Louisville’s season took a sharp turn Friday night, and the ACC power picture did too.
Down 14-0 in the first quarter, the Cardinals flipped the game completely and rolled past Florida State 44-20, scoring 44 of the final 50 points. That kind of turnaround is exactly why Jeff Brohm needed this one, and why Louisville suddenly looks a little more dangerous than it did a week ago.
The signature sequence came at the goal line, when Mike Norvell chose to go for it on fourth-and-goal. Louisville answered on the next snap with Isaac Brown ripping off a 97-yard touchdown run, a play that made history and slammed the door on Florida State’s momentum.
The win moved Louisville to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play, and it pushed the Cardinals back up the ACC Power Rankings to No. 7.
That climb matters, even if Louisville still has plenty of ground to cover before any real ACC Championship Game push becomes more than a long shot. Over the last six weeks, the Cardinals have been trying to work their way back toward the top five, and Friday’s performance gave them a legitimate boost.
For Louisville, the bigger takeaway is the way it won. This wasn’t a grind-it-out escape.
It was a dominant second-half takeover against a league opponent that had been in the way. The Cardinals also reminded everyone why they were once ranked as high as No. 16 this season.
If they can bottle that level of play, the finish line suddenly looks a lot more interesting.
At the top of the league, there’s no mystery. Miami sits at No. 1, even after a bye week, and Wake Forest has clearly separated itself as the biggest challenger. The Demon Deacons beat Louisville in Week 4 and followed that up with a 38-14 road win over North Carolina State, making a strong case for the No. 2 spot.
Behind those two, the conference is chewing itself up. Duke fell for the first time on the road at Georgia Tech.
Pittsburgh got upset by North Carolina in the Panthers’ first game without starting quarterback Mason Heintschel. Virginia Tech also slipped, losing a tight 25-20 game to Cal.
That kind of churn is exactly what makes the ACC look wide open behind Miami. Right now, the Hurricanes appear headed for Charlotte, and the real question is who meets them there. Wake Forest looks like the strongest threat at the moment, but this league has already shown how quickly things can change.
Week 7 should only add to the noise. Florida State goes to Miami, Wake Forest heads to Cal, North Carolina travels to Duke, and Louisville gets a chance to stack another win when it faces Syracuse.
In Other News...
Louisville's Top Commit Is Creating A Recruiting Problem Jeff Brohm Must Solve
JaHyde Browns rise has only intensified the attention around Louisvilles recruiting class. The 4-star wide receiver from Louisville first committed to Indiana before flipping to the Cardinals, and now he sits among the nations top-50 recruits while putting together a dominant senior season that has matched the hype with a steady stream of touchdowns.
Jeff Brohm and his staff have reason to keep working this one hard, because Brown is still taking a close look around. He has already visited Florida and has trips lined up for Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas, which leaves his final decision far from settled and turns one of Louisvilles biggest recruiting wins into a problem the Cardinals have to solve before signing day. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Playoff Hype Is Fading Faster Than Gators Fans Expected
Week 6 brought a sharp reshuffle in ESPNs FPI rankings, and Louisville was among the teams cashing in after a key win. The Cardinals climbed in the ratings, part of a broader week that saw Notre Dame move to No. 1 and two-loss LSU and Oregon still hold top-10 spots, while other programs around the power conferences saw their outlooks wobble.
The bigger picture for Louisville fans is how quickly those weekly FPI swings can change the conversation about a season. ESPNs model tracks both six-win odds and College Football Playoff chances, so the Cardinals rise matters beyond one good Saturday, especially in a landscape where Florida State, West Virginia and Florida all slipped and the path for each team keeps shifting from week to week. [Read more 🡒]
Louisville Has A Chance To Prove The Florida State Win Meant Something
Louisville finally snapped its two-game skid in a big way, rolling past Florida State 44-20 at home and giving the season a jolt of relevance again. The win was enough to push the Cardinals up 12 spots to No. 24 in the ESPN Football Power Index, a reminder that the computer models at least still see a team with a path to a solid season if it can build on what happened in that matchup.
The next step comes against Syracuse, where Louisville enters with a 75.9% chance to win according to the FPI, a game that should help answer whether the Florida State result was a true turning point or just a brief reset. The broader picture is still encouraging, too, with ESPNs projections giving Louisville a 92.1% chance to reach six wins, but the Cardinals still need to prove that last week was something more than a one-night spike. [Read more 🡒]