Win over Miami helps Louisville HC make impressive history
No. 10 Louisville punched its ticket to the ACC Championship Game on Saturday, helping head coach Jeff Brohm accomplish an incredible feat unlikely to happen again.
Brohm became the first head coach in college football history to lead two separate programs to major conference championship games in back-to-back seasons. Furthermore, Brohm oversaw both programs' first trips to conference title games.
Meanwhile, outside the Power Five conferences, Brohm is only the second head coach to accomplish the feat. Brohm joins Jamey Chadwell, who also did it this season, leading Coastal Carolina (Sun Belt) and Liberty (CUSA) to conference championship games.
A year removed from guiding Purdue to the Big Ten title game, Brohm has done the same thing with Louisville in his first year at the helm, thanks to a 38-31 win over unranked Miami. The Hurricanes came to play on Saturday, so much so that the Cardinals needed a 15-point fourth quarter and a semi-failed Hail Mary at the buzzer by Miami to claim victory. With 18 seconds left, Miami came within a few yards of miraculously tying the game. QB Tyler Van Dyke chucked up a prayer from the midfield, which came up short of the endzone before finding the arms of wideout Xavier Restrepo, who couldn't reach the goal line before being tackled.
After the win, Brohm received the customary Gatorade bath, which had a reporter caught in the crossfire.
At the start of the year, many pundits picked Louisville to finish near the bottom of the ACC. However, eight weeks later, the Cardinals are 10-1 (7-1) and only two Saturdays away from playing for the ACC title against No. 4 Florida State. The success has all come under Brohm, who has to be considered one of the favorites for Coach of the Year.
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