2023, Louisville had just beaten No. 10 Notre Dame to extend its unbeaten season. Quickly after, the Cards fell to unranked Pittsburgh. Last season, Coach Brohm led his team into Death Valley to beat No. 11 Clemson, but lost to unranked Stanford the very next game.
A similar situation is playing out this season. Louisville has shocked the world by beating Miami, but the focus has now shifted to reversing the curse and taking care of business in the weeks ahead.
“You’ve got to practice hard and you’ve got to prepare hard. You can’t take your foot off the gas…every conference game isn’t an easy game,” said Brohm.
Boston College comes in as a 25.5 underdog. Recently, benching starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan for Grayson James, the team has struggled to find consistency at the position. The Eagles only average 100.1 yards on the ground per game. With Louisville coming off a dominant performance holding the Hurricanes to 63 rushing yards, Louisville will have the upper hand. On the defensive side, the Eagles just let up 38 points and 455 total yards in a double-digit loss to Connecticut.
Louisville will need to expose these weaknesses and take full advantage of preparing for what’s to come. Brohm understands the season is a marathon, not a sprint. “In my opinion, every week, anybody can beat anybody on a given day. You’ve got to prepare well, you’ve got to have a good plan, you’ve got to execute, and you’ve got to do a lot of things right to win,” Brohm said.
Starting fast and picking yourself right where they left off in Miami is key.
“We’ve got to try to get leads. Obviously, when we get a lead, it helps us play good football. This (Miami game) really was the first game we had the lead over other than Eastern Kentucky,” Brohm explained.
Keep improving the run game
The Cards were known for their ground game last season, averaging 185.2 yards per game, featuring a backfield tandem of Isaac Brown and Duke Watson. This year was supposed to have the same dynamic duo leading the Cards to glory. After rushing for 1,172 yards as a freshman, Brown has dealt with injuries, causing him to run for only 104 yards through the three games before last week. Watson has also been hit with the injury bug, sidelining him for two games this season and he will not play on Saturday.
Louisville doubled its rushing yards last week in Miami compared to its game against Virginia. Brown ran for 113 of the team’s 119 total yards on the ground. With the injuries behind him, he was able to display the same burst and elusiveness as last season.
Brown caused 16 missed tackles last week alone, good for the best in the nation.
“Do I think we played better on the offensive line? Yes. I think having more balance and being healthier in the backfield probably helped us as well,” Brohm said Monday.
Boston College gives up 140 rushing yards a game, good for the bottom five in the ACC. Since conference play has started, the Eagles have been even worse at stopping the run, giving up 182.3 on the ground. Louisville has already faced the two best run defenses in the ACC with Miami and Pitt. Now it is their opportunity to find their stride.
“We’ve got to continue to play well around him (Miller Moss). I think it helped that we were able to run the football and had some balance and didn’t have to throw it 55 times a game,” Coach Brohm explained.
Louisville will need to balance a healthy workload for both running backs while also getting them back into rhythm if they want to keep their championship aspirations alive.
