Full Circle Moment: Jeff Brohm's Cardinals Finally Return to Blacksburg

Believe it or not, this is Louisville’s 12th year in the ACC. If it's hard to believe, it's because we rarely see them. In that dozen years, the Hokies have faced 14 non-conference schools as many or more times than they’ve faced the Cardinals. Despite being conference mates since 2014, Tech and Louisville have only played twice before Saturday; in Louisville in 2023 and again during the Covid season of 2020. 

Prior to 2014, these two played in the infamous Gator Bowl after the 2005 season. Prior to that was 1992, when Louisville’s current head coach, Jeff Brohm, served in a different capacity. The last time Louisville visited Blacksburg was 1991. As a result, the statement, “Louisville is visiting Blacksburg this weekend” is indeed news. 

The Hokies lead the brief series 6-3. The first six matchups occurred when Tech and Louisville were both in the non-football Metro Conference. The Hokies left the world of football independents and joined the Big East for football in 1991, but didn’t begin full round robin conference play until the 1993 season. Here are the series results:

Anyway, like we’ll do this Saturday night after the game, let’s turn back the clock and reminisce about the Jeff Brohm era (as a player) as far as Virginia Tech is involved, the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

1991 was a season where things felt like they were coming together for the first time under Coach Beamer. But a brutal five-week stretch from September 6 through October 12 forced the Hokies on the road for consecutive games against NC State, South Carolina, #6 Oklahoma, West Virginia and #1 Florida State. The final game of that stretch was supposed to be a home game, but Athletic Director Dave Braine made the difficult decision to move it to Orlando to help the cash-strapped Tech athletic department.

Though competitive in each, the Hokies ultimately finished the stretch 1-4. By the time Louisville came to town on October 26th, the Hokies sat at 3-4. On this pleasant sunny Homecoming afternoon, however, the Hokies had their way. 

Tech put the hammer down with 31 second quarter points to go up 31-3. That point total has been matched or exceeded by the Hokies just four times in a quarter in the last 34 years (31 at Clemson in 1998, 34 at East Carolina in 2017, 35 at Rutgers in 1999, 35 versus Arkansas State in 2002).

The “Run the Dang Ball” crowd would have enjoyed the Hokies’ 227 net rushing yards. A host of Hokies toted the rock a total of 41 times against Louisville, with star running back Vaughn Hebron leading Tech with 15 carries and 90 yards. That opened the passing game for quarterback Will Furrer. Though he only attempted 18 passes, he completed 10 and three went for scores – to Bo Campbell, Mark Poindexter and a freshman named Antonio Freeman. All of that added up to a breezy 41-13 win for Tech.

Louisville’s starting QB entering the 1991 season was Brohm, a junior at the time. Unfortunately for him, he broke his ankle in the second game of the season and missed this game against Tech. His replacements, Erik Watts and Marty Lowe, were welcomed to Blacksburg by the Tech defense in the form of six sacks, including two by PJ Preston (who also picked off a pass, forced a fumble and recovered it). Brohm would get his revenge the following year. 

Brohm was a super-talented athlete coming out of high school. He was selected by the Montreal Expos in the 1989 MLB draft before opting for football at Louisville. He was selected again in the 1990 draft by Cleveland and proceeded to play both minor league baseball and college football in both 1990 and 1991 before deciding again to focus on football.

Coming off of the ankle injury, he seized the starting quarterback job in 1992. The Hokies visited Louisville on a late-afternoon October day and Brohm would make up for the team’s defeat the previous year as well as his absence from it. Brohm threw for 232 yards, and shook off seven sacks by Hokie defenders to also rush for two fourth quarter touchdowns in a come-from-behind 21-17 win. 

For Tech, this loss to Louisville was the second of five games in the 1992 season where they gave up a late fourth quarter lead (ECU earlier; NC State, Rutgers and Southern Miss later).

The game started off nice enough with quarterback Maurice DeShazo hitting Freeman with an 8-yard TD. And Tony Kennedy responded to a 3rd quarter Louisville field goal with a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead. 

Tech spread the wealth on the ground, with five players contributing to the running game, and DeShazo added 155 yards passing, including 40 yards to Mark Poindexter, 34 to Freeman and 29 yards to Ray Crittenden.

A quick word on Crittenden, who was a rare three-sport athlete at Tech from Annandale, VA. He was a standout soccer player for the Hokies, so much so that his play earned him membership in the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame, and he ended his career with a Tech-record 31 goals (still tied for third all time). He even made the Tech basketball team as a walk-on for the 1988-89 season and appeared in four games for the Hokies.

Crittenden gave up his last year of soccer eligibility and tried out for the football team. He saw the field in the 1992 season, where he caught nine passes for 113 yards. Three of those catches came in the Louisville game. 

With only the nine career college catches, Crittenden went undrafted, but he nevertheless found his way onto the New England Patriots’ roster and ended up with 44 catches for 672 yards and four touchdowns in two seasons with the Patriots. A truly remarkable story.

Jeff Brohm parlayed his college success into a seven-year NFL career as a journeyman quarterback. He joined the coaching ranks in 2001, and came back to Louisville to coach quarterbacks in 2002. After several years as an assistant at multiple stops, Brohm got his break as a Head Coach at Western Kentucky, succeeding Bobby Petrino who ironically was headed back to Louisville to lead the Cardinals in 2014. Brohm spent three years there and six as head coach of Purdue before returning to Louisville as head coach in 2023. He’s 25-9 at his alma mater, including 6-1 entering Saturday’s contest.

The Hokies had a slew of players who made it to the league, including three defensive backs off the 1991 team, truly beginning the DBU movement in Blacksburg. And the groundwork that these players laid through a difficult start to the Frank Beamer era paid off starting the following season when the Hokies would go 9-3 and defeat Indiana in the Independence Bowl.