No. 22 Louisville takes slim conference title hopes into trip to Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. -- - By getting a breakthrough win against Clemson before a bye week, Louisville made sure the stretch run to its season would still have plenty of meaning.
The 22nd-ranked Cardinals come back from their week off with a seemingly easier task as they travel to face new ACC foe Stanford on Saturday with slim hopes remaining of making the conference title game.
Thanks to its first win in nine tries against Clemson, Louisville (6-3, 4-2, No. 19 CFP) remains within reach of first-place SMU, Miami and Clemson in the standings but will need plenty of help over the next three weeks to return to the title game.
"We have a lot of season left. There are three regular-season games that we have to prove we are a good football team and you have to win, and at the end of the year you hope you are where you want to be," coach Jeff Brohm said. "We excelled this week but we have more to do. Just think good football teams get better as the year moves on and to know it is not easy."
The stakes are far lower for Stanford (2-7, 1-5) as the Cardinal are having another rough season in their debut in a new conference. Stanford has lost six straight games since beating Syracuse in its ACC opener and has been eliminated from bowl contention.
"Keep competing with everything we have left," star receiver Elic Ayomanor said. "It shows a lot about the character of the players and the team and the leaders when you know the bowl game is not possible but you keep competing to the last snap of the last game. We've been doing that and I would like to see that continue as we go forward."
Staying on schedule
Louisville enters the inaugural meeting against Stanford seeking its first West Coast win in its fourth trip (0-1-2). It fell to USC in last year's Holiday Bowl in San Diego. Brohm acknowledged that it will mark the Cardinals' longest trip and require a three-hour time adjustment but insisted they will continue their usual travel routine of flying out the day before a game and holding meetings.
"We're not going to overemphasize all those things," Brohm said. "We've got a job to do, and I think we have a good plan to get our work done here and go out there and play football and find a way to win."
Home disadvantage
Playing at home has proved to be little help for Stanford in recent seasons. The Cardinal are winless in 10 home games against FBS opponents under second-year coach Troy Taylor. Stanford has lost 12 straight overall against FBS teams and dropped 16 in a row against ranked opponents.
All-around Brown
Louisville running back Isaac Brown posted his fourth 100-yard effort this season at Clemson (150) and is closing in on Lamar Jackson for the best freshman season in school history. His 800 yards are just 160 behind in second to Jackson's 2015 total and rank second nationally for freshmen. Brown stands 20th in FBS with 125.9 all-purpose yards per game with seven touchdowns. The Cardinals are 9-2 under Brohm when a rusher hits the century mark, including 3-1 this fall.
Defensive improvement
Louisville's defense remains vulnerable to allowing explosive plays but has made strides the past two games. Clemson gained 450 yards against the Cardinals but its biggest chunk plays yielded just 24 yards rushing and 22 passing. They also blocked two field goal attempts by the Tigers a week after holding Boston College to seven points in the second half of a 31-27 comeback win after trailing 20-0.
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AP Sports Writer Gary B. Graves contributed to this report
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