Louisville stuns No. 2 Miami: Cardinals pick off Carson Beck 4 times in upset

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 biggest.

His Cardinals – 13 1/2-point underdogs – knocked off 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 Associated Press top-five ranked teams.

Miami’s Carson Beck, who opened the week as the Heisman front-runner with Alabama’s Ty Simpson according to BetMGM, threw four interceptions. His third came with Louisville leading 24-13 with 7:50 to play in the fourth quarter. That looked like it was going to be it for the Hurricanes, but a fumble by Cardinals tailback Isaac Brown moments later opened the door to a more dramatic finish.

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

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

“We knew we were playing a great team and had to be really sharp, do some different things,” Brohm said. “(Beck) is a good quarterback, and that’s a good offense. When you get a lead on them and you make them throw it more than they want, you’re gonna have an advantage. Great effort by our guys to come down the road and beat a good football team.”

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

Miami (5-1, 1-1 ACC) entered with one of the best pass rushing units in the country, but Brohm’s schemes and play calling all but put the clamps on Canes edge rushers Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor. The Cardinals outgained Miami on the ground 119-63.

“We did not run the ball well,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “We also got ourselves off schedule several times. All in all, not good 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 scoring offense in 2024 and needed to replace No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward at quarterback. Beck threw four touchdown passes in Miami’s most recent win at Florida State and entered Friday’s game leading the league in completion rate (73.4 percent) and passing efficiency.

But after completing his first five passes, he threw his first pick of the night when he forced a pass into triple coverage for 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 downfield to another Hurricanes receiver, Keelan Marion, after attempting to throw off the Cardinals’ defense with a pump fake. Last season at Georgia, Beck threw 12 total interceptions and was highly criticized for trying to make too many plays downfield.

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

Brohm’s creativeness key

Credit Brohm and his staff for outcoaching Cristobal’s.

From the start, the Cardinals came out giving the Hurricanes unique looks. In the opening series, Louisville had three different players line up at quarterback, including a receiver. It opened up running lanes, as the Cardinals averaged over 4 yards per carry in the game before taking a knee three times to run out the clock.

The Hurricanes sacked Miller Moss just once. He finished 23-for-37 for 248 yards and two touchdown passes. Brown had 15 carries for 113 yards, and Chris Bell led the Cardinals with nine catches for 136 yards and two scores.

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