Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm met with the media this week ahead of Friday’s game against Clemson at the Cardinals’ L&N Stadium.

The contest is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN. Louisville is a 3.5-point favorite.

“Great opportunity to play a really good football team,” Brohm said. “A ton of talent, lot of history, great coaching. It’ll be a tough matchup for us that we gotta prepare well and go out there and try to find a way to execute better and for all 60 minutes and find a way to win. So, it’s a very important game. Why? Because it’s the next game. But it’ll be a tough matchup, and we’re going to have to play well and do a really good job. So, we’re excited to get back to work and to move forward and to try to win this next game.”

Clemson (4-5, 3-4 ACC) is coming off a 24-10 home win over Florida State last Saturday – snapping a six-game losing streak against Power 4 teams at Death Valley — while Louisville (7-2, 4-2 ACC) suffered a major upset loss on Saturday, falling 29-26 at home to Cal in overtime. The Cardinals were favored by 18.5 points entering that contest.

When it comes to Clemson, Brohm says his team doesn’t “look at their record – we look at the film and their talent.”

“They’re a very talented team, and they know how to play football,” Brohm said. “I think sometimes when you’re punched in the gut early on, you refocus and regroup. You can tell they’ve done that. They have very talented players, NFL prospects at a ton of positions. They’ve won at a high level in the past, and there’s a lot of season left to play. So, they could easily finish this thing strong and be right back where they want to, and I’m sure that’s their plan. And that wouldn’t shock me, because they’re a very talented football team, and those guys have been there and done that.

“So, we’re going to have to play well and we’re going to have to really execute at a high level and be ready to go from play one to the very end.”

Brohm was asked what stands out to him specifically about Clemson’s defense, which allowed just a single touchdown against Florida State and only three points in the second half.

“They look the part,” Brohm said. “They’re big, they’re fast, they’re athletic, talented. Early on, I think they just had a couple busts in what they were doing. I’m sure it’s probably just some communication issues. Looks like they’ve cleaned most of that up for now and they’re all on the same page, and they’re a really good football team.”

Clemson leads the all-time series with Louisville, 8-1.

Clemson is 4-0 in road games at Louisville, including most recently a 30-24 victory in 2021 in which the Tigers held the Cardinals out of the end zone on four straight downs from the Clemson 2-yard line in the final minute for the win.

The Cardinals earned their first win against the Tigers in series history last season with a 33-21 win at Clemson’s Memorial Stadium.

“Last year, we were able to do some things effectively on them,” Brohm said. “We changed some things up early that I thought got us in a rhythm. Our defense played really good. We blocked multiple kicks. The ball bounced our way, to be quite honest with you, and we made some plays along there to do that and got out to a lead, which was important.

“So, I just think it’ll be a challenge again, and that’s the key, is going out there and being ready to go from play one to the end. You try to get a lead, but if you don’t, you gotta just continue to swing and battle and play hard. And we have played hard. We’ve had our chances, we just gotta finish things in the end when the game is close.”

You can watch Brohm’s Clemson week press conference below:

–Photo courtesy of Brian Bishop-Imagn Images