Louisville stuns Miami No. 2: Cardinals eliminate Carson Beck 4 times in surprise

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — No coach has won more games in the Atlantic Coast Conference since the start of the 2023 season than Louisville’s Jeff Brohm — and Friday night’s was one of his most important.

His Cardinals — 13 1/2-point underdogs — beat No. 2 Miami 24-21 at Hard Rock Stadium to reshape the conference’s College Football Playoff picture. Brohm’s career record is 4-2 against the Associated Press’ top five teams.

Miami’s Carson Beck, who opened the week as the Heisman favorite along with Alabama’s Ty Simpson according to BetMGM, threw four interceptions. His third came with Louisville leading 24-13 with 7:50 left in the fourth quarter. That seemed to be the case for the Hurricanes, but a fumble by Cardinals defensive end Isaac Brown moments later opened the door for a more dramatic ending.

After Canes freshman Malachi Toney scored on a 12-yard completion and Miami connected on a two-point conversion to cut Louisville’s lead to three, Miami forced a punt and took over at its own 15-yard line with 4:05 left.

Beck led the Hurricanes to the Louisville 31 with 36 seconds left. But on the next play, he was intercepted by South Florida native TJ Capers on a deflected pass at the line to seal the victory for Louisville.

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“We knew we were playing a big team and we had to be very precise and do different things,” Brohm said. “(Beck) is a good quarterback, and it’s a good offense. When you get a lead on them and force them to throw more than they want to, you’ll have an advantage. Great effort from our guys to go down the road and beat a good football team.”

The Cardinals (5-1, 2-1 ACC) took a 14-0 lead with 5:09 left in the first quarter and never trailed. Louisville scored on its first drive after Brohm made a fake field goal on fourth down to keep the drive alive, then scored on a Miller Moss sneak play a play later.

Miami (5-1, 1-1 ACC) entered with one of the best passing units in the country, but Brohm’s schemes and playmaking all but put the clamps on Canes rushers Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor. The Cardinals outscored Miami on the field 119-63.

“We didn’t run the ball well,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “We also found ourselves late on several occasions. Overall, it’s not enough.”

Miami, one of the most penalized teams in college football, was penalized nine times for 68 yards, including three times on offense for false starts.

Beck’s INT woes resurface

Beck was one of the biggest offseason acquisitions for the Hurricanes, who had the No. 1 offense in 2024 and were expected to replace No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward at quarterback. Beck threw four touchdown passes in Miami’s most recent win over Florida State and entered Friday’s game leading the league in completion rate (73.4%) and passing efficiency.

But after completing his first five passes, he threw his first pick of the night when he forced a triple-coverage pass to Toney down the field and safety Antonio Watts made a spectacular catch at the Louisville 32-yard line.

He threw his next interception two passes later, once again trying to force the ball to another Hurricanes receiver, Keelan Marion, after trying to throw off the Cardinals defense with a pump fake. Last season at Georgia, Beck threw 12 total interceptions and was heavily criticized for trying to make too many plays down the field.

There is no doubt that Friday’s performance must affect his draft stock. This is the fourth time since the start of the 2024 season that he has thrown at least three interceptions in a game.

The key to Brohm’s creativity

Credit Brohm and his team for coaching Cristobal.

From the start, the Cardinals gave the Hurricanes a unique look. In the opening series, Louisville had three different players lined up at quarterback, including a receiver. This opened up running lanes, as the Cardinals averaged over 4 yards per carry in the game before kneeling down three times to run out the clock.

The Hurricanes have only sacked Miller Moss once. He finished 23 of 37 for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Brown had 15 carries for 113 yards and Chris Bell led the Cardinals with nine catches for 136 yards and two scores.