Under the glaring floodlights, in an intimidating Hard Rock Stadium, Miami hosted the Louisville Cardinals in Week 8. Prediction, nerves, and confidence were all in favor of the Hurricanes. But if Jeff Brohm knows something, it’s defiance. The result? Those 60 minutes became a nightmare for Mario Cristobal and his boys as Brohm extracted a deserving 24-21 upset. Surely, it wouldn’t have been possible without some creativity. And so, Brohm has opened up about the work that went on behind the curtain.

Before coming into the Miami game, the Cardinals were undoubtedly a solid team. But the wins against teams like Pittsburgh and Bowling Green didn’t bolster their resume. To top it off, Brohm was handed a defeat at home in Week 6 against Virginia, making things quite unfavorable for the Cardinals. On the contrary, Miami was utterly dominant throughout the season. Undefeated and decimating teams like Notre Dame, FSU, and Florida. No one expected the Cardinals to win. But Louisville HC had a plan!!

In a recent interview with Jim Rome, Jeff Brohm talked about how being “creative” made the difference for the team. “I think being a former player myself, coaching matters, and when you go face a really good football team, you kind of have to be creative in your approach and have to be on the attack. You’ve got to be aggressive; you can’t play just normally like you do every week. You’ve got to give them something they haven’t seen,” said Brohm. The approach, according to Brohm, was to extract every play fully.

For Brohm, the first task was to make the players believe in themselves after a gut-wrenching loss. For that, right from the head coach to the coaching staff to playcallers, everyone had to be in sync with each other perfectly. “When you get off a good start, it really gets you the momentum, and I just think we continue to play hard. We have good players too, and we had them on their heels. They had some costly turnovers, and I just think anytime you play a quality team like that, everybody has to do their part. Coaches. head coaches, play callers, and the players, and I think we came ready,” expanded Jeff Brohm. Surely, the Cardinals took a massive start and never looked back in the game.

That first-quarter 75-yard pass that resulted in an easy 1-yard touchdown by Miller Moss became the true catalyst for Brohm’s team. After that, the Cardinals stopped Miami’s drive to just 3 plays and executed another perfect touchdown drive, culminating in an incredible 35-yard TD pass to Chris Bell. The scoreboard read 14-0, and the Cardinals never looked back. All of this was undoubtedly a result of perfect play calling and a D line and secondary that made life hard for Miami and Carson Beck. It’s surely a lesson for other head coaches like James Franklin, someone who didn’t succeed despite incredible resources.

The road to the playoffs is much closer now for Jeff Brohm

Miami, before the Cardinals game, had accumulated a total of 819 rushing yards, and Mark Fletcher Jr alone notched up 428 yards. But in the game, the D line limited Miami to just 63 rushing yards, and Fletcher Jr could only rush for 18 yards. Jeff Brohm’s secondary, too, did its job perfectly and picked up four interceptions from Carson Beck. All of this played a crucial role in the upset. That said, for the Cardinals, ranked 19th in the AP Poll now, defeating big teams isn’t new, though.

Last year, despite Clemson making the playoffs, it fell to the Cardinals 21-33, signaling the quality Brohm brought to the team. To top that off, the team then went on to defeat Washington in the bowl game and finished on a high note with 9 wins. This year, however, those 9 wins are looking to go somewhere around 10 and 11, with a high playoff possibility. That speaks volumes about the quality Jeff Brohm has injected into the team.

Instead of taking a big-name QB like Miami did with Carson Beck. Brohm went with a neglected Miller Moss, who has lost all confidence at USC. Many expected the decision to backfire, but 6 games into the season, it’s paying off massively. The Cardinals are now 22nd in passing offense, and Moss has passed for 1,606 yards already. It would not be a surprise, then, to see the Cardinals defeat teams further in the schedule like Boston College, Virginia Tech, and California.