SORRY WE ARE SO OFFENSIVE! #23 Louisville Charges Past #16 SMU 41-31

Louisville football put the ACC and the country on notice Saturday afternoon. On a day where temperatures at kickoff were around 95 degrees, the Louisville rushing attack was hotter than the air temperature.

In Louisville, “The Collision Course” is an adage that Howard Schnellenberger coined to describe the program’s pursuit towards national relevance and the ultimate goal of one day winning the national championship.

The move from the Kentucky State Fairgrounds & “Old Cardinal Stadium” to L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium (formerly Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium) in 1998 gave Louisville one of the finer cathedrals for an up and comer in the sport.

Since the turn of the millennium, in years that end in “6”, the Cards have hosted and won a ranked-on-ranked matchup in week three in the Derby City.

September 16, 2006: #12 Louisville 31 #7 Miami 7

Current Offensive coordinator Brian Brohm captained a team that captured the Big East championship and won the program’s first BCS bowl game with a 24-13 win over Wake Forest.

September 17, 2016: #10 Louisville 63 #2 Florida State 20

Lamar Jackson put himself in the driver’s seat and went on to win the Heisman as the Cards were propelled to No. 3 in the country and remained in the Top 5 most of the season.

September 19, 2026: #23 Louisville 41 #16 SMU 31

Jeff Brohm and company keep the collision course rolling and the dream of making the program’s first playoff appearance alive.

Coming into Saturday, Louisville was 0-4 all time vs SMU and had never led in any of those contests.

The quarterbacks for each team were ranked No.1 and No. 2 in the nation in total offense. Kevin Jennings for SMU was at the top with 805 total yards and Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz was nipping at his heels with 750 total yards.

Louisville was 1-1, with a heartbreaking last second loss to No.9 Ole Miss 41-38 on Labor Day weekend and a beatdown of FCS Villanova.

SMU was 2-0 with a last second win at Florida State and a dominant win over FCS UC-Davis.

No. 5 Miami is the team with the target on their back in the ACC. For a leg up in the race to Charlotte for the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff, Saturday’s game was as close to a “must win” for the Cards as it gets.

As has been the story of the series, SMU struck first but surprisingly they did it with the rushing attack. Running back Kendrick Raphael sliced through the Louisville defense for 40 yards up the middle on the first play. Eight plays and 75 yards later, Raphael found the endzone to put the Mustangs up 7-0.

Lincoln Kienholz scores early in Louisville's win over Villanova Saturday. | William Caudil

Louisville running back Keyjuan Brown, celebrating his 22nd birthday, was the feature back for The Ville on the first drive and rushed four times for 46 yards on the first six plays. Kienholz found tight end Jaleel Skinner on a third and long in the red zone to set the Cards up at the three-yard line. Kienholz lowered his shoulder and found the end zone four plays later to tie it up at seven.

On SMU’s second drive, the Louisville defense stepped up and force a turnover-on-downs on the plus side of the field after TJ Capers lit up Randy Pittman Jr. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Cards backed them up to the 45 yard line to start the second drive.

On the fourth play of the series, Kienholz evaded multiple SMU defenders in the backfield, rolled right and found Lawayne McCoy in front of the pylon, who hauled it in and put the Cards up 14-7. For the first time in the series between the two programs, Louisville had a lead.

SMU evened it up early in the second quarter as Jennings started to get it going through the air. He found his favorite target of the day, Yamir Knight for a 19-yard touchdown to tie things with 13:12 to go in the first half.

Kaleb Beasley intercepts a Kevin Jennings pass in the first half. | William Caudill

The rest of the first half resulted in a stalemate. The Louisville offense couldn’t muster anything as they ran 11 plays for 22 yards the rest of the half. Penalties killed drives for the Cards, Isaac Brown could not get going and Kienholz was facing pressure. The Louisville defense held serve only giving up a field goal & safety Kaleb Beasley recorded an interception of Jennings.

At the half, the Cards trailed 17-14. The SMU offense outgained the Cards in total yards 235-159. Jeff Brohm lit a fire under the team hotter than the fans braving the elements in the UPS Flight Deck.

Kienholz found Tre Richardson for a 17-yard strike on first down, and Keyjuan Brown added to his huge day with a 58-yard touchdown scamper down the home sideline, stiff arming Mustang defenders along the way. The Ville took the lead 21-17.

Both teams punted on uninspiring drives the next two times they touched the ball. Then Raphael got it going again with a 25-yard scamper up the middle to put the Mustangs up 24-21.

After a touchback, Kienholz found Treyshun Hurry and Richardson with passes of 11 and 14 yards respectively to get the Cards to midfield in two plays. A roughing the passer penalty put the Cards at the 35. Kienholz found McCoy again down the sideline for 19 yards to put The Ville inside the five-yard line. Kienholz hit Jaleel Skinner sliding behind the defense for the touchdown to put the Cards back up 28-24 late in the third quarter.

Keyjuan Brown scores early in the second half vs SMU. | William Caudill

The Ville forced a quick three and out on the ensuing SMU drive and went to the fourth quarter trailing. The remaining crowd of the announced 50,199 did not sit the rest of the time.

The first play of the fourth quarter was a snap over Kienholz head that the Cards jumped on but backed them up 17 yards. The Cards punted and SMU got the ball back at midfield after another unnecessary roughness penalty with 14 minutes left.

Raphael carried five times for 34 yards and scored from 12 yards out with 11:38 left to regain the lead 31-28.

Keyjuan Brown struck again. After a 15-yard strike from Kienholz to tight end Justyn Reid, Brown ripped off a 53-yard score in front of the Louisville student section. The Cards went back ahead 35-31.

Mark Ivey’s defense stepped up again after Jennings drove the ball to the Louisville side of the field. Koen Entringer and Stanquan Clark met the quarterback just short of the line to gain on a fourth and short to give the Cards the ball back with 7:25 at their own 37.

Louisville committed a holding penalty and was backed up at its own 26, before Kienholz threw a beautiful ball down the sideline to Richardson for a gain of 44 yards. Two plays later, Isaac Brown would finally bust through for 27 yards and a touchdown on his longest run of the season. Carson Hilbert missed the PAT and the Cards led 41-31 with 5:32 left.

Isaac Brown scores on a late touchdown to seal the deal for Louisville 41-31 over SMU. | William Caudill

Jennings moved the ball right down the field and the Mustangs found themselves in the redzone with under three minutes left. Jennings scampered towards the end zone and was met by Louisville defender Brycen Scott at the goal line. On the field, Jennings was awarded a touchdown. After further review, Scott knocked the ball loose before Jennings crossed the goal line. Beasley recovered the fumble in the end zone, and the party was almost on.

After SMU held Louisville to a three and out, Beasley pulled in his second interception of the night with just over a minute left to seal the deal. Kienholz kneeled it out and the dream stays alive for the Cards.

Keyjuan Brown finished with 165 yards on 10 carries for two touchdowns, Isaac Brown had 69 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Kienholz was 14-of-23 through the air for 177 yards and two scores, while rushing twelve times for 50 yards and another touchdown.

McCoy and Richardson each had 4 receptions for 62 yards. Skinner and McCoy recorded touchdown receptions.

Jennings finished the day 24-of-35 for 222 yards a touchdown and two interceptions. Raphael finished with 197 yards on 24 carries for three touchdowns.

SMU ended the game with 479 total yards to Louisville’s 442. The Cards need to clean up the penalties after committing 11 for 110 yards.

Coach Brohm after the win,

"Definitely really proud of our team. It's a big win for us. It's an opponent we haven't beat in a while, actually never, so that's quite a while. That's a really good quarterback, a good offense. It was a back-and-forth game. The thing I'm proud of is how we scrapped and played hard to the end. We found a way to make more plays than them, that shows the toughness and the makeup of the team. It shows the toughness and the makeup of our assistant coaches, of the ability just to fight to the end. Sometimes things look good, sometimes they don't. You need to get down and you can do something about it. That's why this sport is so great is because it teaches you to hang in there to the end no matter what, and special things happen. Great victory for our team. Our fans were great, they were ready for another top opponent. They were loud, we could hear them, it was a great atmosphere and it was something we can build on."

Sep 19, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee shakes hands with Louisville Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm after the game at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Carter-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Louisville got that much needed first win over SMU and currently does not play a ranked team the rest of the way. With today’s result the Cards control their own destiny and the “Collision Course” rolls on.

Up next for Louisville is a home matchup with Wake Forest on September 26 at noon. TV designation will be assigned later this weekend.

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