Jeff Brohm Shoulders Blame for Louisville's Upset Loss to SMU

The Cardinals dropped their second game in a row and first in league play with a 34-27 loss to the Mustangs.

Oct 5, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm looks through his play book during the second half against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Whether it was on the field or on the sideline, Saturday was not a banner day for the Louisville football program.

Fresh off of suffering their first loss of the season in a mistake-filled affair up at Notre Dame, things didn't get any easier for the Cardinals. They had the task of facing a red-hot SMU squad in order to try and get back in the win/loss column.

Despite being a seven-point favorite, much of what we saw in South Bend reappeared in L&N Stadium, eventually resulting in a 34-27 Louisville loss to the Mustangs.

It was an afternoon in which neither the players or the coaching staff seemed to be prepared for SMU. Afterwards, head coach Jeff Brohm shouldered the majority of the blame for his team's performance and overall unpreparedness.

“Disappointing loss without question. So that falls on me, that falls on coaches. The plan was not good, it was not executed. Way too many mistakes. A really bad performance, especially on our home field. We have got a lot of work to do."

"That is what makes football a team sport, a tough game. You can either suck it up and find ways to fix it and improve or you can pout about it, sulk and feel sorry for yourself. So we have to look in the mirror and get a better plan together so that we can start better, play better in all three segments and then finish better and that did not happen today.”

The bulk of Louisville's struggles on the day came on the defensive end of the ball. Almost from the jump, the Cardinals struggled mightily SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee's up-tempo offense. By the end of the game, they gave up 481 yards of offense to their visitors, and allowed 26 total first downs.

SMU's dual threat signal caller, Kevin Jennings, had a field day. Not only did he throw for 21-of-27 for 281 yards and a touchdown, he also ran for 113 yards and a score as well.

On one hand, Louisville's pass rush had very little success when it came to making plays, and their coverage was very hit-or-miss. However, the primary issue was that - on more than one occasion - Louisville struggled to get the defensive calls to their players in time, and SMU took advantage.

“I thought that there was a lot of miscommunication," Brohm said. "It starts with coaching as far as running what is called and being able to not have so many adjustments that are made when they go to empty, when the motion guys in. We need to have a simpler plan to make sure our guys can play what the call is. So, there was some confusion there. The inability to tackle and wrap up well so the tackling was not good. It starts with us, so we have to fix some things.”

The offense certainly was not perfect, either. While Louisville was able to put up 461 yards, and got standout performances from Ja'Corey Brooks and Isaac Brown, it came in spite of a lackluster showing from the offensive line.

For majority of the day, quarterback Tyler Shough had far from a clean pocket. He might have been able to go for 22-of-35 for 329 yards and two touchdowns, but it came in spite of the fact that he was sacked three times and pressured on seven additional instances.

“The last two games have not been our best. We have struggled at right tackle a little bit. We had an injury today at left tackle that might be a long one. So, we have some new guys in there and we have to play better there.

"Now with that said in order to balance that out, it seems like when we need to move the ball and throw it, we have to get the ball out quicker. We have to be able to mix in the run. We have got to be able to do some different things to not ask those guys to pass protect as much because we were not as sturdy these last two games as we need to be.”

But what held the offense back from capitalizing on more opportunities, was, once again, a questionable approach by Brohm himself.

Like in the games against Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, Brohm's play calling and personnel decisions at key moments raised a handful of questions. Most notably was his decision to go for it on 4th and 1 early in the fourth quarter, while Louisville was in easy field goal range and only down a touchdown. The Cardinals failed to convert.

“I wanted to get the touchdown, that falls on me we didn’t get it. We have been bad the last two games on fourth and one. Running up the middle is not going to be an option anymore. Throwing the ball, getting on the edge is going to be what has to happen because we can’t get yards pounding up the middle and that is disappointing.

"But that is the fact of the matter, so we have got to be better as coaches to recognize that and have a better plan because we passed it on fourth and one later and got a big gain. When teams sell out, we need to be more aggressive."

What began as a season with so much promise now features a plethora of uncomfortable questions. The Cardinals stand at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the league, with three of their four hardest games still yet to comes, and other games looking more and more difficult as time passes.

Brohm once again reiterated that his staff needs to do a better job, but also said that his players need to make sure they don't let things snowball.

“That is why football is a great game to play. It teaches you great lessons that last for a lifetime. You will go through hard times. You can be a man enough to identify what the problem is and figure out how to fix it and then go to work and get getter and have the same energy and determination to get that done. Or you can wallow a little bit and feel sorry for yourself and point the finger at somebody else. Or say is it really worth it? That is what you have to do.  If you are going to play the game and spend a lot of time doing it, these things are going to happen. You will have some tough days. You try not to have them but you are. You have to respond.

"I have to do better, the coaches need to do better and the plan needs to be better. Then, we have to figure out a way to simplify it so that we can execute it better. Then we have to, in my opinion, when guys are not performing the way we want, then rotations need to be made to get other players in the game right away – immediately. I don’t see that happening. So we have to make sure that there are other guys who can play the game just as well and if we need to be changing things up more to create competition that needs to happen tomorrow.”

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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