Jeff Brohm and the Louisville Football player representatives have completed their sessions at ACC Media Days this past week and are now focusing all their attention on final preparations for the upcoming season. Brohm and his players reiterated that their approach is to take the season one week at a time and to focus on the task at hand before looking ahead. It will be imperative that this philosophy is instilled within the locker room throughout the rigorous schedule the Cardinals have in front of them this year.
Louisville will face some challenging opponents with raucous environments at various points of the season. The Cardinals meet up with the likes of Miami and SMU on the road while also hosting Clemson at home, all of whom are anticipated to vie for a spot in the ACC Championship game. Louisville’s game planning and preparation will be thorough for these opponents as they look to avenge the 7-point losses to both Miami and SMU and to continue their win streak against Clemson.
Over the last two years at Louisville, it has become a trend that Brohm’s squads have at least one disappointing trap game loss each year. In Brohm’s first year, a 6-0 Cardinals team, coming off a huge Saturday night primetime win against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, lost to a 2-3 Pittsburgh Panthers team on the road, 38-21. Last year, the Cardinals lost 38-35 to a 3-6 Stanford Cardinal team a week after a huge primetime win at No. 16 Clemson in Death Valley. This season is primed to have a similar situation to the last two, with hopefully a different result prevailing this time.
Related: Louisville football cracks Top 25 but one burning question still holds them back
Boston College could give Louisville Football major issues
The prime trap game on Louisville's schedule this year is against Boston College at home on October 25th. This game comes one week after a road trip to Miami for a Friday night matchup against the Hurricanes. The Miami game is anticipated to be Louisville’s first big test against a conference title contender.
The test with the Hurricanes is bound to require plenty of focus and spirit from the Cardinals, setting the tone for the rest of the season. With Boston College coming after such an intense matchup, Louisville will need to ensure the task at hand philosophy is in full force for preparing for the Boston College matchup.
Boston College has been a recent opponent that has caused some headaches for Louisville. Louisville is 7-4 against Boston College since 2014. These games include a shocking 45-42 loss in Lamar Jackson’s last year in 2017, as well as a 38-20 loss the following season. That stretch also includes a 31-27 come-from-behind win last season, in which Louisville found itself down 20 points in the second quarter. Boston College has consistently demonstrated that it will show up against top opponents and play up to the big stage set for these types of games, especially against Louisville.
There’s no doubt that Bill O’Brien will have his team ready to go for their test against the Cardinals. It will be a key opportunity to hand a devastating loss to a Cardinals team that has ACC conference title ambitions as well as potential College Football Playoff hopes.
This game has all the keys to being the perfect trap game for Louisville on their quest to meet these goals. It will be up to Jeff Brohm, the coaching staff, and the captains to keep this team on course, remain focused, and take this season truly one game at a time. If all can keep from overlooking this game, Louisville will be right on track to achieve its goals.
Related: 2 Louisville Cardinals stocks rising, 2 that are falling entering 2025 season
For all the latest on Louisville football's offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.