Louisville football might finish 9-3, but it would be disappointing season for Jeff Brohm
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Louisville football still has a chance at a nine-win regular season, and yet, after Friday night’s 20-19 loss to Clemson, it is the most disappointing season in coach Jeff Brohm’s three-year tenure.
To put that in perspective, as a program, Louisville has had nine wins in 12 previous seasons since 2000. It's not something the program has always taken for granted. But this season, all of the Cardinals’ losses have come because of self-afflictions.
Friday continued the trend when kicker Cooper Ranvier pulled an extra-point attempt that doinked off an upright. That point would prove to be the margin of defeat.
The Cards had two other chances to pull ahead with field-goal attempts. But Ranvier missed from 46 yards and Nick Keller pulled an attempt from 50 yards to the left with 1:30 left.
It wasn't just the kicks that failed Louisville.
Clemson actually tried to give it away. The Tigers had a one-hop snap that prevented Clemson punter Jack Smith from getting a kick off, and the Cards took over at the Tigers' 23.
But a false-start penalty on U of L right tackle Rasheed Miller on first down and an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty on left guard Lance Robinson after a second-down run nearly took them out of field-goal range.
U of L running back Duke Watson fumbled at the Cards' 25 in the second quarter, and Clemson scored on the ensuing play.
The Cards could easily be unbeaten if a handful of plays went their way.
This column will be updated.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jeff Brohm's Cards might go 9-3, but it would be disappointing year
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