Jeff Brohm is about to get another crack at a ranked opponent, and this one feels especially important for Louisville.
No. 16 SMU comes to L&N Stadium on Saturday, and the matchup sits right near the center of Louisville’s ACC hopes.
The Cardinals are 1-1, and they do not have Miami or Virginia - the only other ACC teams ranked this week - left on the schedule. That makes SMU, at least on paper, the biggest obstacle between Louisville and a path to the ACC championship game.
Brohm already knows this opponent well. He is 0-2 against SMU, and Louisville is 0-4 all-time in the series.
Last season’s meeting ended in a 38-6 loss in Dallas, though that Mustangs team was not ranked. This one is, which gives Brohm another chance to notch a win over a Top 25 team.
His overall record against ranked teams has been mixed, but there are some real high points in the ledger. At Louisville, Brohm has beaten ranked Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami and Duke teams, along with losses to Ole Miss, Virginia, Miami, Notre Dame and Florida State.
His best recent wins with the Cardinals include a 24-21 road victory at No. 2 Miami on Oct. 17, 2025, and a 33-21 win at No.
8 Clemson on Nov. 2, 2024.
He also beat No. 20 Duke 23-0 and No.
10 Notre Dame 33-20 in 2023.
Before Louisville, Brohm built the rest of that resume at Purdue and Western Kentucky. At Purdue, he knocked off No.
2 Ohio State in 2018, beat No. 2 Iowa in 2021 and won at No.
5 Michigan State that same season. He also picked up wins over ranked Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Boston College and Wisconsin teams.
His Purdue teams, though, also took their share of losses to ranked opponents, including Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, LSU and Louisville.
At Western Kentucky, Brohm’s ranked-opponent sample was smaller, but it included a win at No. 19 Marshall in 2014 and losses at No.
5 LSU and No. 1 Alabama.
The full record listed for Brohm against Top 25 teams is 12-17 overall, with a 12-18 mark against the AP rankings. At Louisville, he is 4-4 in one column and 4-5 in the other.
At Purdue, he is 7-11 in both. At Western Kentucky, he is 1-2 in both.
In Other News...
Louisville Faces Its Toughest ACC Test Yet Against SMU's Explosive Offense
No. 23 Louisville is set to host No. 16 SMU in what shapes up as one of the ACCs most compelling games of the week, with both teams bringing productive offenses and a clear eye toward the league race. The matchup also puts a spotlight on the quarterbacks, with Louisvilles Lincoln Kienholz and SMUs Kevin Jennings both ranking among the national leaders in yards per completion, a sign that big plays could be part of the script from the opening series.
Louisvilles latest availability picture adds another layer to the buildup, since the Cardinals are still sorting through recent performance concerns and injury updates while trying to keep pace with an SMU team that has looked explosive all season. There is also an eligibility wrinkle around linebacker Kalib Perry that could matter down the line, and on the other sideline SMUs roster situation has its own off-field complication, leaving both teams with a little more to monitor than just the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces A Home Test That Could Say Plenty Early
Louisville has already shown enough early to keep the conversation around the Cardinals moving in the right direction, and the next checkpoint comes at home in a matchup that should tell a little more about where the ceiling sits. After a recap-heavy look around the sport that included wins by Louisville and several other major programs, the focus shifts to a slate of upcoming games that will help sort out who is really settling in and who still has work to do.
For Louisville, the interest is obvious because the opponent brings a style that can expose discipline, depth and defensive organization in a hurry. It is the kind of home test that can either validate the opening stretch or reveal how much remains to be cleaned up, and with the weeks preview board loaded with other notable games, this one still stands out as a chance for the Cardinals to make an early statement on their own field. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Faces An Early ACC Test That Could Change Everything
Week 3 brings Louisville a conference game with real early weight, the kind that can shape how the rest of the ACC race is viewed before autumn is fully underway. ESPN analyst Rece Davis put a spotlight on the Cardinals meeting with SMU, pointing to a matchup that already has the feel of something bigger than a mid-September date on the schedule.
The reason is simple enough: both quarterbacks have been producing at a high level, with Kevin Jennings and Lincoln Kienholz among the national leaders in total offense. Louisville has plenty to sort out on its own end, but the winner in this one will leave with more than a conference result. It will also carry the kind of early claim that tends to matter when the conversation turns toward Miami and the leagues most credible challengers. [Read more 🡒]