By Derek DeBurger

In what is debatably the biggest victory in program history, Louisville went down to Coral Gables and upset the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes.

The Howard Schnellenberger Trophy returns to the Derby City for the first time since 2023.

All the stops

After getting the ball on the opening kick, Jeff Brohm left no stone unturned.

On the very first snap, both Miller Moss and Deuce Adams were on the field. On the second snap it was Moss and Brady Allen, but Caullin Lacy got the ball out of the wildcat.

In large part to the trickery, the Cards were able to march the ball all the way down into the red zone.

After getting stopped on third down, Louisville lined up for a field goal. On what would have been a 21-yard attempt, Louisville ran a fake as the placeholder picked up three yards for a first down.

A play later Moss snuck across the goal line for a touchdown.

Louisville then forced Miami into a three-and-out on their first possession, and marched right back down the field. This time the drive ended on a 35-yard score from Chris Bell to put 14-0 on the scoreboard.

After getting punched in the mouth for the first time all season, Miami responded. The Canes almost instantly reached the goal line off of two deep passes from Carson Beck.

A two-yard run from Mark Fletcher Jr. put Miami on the board at 14-7.

After the initial assault, Louisville’s offense failed to move deep into opponent territory. Despite back-to-back interceptions thrown by Beck, the Cards couldn’t maintain their same level of aggression.

Miami was able to get back into the red zone, but Louisville came up with a big stop to force a field goal.

Even though they gave up 10 unanswered points, Louisville went into the half up 14-10.

The was the first game all season where Miami trailed at the half.

Run!

Louisville’s defense didn’t lose their edge during the break, holding Miami to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the half.

The Cards were able to use the good field position to breach Miami territory. And after getting stopped on third down, they hit a 48-yard field goal to go back up by seven points.

The two teams traded punts before the Canes were able to get just enough yards to kick a long field goal, cutting the lead to 17-13.

Louisville started the next drive with two incompletions to set up third-and-10, but Isaac Brown bailed the Cards out with a 20-yard run.

Brown continued to get chunk plays until it was Bell’s turn. The stud wide receiver broke off a 36-yard catch with a number of missed tackles for his second touchdown of the day and a 24-13 lead.

Miami then went into panic mode, as Beck threw another interception on fourth down. The play got called back on a roughing the passer penalty, but on yet another fourth down Beck threw another pick.

With all the momentum, Louisville fell apart in one play with Brown fumbling and giving possession right back to Miami. With a microscopic field, the Canes took no time to find Malachi Toney for a scamper and a score.

The two-point conversion cut the lead down to just three points.

Louisville tried to get some sort of insurance, but the drive stalled on a broken up pass to Bell.

With the ball and four minutes left in the game, Miami moved with ease, finding field goal range with just under 40 seconds remaining.

Only needing to kill some clock to set up a game-tying field goal, Miami opted to throw for some reason and Beck threw his fourth interception of the game to Miami-native TJ Capers.

With the possession of the ball and the clock on their side, Louisville kneed the ball to reach zeros.

Louisville won 24-21.

Fertile grounds

Big game Brohm only continues to shine, as the coach is now 4-2 against top-five teams. Each of those four wins were against top-three opponents as an unranked team.

As a program, this the highest ranked road victory. It beats out just a year ago when Louisville won at No. 11 Clemson.

As for the players, who knew Moss grew so well in swamp lands.

The signal caller had a respectable game of 248 yards and two touchdowns with only one sack and no turnovers.

In spite of the late fumble, Brown had a great game with 113 yards on just 15 carries.

Bell may have been the player of the game with nine catches for 136 yards and two scores.

A huge contributor may be one of the least talked about in Trevonte Sylvester. Friday’s game was his first start of the season, and it’s no coincidence that the offensive line looked vastly improved.

What does stand out the most is just how dominant the defense continues to look.

Beck looked completely rattled. The defense had him seeing ghosts and playing small as a number of his incompletions were batted away at the line.

Louisville is now 2-8 all-time against top-two teams, with the only other victory coming against Florida State in 2016.

Like 2016, the Cards have finally put themselves on the college football map this season.

While the win may be euphoric for the Cards, the biggest game of the season now waits against Boston College on Oct. 25.

But for the time being, Louisville is 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in the ACC with a spot in the AP top 25 all but certain.

Photo by Vinny Porco / The Louisville Cardinal