Heading into Friday night's matchup against ACC rival Clemson at 7-2, the Louisville football program needed a win. However, a series of penalties and missed kicks doomed the 20th-ranked Louisville football team to a 20-19 loss to the visiting Tigers. Postgame, many Cardinals fans, like X (formerly Twitter) user Squidtard, vented about their frustration.
Louisville with the field goal attempt: pic.twitter.com/uKB8C1MoJ4
— Squidtard (@LordOfTardaria) November 15, 2025
“Louisville with the field goal attempt,” stated the disappointed Louisville football fan.
Missed kicks from Cooper Ranvier and Nick Keller late in the fourth quarter sealed the Louisville football program's fate. While Clemson entered Friday's matchup at 4-5 and a massive disappointment based on their preseason ranking, they took advantage of the numerous mistakes made by the Louisville football team. Is there any route that the Cardinals can take to clinch a College Football Playoff (CFP) spot in the season's last few weeks?
Louisville football's CFP hopes take massive hit with loss to Clemson
After a 4-0 start, the Louisville football team lost its first game to a fellow-ranked ACC team in Virginia, 30-27. Then, the Cardinals won three in a row, including an upset of second-ranked Miami. Yet, the last two weeks have seen the Louisville football program lose games that a CFP contender should have won against Cal and then Clemson. Now, a path to the college football title might be out of reach. Cardinals fans, like X user Bruce Harper, were upset at the number of confounding mistakes made by head coach Jeff Brohm's team on Friday night.
Never seen a game gift wrapped so many times only for a team to do every single thing possible (sacks, dumb penalties, missed kicks) to lose it. That was WORSE than Tuesday night #MACtion.
— Bruce Harper (@PH1LLy_Phan) November 15, 2025
“Never seen a game gift wrapped so many times only for a team to do every single thing possible (sacks, dumb penalties, missed kicks) to lose it,” Harper reacted. “That was WORSE than Tuesday night #MACtion.”
Nevertheless, the Louisville football team could easily win out with a road game at SMU and a home date versus in-state rival Kentucky remaining. Quarterback Miller Moss has been one of the country's better signal callers since transferring in from USC. Offensively, the Louisville football program remains competitive. Can the Cardinals win out and sneak into their first-ever CFP?
