LOUISVILLE -- Once thousands of fans from a Cardinal Stadium-record, sold-out crowd of more than 59,000 had spilled onto the synthetic turf and once the obligatory postgame celebration had subsided, Jeff Brohm – favored son come home – offered context and perspective after No. 25 Louisville had manhandled Notre Dame on both lines of scrimmage en route to the Cardinals’ 33-20 win.
Brohm even admitted his cursory glances in the week preceding Saturday night’s kick off had let him know Cardinals Nation had elevated expectations.
“Huge victory for our team, huge victory for this fan base, huge victory for this university and all the leadership that does a tremendous job directing us in the right direction,” Brohm said. “Our fans were the 12th man, we felt them. Really, felt them all week. I read Twitter a little bit, they were ready to go. They expected to win, they wanted to win, and they came ready to get after it.
“So, I knew we better give them a win.”
Louisville held Notre Dame under 300 yards, the Fighting Irish – who lost for the second time in three weeks and host powerhouse USC next week – didn’t score their second touchdown until the game’s waning moments and also only finished with 44 net rushing yards. They had entered the game anchored by their at times dominant, bruising rushing attack spearheaded by Audric Estimè.
He was held to a mere 20 yards on 10 carries and never had a run longer than six yards as Marcus Freeman dipped to 14-7 in 21 games atop the Fighting Irish program.
The game tied 7-all at the half and Notre Dame having briefly taken a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, Louisville uncorked an 26-3 scoring spurt through 19 minutes of the second half that stymied the Irish on both sides of the ball.
“I think our players came out in the second half,” Brohm said, “and they understood what it meant to not only us but the entire town and city and university to win and grounded it out.
“We’re happy to be where we’re at because it is a big win. We want to enjoy it; that’s what excites us all.”
And while Brohm emphasized the Cardinals would relish this win – they’re 6-0 for the first time in a decade – he also acknowledged it should not be the destination in having halted Notre Dame’s ACC-record 30-game winning streak against league foes.
“Once you win a game like that,” Brohm said, starting his hand just above the table and then raising it, “the bar goes from here to up here. …
“We’re 6-0 and we want to give them something to cheer about and something to want to root for. We’ve got to now do it again. I know our fans love football, love sports and teams that play hard and give great effort. Without question we fed off fans tonight.”