This Time, Miami Has Last Word

The Louisville Cardinals drew a flag for excessive celebration in the second quarter, and another in the third. Against Miami, the displays of jubilation were premature.

Led by Brock Berlin and Devin Hester, the third-ranked Hurricanes erased a 17-point deficit over the final 20 minutes and came from behind twice in the fourth quarter to beat No. 18 Louisville, 41-38, Thursday night.

Berlin threw three touchdown passes and directed the winning drive, a 56-yard march capped by Frank Gore’s one-yard run with 49 seconds left.

“We kind of got ourselves in a hole,” Berlin said. “Some things weren’t working. But we proved what type of character our team has.”

The touchdown capped a seesaw fourth quarter. Hester scored on a 78-yard punt return to put Miami ahead, 34-31, but Louisville regained the lead when freshman backup quarterback Brian Brohm directed an 80-yard touchdown drive.

Stefan LeFors threw three touchdown passes for Louisville before being sidelined in the fourth quarter because of a concussion.

The Cardinals (4-1) had touted the game as perhaps the biggest in school history. The Hurricanes (5-0) narrowly averted only the second loss in their last 30 games at the Orange Bowl to remain in the race for their sixth national championship since 1983.

Much of the credit belonged to Berlin, the target of boos when Miami fell behind in the first half. He completed 25 of 37 passes for 308 yards, including a completion on fourth-and-four to keep the winning drive alive.

Berlin threw touchdown passes of nine yards to Greg Olsen, 14 yards to Roscoe Parrish and 11 yards to Akieem Jolla. The Hurricanes scored on all six possessions in the second half.

Louisville used multiple wideouts -- sometimes with an empty backfield -- to spread out the Hurricanes. In the open field the Cardinals were fast enough to match Miami’s vaunted speed.

Berlin directed consecutive scoring drives of 76, 66 and 87 yards in the second half to cut Miami’s deficit to 31-24. The Cardinals then committed their first turnover when LeFors fumbled a snap on his final play, setting up Jon Peattie’s second field goal to make it 31-27 with 12 minutes left.

LeFors completed 17 of 22 passes for 244 yards. Lionel Gates scored three times and Tiger Jones caught two touchdown passes for the Cardinals, who totaled 507 yards against a defense that had given up only one touchdown in its first four games.