Throwback Thursday: One of the biggest wins in program history

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Louisville football team is only two days away from one of the biggest games of the College Football season. Today, we take a look back at one of the biggest wins in Louisville program history.

VS.

	1	2	3	4	T
Cardinals	3	13	14	14	44
Mountaineers	7	7	7	13	34

The year was 2006 when the fifth ranked Louisville football team faced off against the third ranked Mountaineers in one of the biggest games in program history. If Louisville wins this game, then they will have a shot at playing for the National Championship. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they would lose to Rutgers one week later and dash any chances of making the title game.

The anticipation surrounding this game was huge because of the ramifications that it had, but on this night in November, the Louisville football program still took a huge step forward.

Here is a great quote from ESPN from the game in 2006:

“With thousands of fans on the field, swarming all around Brian Brohm and chanting “BCS! BCS!” after perhaps the biggest win in school history, the Louisville quarterback smiled and took in the whole satisfying scene. “It’s been a dream since I was a kid for Louisville to be on a stage like this,” Brohm said. If Brohm and the fifth-ranked Cardinals keep playing the way they did Thursday night in a 44-34 victory over No. 3 West Virginia, the stakes will only get bigger. Welcome to the national championship hunt, Louisville.”

Here were some of the statistical leaders from Louisville’s 44-34 win over West Virginia, also courtesy of ESPN Stats:

Passing:

Rushing:

Receiving:

If you couldn’t tell already, this was a game with a whole bunch of offensive star-power. Pat White was one of the most dynamic quarterbacks that College Football had seen at the time and gave an incredible performance in a losing effort.

West Virginia went on to win the Gator Bowl in 2006 against Georgia Tech 38-35, while finishing the season at 11-2. The Cardinals on the other hand, went on to beat Wake Forest 24-13 in the Orange Bowl for Louisville’s first BCS win.

It’s a great time to be a Louisville football fan. They now have their second chance at getting themselves back into the National Championship picture if they can knock off the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday.