Louisville's Defense Feasts, Fuels Upset Victory at Miami

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Through the first half of the 2025 season, despite their offense getting the overwhelming majority of the praise during the preseason, the Louisville football program had been a team that was led by their defense.

Entering their Friday night game against Miami, the Cardinals' 262.0 yards allowed per game not only led the ACC, but was 12th in the FBS. Their red zone defensive percentage of 70.0 percent ranked seventh, their 150.4 passing yards allowed per game was eighth, and their 111.6 rushing yards allowed was 31st.

While Miami wasn't a team that was led by their offense, this was still a unit that was led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Carson Beck. Not to mention the cast of talented characters around him, such as wide receivers Malachi Toney and C.J. Daniels, plus their offensive line full of Monstars. If Louisville was going to have a chance to knock off The U in their building, they needed their defense to once again step up.

And that's exactly what they did.

With the eyes of the college football world tuned into the Friday night smackdown between the Cards and undefeated Canes, the visiting squad took full advantage of the the opportunity to put on a show, pulling off a 24-21 upset special over the No. 2 team in the sport. While the offense put together some explosive plays, Louisville defense was undoubtedly the primary factor behind the win.

"This was a great game for our defense, because that's a really, really good football team," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "To stop the run for the most part, eliminate the big plays and get those turnovers were crucial. I just think that we felt pretty confident in the package that we were able to put together. I think our guys understand it. ... Our defense has played well all year, and I just think that, even for them, we got to continue to see that. Continue to see great play by them."

Miami's offense came into their matchup with Louisville averaging 35.0 points and 428.0 yards per game, both of which were top-40 marks nationally. By the end of the night, the Cardinals held the Hurricanes to just 334 yards of total offense. It was the lowest output by Miami not only this season, but since Nov. 11, 2023 when they only had 292 in a 20-6 loss at NC State.

All units of Louisville's defense shined this past Friday, but none were brighter than the secondary. Beck might have gone 25-of-35 for 271 yards, but not only did the Cardinals not allow him to throw a touchdown pass, they picked him off a whopping four times.

Each interception was to a different player, with linebackers T.J. Capers and Antonio Watts, plus defensive backs JoJo Evans Jr. and Jabari Mack each forcing a turnover. Capers made the play of the game, picking off Beck with 32 seconds left to seal the game.

"We practiced on giving him, showing him different looks and playing other coverages," Capers said of Louisville preparation against Beck. "It was kind of our job, kind of our goal, to mess with his head. That's what you got to do against good quarterback. We were just trying our best all game to show them different things, and move fast and show them different looks, just to slow that offense down."

On top of their efforts in pass coverage, the front seven for the Cardinals did a fantastic job against the Canes' offensive line. Miami was held to just 62 rushing yards on 24 attempts, with 24 of those yards coming on two attempts. While Beck was not sacked, guys like Clev Lubin, Wesley Bailey and T.J Quinn were able to get a good amount of pressure on him for large portions of the night.

Louisville's consistant efforts against the run, when combined with their big play ability against the pass, combined to produce the primary factor behind the winning effort.

"We definitely made a big statement," Mack said. "I mean, I feel like it's just a testament of our practice. Going out there working, we had an off week, so we used that to our advantage. We worked hard, and I feel like that's just testament of how hard we work in practice every day. Coach speaks about not one game is bigger than another, so just go out there with that one game mindset, ready to win each game."

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