Louisville football's win over Notre Dame is one of biggest in program history. Here are others

When given an opportunity to showcase its program on a national stage during prime time Saturday night, Louisville delivered.

The 25th-ranked Cardinals defeated 11th-ranked Notre Dame, 33-20, in front of a record crowd of 59,081 at L&N Stadium. Now bowl eligible, U of L matched the 2013 squad’s 6-0 start and is 45-8 when playing at home as a ranked team. The Cardinals defeated two ranked teams last year: No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 24 N.C. State. But they hadn’t beaten a team while in the top 25 since topping Murray State, 55-10, in 2017, when the Cards were No. 17.

The Cards had defeated the Fighting Irish only one other time — a 31-28 road victory Nov. 22, 2014 — and improved to 2-2 against Notre Dame. Notre Dame wasn’t ranked then, and Louisville was No. 24 in the College Football Playoff rankings.

The win is a defining moment in Jeff Brohm’s early tenure with the program. Louisville hasn’t fared well recently against tradition-rich programs. Including the two losses to Notre Dame over the last five seasons, the Cardinals have gone 2-6 against Florida State, Clemson and Miami and 0-3 against rival Kentucky. 

Now the Cardinals have momentum and a win the program can hang its hat on.

Here are three of the Cardinals’ biggest wins in program history:

Sept. 17, 2016: No. 10 Louisville 63, No. 2 Florida State 20

Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s eventual Heisman-winning campaign began with the Cardinals’ rout of the Seminoles. It stands as the highest-ranked team the Cardinals have defeated. Jackson was 13-of-20 passing for 216 yards, with a touchdown and interception. He ran for 146 yards and four scores on 17 carries.

The Cardinals outgained the Seminoles, 530-284. Prior to that, FSU’s worst conference loss was by 32 points. 

U of L finished 9-4 and was the co-Atlantic Division champion (7-1).

Jan. 2, 2013: No. 22 Louisville 33, No. 4 Florida 23

Louisville was a 14 ½-point underdog to Florida in the 2013 Sugar Bowl. The Cardinals started with 14 unanswered points, which started with Terell Floyd’s pick six on the first play, and never looked back.

U of L quarterback Teddy Bridgewater totaled 266 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 20-for-32 passing. Receiver Eli Rogers caught four passes for 62 yards.

That year, Louisville went 11-2 and won the final Big East championship before moving to the ACC the next season.

Dec. 28, 1993: No. 25 Louisville 18, Michigan State 7

Brohm cemented his legacy as a player at Louisville, leading the Cardinals to a Liberty Bowl win. The former quarterback played with a broken index finger on his throwing hand but managed to complete 19 of 29 passes for 197 yards, including the Cardinals’ 25-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

It was the first time Louisville had beaten a Big Ten Conference team, going 0-5-1 against the conference prior to that. The Cardinals finished 9-3.

Brown column: In 1st season under Jeff Brohm, Louisville football shows it's already a contender

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.