Beast of Big East
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It's a question Brian Brohm is getting used to answering.
Was No. 5 Louisville's 44-34 win over No. 3 West Virginia Thursday night the biggest win in program history?
"It could end up being, depends on how we finish out this season," the Louisville quarterback said after throwing for 354 yards and a touchdown as the Cardinals (8-0, 3-0 Big East) bolstered their national title hopes with a dynamic performance against the Mountaineers.
The way the Cardinals are playing, it might not even their biggest win of the month.
"From now on each week is the biggest game for us," Brohm said. "If we win out, I think we deserve to (play for the national championship), but it is out of our hands."
For all the offense Louisville displayed while ending West Virginia's 14-game winning streak — rolling up 468 yards and doing whatever it wanted whenever it wanted to — Brohm knows the Cardinals' shot at the Bowl Championship Series title game will quickly vanish if they can't beat No. 15 Rutgers (8-0, 3-0) next Thursday.
As great as standing on the Papa John's Stadium turf with thousands of fans chanting "BCS! BCS!" was, Brohm said there's plenty of hurdles to clear before the Cardinals can think about playing in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 8.
"We can't afford to have a hangover or get too emotional," he said. "We've got one day to celebrate and then get back to work to beat Rutgers."
Playing on a national stage in the resurgent Big East's Game of the Year (or at least of the week), the Cardinals showed they're ready for prime time, overcoming some early jitters to pull away in the second half.
Louisville broke open a 16-14 game by turning a fumble by West Virginia's Steve Slaton and a 40-yard punt return by Trent Guy into touchdowns, then continued to press even after building a 16-point lead.
"We wanted to stay aggressive and our players like to play that brand of football," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said.
It's a brand the Cardinals hope was impressive enough to prove they're capable of playing every team in the country. After building their resume on solid if not always dominant wins, the Cardinals knew they needed to make a statement against the Mountaineers (7-1, 2-1) if they wanted to be taken seriously.
Though Louisville allowed West Virginia quarterback Pat White to roll up 377 yards of total offense (125 rushing, 222 passing), the Cardinals recovered three of West Virginia's six fumbles, including two by the normally sure-handed Slaton, who played with an undisclosed injury to his left hand.
Slaton finished with 156 yards rushing, 74 yards receiving and one touchdown.
"(Steve) tried to tough it out, but he couldn't grip it," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It was (the coaches') fault too. Maybe we should have held him out until all his strength was back."
