Jeff Brohm Pleased With Louisville's Effort and Execution Against EKU

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program's first game of the 2025 season ended exactly how many expected it to: with a resounding victory.

Eastern Kentucky marched up to L&N Stadium on Saturday to face the Cardinals, and by the end of the afternoon, the Colonels were dealt a 51-17 defeat. While UofL wasn't taking on a marquee opponent like so many others across college football were, they still treated EKU like they would any other opponent.

Louisville might not have operated at peak efficiency at times, but at the end of the day, they still did what they needed to do. When looking at the overall body of work, head coach Jeff Brohm was pleased with what he saw out of his group - regardless who was in the game.

“Proud of our football team today," he said. "I thought we got off to a good start today. We played some pretty good football in the first half. We did what we needed to move the ball and score points, and be efficient when we needed to, even when we got backed up with a couple silly penalties. The defense played really, really good. They did exactly what we needed to do. We were physical up front, we were sound in our alignments, the communication was good and did a really good job.

"The first half was clean until the very end, and then we had a couple turnovers that were costly. ... I think that turnovers and penalties have to be cleaned up for us to progress and move forward. I do think we did what we needed to, we came ready to play and we did a pretty good job in the first half.”

Louisville's starters only got one half of work against Eastern Kentucky, so unsurprisingly, the first half is where they looked the most dominant. The Cards took a 41-7 lead into halftime, out-gaining the Colonels 373 to 38.

Offensively, running back Isaac Brown was the biggest star, rushing for 126 yards and two scores on just six carries. But this also served as the debut for quarterback Miller Moss, and the USC transfer lived up to his offseason billing.

In the vast majority of the first half, Moss' poise and calm demeanor was on full display. He showcased his underrated ability to navigate the pocket, good decision making, and an accurate delivery. He finished he outing going 17-of-25 for 223 yards a touchdown, all coming in the first half. While he threw picks on back-to-back drives to end the half, only one of them was truly his fault, and was, by and large, his only mistake of the day.

"I thought he did a really good job," Brohm said of Moss. "He was composed, he was efficient, he was accurate. The first interception, which was a little bit high of a pass on just a simple hitch route that got batted up – that one was a misfire. The go route on the interception the next try was right in our hands, but it got contested pretty well, and got knocked in the air. He made good decisions. There were a couple of times when he scrambled then made a throw even though it got called back with a penalty. Another time he scrambled when there was coverage down in the low red, and scored over the run. Those are the things you have to do as a quarterback."

As good as Louisville's first-team offense was, their starting defense was even better. All six of Eastern Kentucky's first half offensive drives ended in punts, four of which were three-and-outs, and they only got as far as UofL's 49-yard line. The only reason EKU scored at all in the first half was because Moss' first interception was a pick-six.

Brohm had been surprisingly high on his defense throughout the course of fall camp, and following Louisville's season opener, he kept singing their praises.

"I think in our last two weeks of practice, it's been really good on defense," he said. "They understand the package, they feel good about it. The communication, the alignments, those little things we have been doing really well. I thought I we did a good job. We did what we needed to do. We were physical up front. The linebackers played downhill. We covered things in the secondary, and that lasted for a good three quarters. We gave them a touchdown on offense, and then got them another ball inside the ten with another interception, but our defense really played well."

At halftime, Brohm made the call to pull the starters, and he played nothing but backups and younger players. As you can expect, Louisville wasn't nearly as efficient here. The Cardinals barely out-gained the Colonels in the second half, putting up 169 total yards to their 112, with both sides putting up 10 points.

Sure, while UofL's backups only managed to keep pace with EKU, Brohm still liked that he was able to get them some in-game reps. He also added that, because they were running a watered down version of the playbook at that point, this unit maybe didn't get as big of a chance to shine as the starters.

"You always want to score and everything to be efficient, but they're twos and threes for a reason," he said. "That doesn't mean they're not capable, they're just young and they're green, and they've got to continue to grow. Getting game reps is as important as anything in a real game setting.

"With that said, we're probably more conservative at that point as well. It's not like the playbook is wide open, so it's not all them. But I think it was just good for them to see where they're at, what they need to work on, and how they can progress. Because at some point, we're going to need them. ... I thought they, for the most part, did a really good job."

If there's any aspect of Louisville's performance that deserves actual criticism, it was the penalties. The Cardinals committed 12 of them, worth 106 yards, and five of their penalties came on special teams. Seven of their penalties were some form of holding.

Brohm admits that, while Louisville does need to clean that up, they are things that can be easily corrected.

"We got to clean that up, but it's something that we can work on and address and clean up," he said. "But those will sometimes happen. ... I just think a lot of things showed up, which was good to address, but overall we were able to respond. We did have a plan of attack when we got backed up, and negative things happened, and and that was good to see."

Louisville has a short turnaround in store, and will be back in action against James Madison. Kickoff is set for Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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