Fresh off a 24-20 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers, the Louisville Cardinals have their toughest test to date when they take on the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes at home. Louisville will be looking to make a big upset in the ACC.
The Cardinals, who have started the year 4-2, had back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and SMU after a win over Georgia Tech. The team bounced back this past weekend against Virginia to improve to 2-2 in conference play.
Now, though, their toughest opponent of the year is coming to town and they’re going to need a major spark.
Insert true freshman running back Isaac Brown, who has taken over the Cardinals backfield and risen as the No. 1 back, rushing for 508 yards and three touchdowns on 8.6 yards per carry thus far this year.
Brown has really exploded in recent weeks, earning 20 carries for 146 yards and two scores against Virginia, which were the key difference makers in the 24-20 win. Before that, he went for 117 yards on just 10 carries against SMU, although Louisville fell just short in a 34-27 loss.
Brown’s performance against Virginia won him an ACC Rookie of the Week award, as he picked up his third 100-yard game of the season.
“Everyone thinks I’m too small to do things,” Brown said to reporters postgame. “But I just want to show them what I can do and help put the team on my back.”
While the 5’9”, 190-pound freshman may be smaller than other backs in the country, he has looked to play physically and hit on explosive plays, which the Louisville office has definitely needed.
Louisville has gone with a really young backfield following the departures of top backs Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo. The Cardinals have looked to true freshmen Brown and Duke Watson, as well as redshirt freshman Keyjuan Brown to lead the way in the backfield.
After seeing more sporadic carries to begin the year, Isaac Brown has cemented himself as the No. 1 back over the past three weeks, and will look to carry over his strong performances to Week 8 against Miami.
Heading into the weekend, the Hurricanes rank 14th in the FBS, allowing just 97.2 rushing yards per game and just 3.5 yards per rush, putting together a strong body of work thus far as a top-10 team.
However, they’ve been susceptible at times, as Miami gave up 206 rushing yards to Virginia Tech, with lead back Bhayshul Tuten going for 141 yards and a score on 19 attempts. Additionally, going back to the opener, Florida lead back Montrell Johnson had 106 yards on just 11 attempts, even though the Gators were blown out in that one.
The opportunities will be there for Brown this weekend, as the Cardinals need to make a concerted effort to get their rising star the ball, both on the ground and in the air, which should help quarterback Tyler Shough out against a tough defense.
Now, Louisville has a committee of backs, so perhaps another youngster out of the backfield gets hot, but it’s shaping up like Brown could very well be the X-Factor, should the Cardinals make a marquee upset in this one.
