Jeff Brohm, Louisville's Players Aiming to Avoid Letdown Performance vs. Boston College

Louisville football head coach Jeff Brohm has developed a reputation over the years as someone who can get his team up for the big games, and that was on full display this past Friday.

His Cardinals marched into South Florida, and were able to escape with a 24-21 win over Miami - who at the time was the No. 2 team in the country. Since 2018, Brohm is now 4-2 against teams ranked in the top-five of the Associated Press Top 25 Poll.

The momentum from that game spring boarded Louisville into the AP Top 25, and looking forward, it sets up a very manageable second half of the season. But before UofL gets too ahead of themselves, first, they have their next matchup against Boston College this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. EST from L&N Stadium.

For as much of a reputation as Brohm as when it comes to getting up for the big game, over the course his career as a head coach, he has also has a tendency to have a letdown immediately afterwards. Of course, during his weekly press conference ahead of the matchup with the Eagles, avoiding having the aforementioned letdown game was one of the topics he addressed.

"I think you've got to practice hard, and you've got to prepare hard, and you can't take your foot off the gas," he said. "It's been talked about before ... Those aren't easy games. Every game in conference play isn't an easy game. Yes, we're excited to be back home. I think our team understands (you can't look past anyone). James Madison came in here, and had the lead. We had to fight and scratch today to get back.

"We have to play efficient football. We can't give the other team points. We've got to do the small things on every play in order to win. We have to have a good plan going in as coaches. I just think we got to put the work in, and hopefully our team realizes that the work has to be put in, the preparation has to be put in. Then we've got to perform and take the test on game day, and that will not change. We've got to be good at it, and hopefully we understand that."

Just how prone is Brohm to having a disappointing showing following a massive win? Well, it has happened nearly every season he has been a power conference head coach.

Last season, there was the stunning 38-35 loss at Stanford on the heels of their 33-21 upset win at No. 11 Clemson. In 2023, Louisville fell 38-21 at Pitt after knocking off No. 10 Notre Dame 33-20 to remain undefeated.

While the head coach at Purdue, it happened twice in a season on two separate occasions. In 2021, his Boilermakers took down No. 2 Iowa 24-7 only to immediately lose 30-13 to Wisconsin, then lost 59-31 to No. 6 Ohio State the week after toppling No. 5 Michigan State 40-29. For 2018, the week after the infamous 49-20 win over No. 2 Ohio State was a 23-13 loss at Michigan State, then a 38-36 win over No. 19 Iowa was the lead in to a 41-10 loss at Minnesota.

There is a long-standing precedent suggesting that a letdown against Boston College this upcoming weekend could be on tap. However, there is more than enough reason to believe that Brohm can buck that trend this weekend.

For starters, there is one common denominator between all of the aforementioned "letdown" games: all but one of them came on the road. Fortunately for Louisville, they'll be playing at home in front of what is expected to be a raucous L&N Stadium.

Additionally, most of these letdowns came against teams who wound up finishing the season fairly highly regarded. According to College Football Reference's 'Simple Rating System' metric, 2021 Ohio State finished with an SRS of 19.53, while Wisconsin earlier that season finished with a 13.87. 2018 Michigan State had an SRS of 6.01, while Minnesota that season had a 5.28, and 2023 Pitt sported a 3.04. The only letdown game up to this point to come against a team with an SRS below 0.0, which is considered "average," was 2023 Stanford at -4.40.

Not only will Louisville be taking on Boston College at home this weekend, the Eagles' current SRS comes in at a ghastly -10.20. At 1-6 so far this season with no wins against FBS teams, for all intents and purposes, this year's BC is more than twice as bad as Stanford was last season.

Still, that doesn't mean Boston College can't come in and pull off the mother of all upsets. Fortunately for Louisville, the players are as dedicated to avoiding a letdown game as Brohm is.

"Like Coach Brohm always says, is a one-game season,"offensive tackle Trevonte Sylvester said. "Every week, we move on a the new team, so we got to treat that team as the one-game season that week. We literally have to put it behind us, and focus on the next team. (Miami) doesn't matter anymore."

It also is worth mentioning that a large chunk of Louisville's players and coaching staff already knows how pesky Boston College can truly be. In last season's matchup up in Chestnut Hill, the Cardinals saw themselves fall behind 20-0 midway through the second quarter, and entered the fourth quarter down 10. However, the Cardinals were able to mount a fierce comeback, eventually taking down the Eagles 31-27.

Brohm knows that, despite their record, BC won't simply roll over this weekend.

“If our guys don’t remember (last season's game vs. Boston College), then there’s something wrong with them. It’s the same coaches. They have, unfortunately for them, had a couple of close losses that have hurt them, but they easily could have won.

"They have a good quarterback play, a solid running back, the leading receiver in the ACC. The defensive scheme gave us some problems last year, so we’re going to have to play well. I think that every team in our conference is competitive. You see it across the board every week, and we’re going to have to play well to win.”