“Our players, our coaches, they worked hard all week,” Brohm said. “We were able to overcome some (adversity) along the way. It wasn't perfect. It hasn't been easy, but we keep fighting. … We are very proud of our team. It’s a big win for our program.”

Here are three takeaways from the Cardinals' historic win:

The solution to Louisville's defensive woes was simple: communicate better. However, the execution took a little longer to manifest itself.

The group made progress in a comeback win against Boston College and had eight days to prepare for Clemson.

The Cardinals' defense held the Tigers' offense to 21 points and 450 yards. The Tigers previously averaged 39.4 points and 485.4 yards per game.

U of L's well-conditioned defensive unit played 101 snaps and didn't give up as Clemson scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. And his nine pass breakups were the most since recording 12 against Florida State in 2020.

“We were just more decisive and quicker,” Louisville defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte said. “I feel like the people who need to make calls can be quicker in terms of communication, and I think that allows us to get moving. When we’re ready, we can play with almost anyone.”

Before Louisville's Week 10 game against Clemson, Brohm told ESPN senior writer Andrea Adelson that the Cardinals' offensive line was the weakest it had ever been. Louisville was without offensive lineman Rasheed Miller, who underwent surgery this week, while fellow lineman Monroe Mills and Renato Brown played with injuries.

Despite the Cardinals' limited options, Louisville's offensive line didn't give up a single sack for the second straight week. The struggling unit also opened up holes and blocks for a U of L offense that totaled 210 rushing yards. It's the most since the Cardinals ran for 233 yards against Jacksonville State in Week 2.

Clemson's defense had previously held opponents to 195.6 rushing yards per game.

Louisville keeping its tempo quicker also helped keep the Tigers' defense on its heels, Brohm said.

“We understand our system so well that driving fast is not a problem,” he said. “… We had to change some things. When you go away and try to beat a good team, you have to give them something they haven't seen before. So we played at a much better tempo. We We knew what we were doing. We had a few new wrinkles that I don’t think they had seen before and it all worked out for us and helped us win.”

After Louisville's win over Clemson, Ben Perry took to Instagram.

The Cardinals linebacker/safety posted a photo of what appeared to be the ceiling of a hospital room with the words “LFG!!!!!” – which stands for “Let's Go” – written on one of the ceiling tiles.

Perry was unable to celebrate with his teammates as he sustained an injury that required him to wear a neck brace off the field and be taken to the hospital. Brohm said Perry had numbness in his legs. The priority was to stabilize Perry's neck.

After the game, Brohm had no immediate information about his player's status.

“I just pray for him,” Gillotte said. “Really, I just pray for him and his family.”

Reach out to Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit [email protected] and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.