Louisville Cardinals at Miami Hurricanes

Louisville intercepts 4 of Beck's passes, tops No. 2 Miami 24-21 to end Hurricanes' home streak

It was enough for the Cardinals to stun No. 2 Miami.

Miller Moss threw two touchdown passes to Chris Bell and ran for a score, Louisville intercepted four of Miami star Carson Beck's passes — the first time he'd ever thrown that many in a college game — and the Cardinals topped the Hurricanes 24-21 on Friday night.

“This is what college football is all about,” Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said. “Every week is going to be a contest down to the very end, no matter who you play.”

Louisville (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got touchdowns on its first two drives for a quick 14-0 lead, and the Hurricanes (5-1, 1-1) trailed the rest of the way.

Louisville also snapped Miami's 10-game home winning streak. The last team to win at Miami? That was Louisville, in 2023.

“Obviously, a really disappointing evening and outcome,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. "At the end of the day, credit to them. ... We didn't coach well enough, we didn't execute well enough and came up short. Just not good enough."

The Hurricanes were in field-goal range on the final drive, but Louisville's TJ Capers intercepted Beck's pass at the 30 with 32 seconds left to seal the win.

Moss completed 23 of 37 passes for 248 yards, and Isaac Brown ran for 113 yards on 15 carries for Louisville. Bell had nine catches for 136 yards, his TD grabs going for 35 and 36 yards.

Moss said a friend sent him a photo this week from the movie “Rocky IV" where Rocky Balboa — played by Sylvester Stallone, who studied at Miami — fought a Russian who was thought to be unbeatable. In the movie, Rocky wins, of course.

“This is kind of what it felt like,” Moss said. "We kept taking hits, kept taking hits. But we kept coming forward. Couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

Beck completed 25 of 35 passes for 271 yards for Miami. The Hurricanes had little success rushing the ball, generating only 63 yards on 24 carries against a Louisville team that came into the night with the No. 1 defense in the ACC.

Louisville came into the game 1-8 against teams ranked Nos. 1 or 2 in the AP poll. The win was over then-No. 2 Florida State, a 63-20 romp in 2016.

And on the road, there had never been a night like this for the Cardinals. They were 0-18 against Top 10 teams in true road games before Friday. Most of them weren’t even close: Louisville dropped those games by an average — an average — of 26.3 points.

“On any given day, we can beat anybody,” Brohm said.

Miami trailed 17-13 going into the fourth, but Moss’ TD catch with 13:27 remaining gave the Cardinals a two-score lead again. Beck was picked off on the ensuing drive with 7:50 remaining, but Miami got the ball right back on a fumble.

Miami's Malachi Toney scored on a 12-yard run one play after the fumble, then threw a 2-point conversion pass himself and Miami was right back in it — down 24-21. But the Hurricanes got no closer.

“We did just enough,” Brohm said.

The takeaway Louisville: The Cardinals should move into the AP Top 25 on Sunday, and had Miami guessing from the outset Friday. The first drive included, among other things, a fake reverse and a fake field goal. The fake on the chip shot — it would have been a 22-yarder — got the Cardinals down to the 1, and Moss barreled in one play later for the game’s opening score.

Miami: The Hurricanes’ loss means the list of unbeaten FBS teams is now down to 10 — all of them 6-0. The list: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 3 Indiana, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 15 BYU and No. 22 Memphis, along with unranked Navy and UNLV.

Up next Louisville: Hosts Boston College on Oct. 25.

Miami: Hosts Stanford on Oct. 25.