Louisville football team shows they aren't ready for the CFP in loss to SMU

The Louisville football team knew they needed a bounceback win after falling to Notre Dame last weekend. After falling to the Fighting Irish, they needed a win in the ACC to keep their hopes of making the College Football Playoff. SMU came to town looking for an upset.

Beating SMU would make the Cardinals 2-0 in ACC play after they beat Georgia Tech earlier in the year. Considering the fact that they still have Miami and Clemson on their schedule, this was considered a must-win. The Mustangs had other ideas on Saturday.

The Cardinals couldn't beat the Mustangs, falling 34-27 in the friendly confines of their own stadium. It came down to the fact the defense let them down because they couldn't stop the run. SMU ran the ball for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Louisville is now in deep trouble.

The Louisville football team shows they aren't ready to compete in the ACC

Tyler Shough threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns in the game. That still wasn't enough for them to win because the Cardinals lost the turnover battle. Shough threw an interception in the only turnover of the game. SMU kept its stellar turnover margin intact.

With this loss, Louisville showed who they really are. They are a team that is cute but not ready to compete with the big boys. They'll likely lose to both Miami and Clemson now this season. It's likely that this ends up being just an eight-win team after starting out so strongly.

Jeff Brohm was hoping for more from this team after both the offense and defense played so well in the first three games. That was clearly fool's gold. Any serious team would not lose to SMU at home. It's clear that this is not a serious team ready to compete with the big boys yet.