Confidence Still Remaining High for Louisville Despite Back-to-Back Losses

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Not to long ago, the Louisville football program was a legitimate threat in both the ACC Championship and College Football Playoff races. The Cardinals started the season at 7-1, and were ranked as high as No. 14 in the AP Top 25.

However, the hopes and dreams of a truly special season are now dead and buried.

Louisville has now lost their last two games, falling out of the AP Poll and CFP rankings, and getting eliminated from contending for the ACC. They dropped a 29-26 overtime decision to Cal back on Nov. 8, and most recently lost 20-19 to Clemson on Nov. 14 - with both games coming not only at home, but in primetime in front of a national audience

After the game against the Tigers, tensions were unmistakably high in the postgame press conference. Head coach Jeff Brohm usually carries the world's best poker face, but he was visibly and vocally frustrated, particarly with the fact that Louisville blew two fourth quarter chances to take the lead, and the fact that they also committed 10 penalties. Quarterback Miller Moss, someone who certainly played a role in UofL's loss, raised some eyebrows by saying that the penalties were a "cultural" issue.

"I think it's okay to be angry after the game - all of us were," Brohm said during his weekly press conference on Monday when asked the state of the team's morale. "I think it's okay to be angry for 24 hours after that as well, and then from there you’ve got to look at: ‘let's identify the mistakes, let's get things corrected as well as we can, let's move on and work hard.’

"Without question, the penalties stand out; those fall on a head coach, so the head coach has to get that fixed this week and that will be the number one priority - to make sure that we try to eliminate those fully as much as we can. Especially any 15-yarders can’t happen ever again and we’ve got to make sure that we don't beat ourselves in those types of situations."

Letting an opportunity like reaching the ACC Championship or College Football Playoff slip through your fingers is certainly something that stings, and both the players and coaches are certainly feeling that sting. That being said, Brohm is optimistic that his players are not going to hang their collective heads, and that they will remain confident not only during the upcoming week of practice, but over the final two games of the regular season.

"I think our guys are going to practice well this week," Brohm said when asked on how he will keep the team's confidence up. "When you have some tough losses, we always don’t move on and throw it out - we’re going to identify the mistakes, we’re going to talk about it, we’re going to correct it. We’re going to go through it. And it will be in a positive tone, to a certain degree. Emphasizing that these things can never happen again or there will be consequences.

"At the same time, you want them wanting to come back and compete and fighting through things. That's part of football, that’s part of life, you are going to have adversity. A lot of times when you lose in the fashion we did compared to other ways, it hurts worse. It stings more because you know you’re right there, but that's life."

This isn't just wishful thinking on Brohm's behalf, either. The players themselves, even through they are no longer competing for some of their loftier preseason goals, still have the confidence and motivation to finish strong.

"I think our confidence is still high, because even though we lost two games in a row, they were still close losses," defensive end A.J. Green said Monday. "Of course, there's things that we have to fix going into this next game to be ready, and to try and prevent another loss.

"But I think everybody in the locker room understands that, even though we lost two games, that we still have work to do, and to try to finish strong. A loss here and there doesn't define your season, and you're only judged at the end of the season on how your football team is."

They'll need all the confidence focus they can get this week, as their next matchup has them traveling to Dallas to take on SMU. Not only are the Mustangs playing much better, winning five of their last six after starting 2-2, it's a squad that beat them last year in their own building.

When it comes time for the Cards to take on the Pony Express this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. EST from Gerald J. Ford Stadium, they're going to have to bring their A-game.

"They’ve got an athletic quarterback, they play with tempo," Brohm said of SMU. "I think they’re at one loss in the conference, so we’re going to have to have a good week of practice, which I think we will. I think our guys will come in and work hard, and we will continue to work on the mistakes we made and figure out ways to get better. And I know that our guys will be into it and ready to compete this week."

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