Jeff Brohm Pleased With Louisville's Mindset and Effort in Season Opener

The Cardinals took care of business against an overmatched Austin Peay squad this past weekend.

Louisville Cardinals defensive lineman Tramel Logan (19) celebrates with Corey Thornton (14) after sacking Austin Peay Governors running back O'Shaan Allison (0) during their game on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024 at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium in Louisville, Ky. / Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The first week of the college football season is in the books, and it couldn't have gone much better for the Louisville football program. While their week one competition was a team from the FCS ranks in Austin Peay, the Cardinals made sure that there was zero possibility of a significant opening upset, eventually coming away with a 62-0 victory over the Governors.

When facing an immensely overmatched opponent in college football, more often than not, there are very few significant takeaways that you can come away with when the gap in the final score is several touchdowns. This is especially the case with Louisville's opener, as they were a 38.5-point closing line favorite against Austin Peay, and came half a point away from covering this by halftime.

About the only tangible takeaway that one can have from an FCS vs. FBS game is measuring the overall effort and focus from the latter. For Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, he came away pleased with his team's approach and execution.

"We did what we were supposed to do," he said Monday. "I think we prepared hard, and we practiced well. These guys wanted to go out there and try to put on their best performance. It's always important that you do what you're supposed to do, and play well. Do the small things correctly, and challenge yourself to play your best. For the most part, I thought we did that for four quarters. Now we got to find a way to do it again."

Week one (and zero) was a perfect example of what happens when a team doesn't take their competition seriously. No. 24 NC State trailed Western Carolina before pulling away. No. 3 Oregon found themselves in dogfight with Idaho. No. 9 Michigan's game vs. Fresno State was a one score game in the fourth quarter. No. 25 Iowa scored just six first half points vs. Illinois State. No. 21 Arizona led by just three at halftime against New Mexico, and gave up 39 points overall.

Outside of their first drive when they had to settle for a field in the red zone, Louisville was a machine on both sides of the ball. The Cardinals' offense proceeded to score touchdowns on their next four drives and seven of their next 10 drives, and their defense only allowed Austin Peay to get past midfield once - and it was just one yard into Louisville territory.

In fact, the game - both in real time and on film afterwards - proved one major thing to the coaching staff: they really are as deep as they suspected.

"I think it confirmed a lot of the things we thought," Brohm said. "I think we do have depth at a lot of positions. At certain positions, there's not a big drop off, which is great and is going to help our football team. There were definitely playmakers we saw early on that stood out in the game, and then there were others that emerged as well."

As far the offense goes, Brohm specifically pointed out both wide receiver Jadon Thompson and tight end Mark Redman as playmakers that stood out when watching film, and also noted that the offensive line was "solid for the most part." Defensively, he was also pleased with performances from the Cardinals various depth pieces, and even complimented his team's prowess on special teams.

While both sides of the line of scrimmage played at a high level up until the very end, the defense arguably did a better job than their offensive counterpart. Louisville gave up only 82 yards and six first downs in the first half, but when the benches emptied on both sides after halftime, the Cardinals' defense got even better and only gave up 24 yards and three first downs in the second half.

Defensive coordinator Ron English noted that this was in part because of the defense's knowledge that, in order to reach your goals, you have to show up and execute regardless of how much of an advantage you have. He also was pleased by that fact that they didn't loaf at all in this game, and that they "strained" up until the final whistle.

"These guys have goals and aspirations that go beyond here," he said. "They want to win here, and then they have goals and aspirations post-college. I think they know that for them to reach those goals and aspirations, it's what you put on those tapes. We just like to play. We want to play football. I really have never had to say we're playing this opponent or that opponent. We want to play football, and we want to play as best as we can.

"I just told them before the game, I want to see you strain. That's what I want to see. I mean, if you want to be great on defense, you got to strain. If you want to be average, you could just kind of move around. But if you want to be great, you got to strain. I thought a lot of guys strained on a lot of plays."

(Photo via Clare Grant - Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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