Jeff Brohm Shoulders Blame for Louisville's 'Disappointing' Offensive Performance vs. Virginia

The Cardinals lost their first game of the year following yet another inconsistent showing by their offense.

Oct 4, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm calls out instructions during the second quarter against the Virginia Cavaliers at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Virginia defeated Louisville 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images / Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This past Saturday, the Louisville football program's defense put together a fantastic showcase against No. 24 Virginia.

Facing a Cavaliers offense that came into the game averaging 539.6 yards, which was good for No. 5 in the nation, the Cardinals held them to only 237 yards - their season-low by over 200 yards. The 88 team rushing yards and 149 passing yards from QB Chandler Morris were both season-lows as well.

There was just one problem. For as good as Louisville's defense played, their offense countered with an incredibly disjointed effort. In fact, Virginia's defense had as many touchdowns as their offense did with two a piece. As a result, the Cardinals' undefeated season came to screeching halt, suffering a 30-27 overtime loss despite putting up 383 yards themselves.

After the game, head coach Jeff Brohm - who is one of the top offensive-minded coaches in the sport - shouldered the blame for the mistake-ridden performance by the offense.

“It was a disappointing day," he said. "When you give them 14 points on offense, it is really disturbing and disappointing. So that falls on me. The execution on certain things was disappointing and shouldn’t happen – like dropping a ball on a simple toss to get a first down and forcing balls when things aren’t there – can’t happen.

"Not every play is going to be open and work perfectly, so you have to take a sack or step up and run. There are a lot of things we need to do so, obviously, I am not doing a good job of practicing those things for them to show up."

Louisville's offense has gotten in a habit of having slow starts, and once again, that proved to be the case against Virginia. On their first drive of the game, facing 4th and 1 on the UVA 37, UofL went for it. But instead of going right up the middle, Brohm drew up a toss play to star running back Isaac Brown. Brown fumbled the toss, and the ball was then picked up by Virginia cornerback Donovan Platt for a 61-yard scoop-and-score.

Then on their second drive of the third quarter in what was then a 14-14 game, the offense gave the ball away again. This time, quarterback Miller Moss threw a brutal pick-six while in the process of getting sacked, throwing the ball right into the arms of linebacker Kam Robinson - who took it 47 yards the other way for a score.

In that third quarter, Louisville had promptly squandered any sort of momentum they had generated before halftime. After putting up 235 yards in the first half, the Cardinals could only muster 37 yards in the third quarter, allowing Virginia to take a 24-14 lead entering the fourth quarter.

“I thought we played well in the first half," quarterback Miller Moss said. "I thought some self-inflicted wounds, some penalties maybe hurt us a little bit. I felt like everything we were doing was working. They obviously made some adjustments coming out of halftime and had a good plan coming out. We kind of got in a rut, it didn’t feel like we were in a very good rhythm. I don’t think I can point to one thing specifically without watching it, but [we] obviously didn’t come out in the third quarter in the way that we expected to and the way that we needed to win the game.” 

Speaking of Moss, he didn't exactly have a great outing either. Sure, he did finish the game going 34-of-48 for 329 yards and two touchdowns to Chris Bell, with a couple big time throws sprinkled in between. That being said, there is a lot that the box score won't tell you.

Anyone who watched the game knows that Moss should have finished with more than one pick-six, as he very nearly threw one on the drive after the first one. Several of his throws sailed on wide open receivers yet again. A few of the five Virginia sacks were due in part of Moss either running into them or not knowing when the throw the ball away. Once again, while Moss helped make plays to put Louisville in position to win, he also played a role in the loss.

“You’ve got to stay locked in on a progression, you’ve got to stick with it," Brohm said of Moss. "If it’s not open or you get pressured, you’ve got to run it or throw it away. And when you throw it away, you’ve got to throw it way out of bounds or if not, you just take the sack. Some things came up and that happened too many times today and that was disappointing. We’ve got practice it. We’re going to have to just simulate some things and make sure we’re doing some things better."

Moss wasn't the only issue on that side of the ball. Once again, Louisville's offensive line continued to look like the team's Achilles Heel. Moss faced way more pressure than he should have in pass protection, and there were very little rushing lanes to speak of. In fact, Brown was held to just 66 rushing yards, and the team as a whole ran for only 54 yards when adjusted for the five sacks.

Brohm didn't have the greatest day at the office, either. Even if Brown doesn't fumble the toss, he was going to get tackled short of the sticks anyways. The fourth quarter play action rollout that had Moss go against his body on what ended up being a crucial third down drop by Brown wasn't a good call either. Then there was opting to accept a penalty on what would have been a Virginia 4th and 8, as well as the end-of-half time management for both halves.

Put it all together, and the offense is in a disheveled state right now, one where Louisville simply can't point to one singular issue. Their 404.0 yards per game ranks 59th in the FBS, their eight turnovers lost is 97th, and their 115.0 rushing yards per game is just 111th.

“All I can do is analyze the ones that have happened," Brohm said when asked what the biggest issue facing the offense is. "We had an interception the last game that we just forced it right down the middle – stared something down and had a dry route wide open underneath. Today we dropped a simple toss to just get around the edge and get a yard. We forced some balls and probably forced some more. We’ve got to know where the underneath throw is, know where the check down is and then step up and run the football or throw it away.

"And we’ve got to have some running game and some other guys step it up as well. Not to put too much pressure on the quarterback, but we can do better than that, and we need to do better than that, and we’ll work hard to improve on that.”

Louisville heads into their second and final bye week, and will be back in action next against Miami on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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