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In one of the more exciting comeback games in Canes history, the 41-38 win over Louisville on October 4th, 2004 took every bit of high caliber star power the mighty Hurricanes could muster. Led by Brock Berlin, Roscoe Parrish, Greg Olsen, Frank Gore and Devin Hester, the third-ranked Canes would comeback from a 17-point deficit over the final 20 minutes to secure the Thursday night win at the Orange Bowl on national TV.
Berlin threw three touchdown passes including a 56-yard drive in the final minutes march capped by Frank Gore's 1-yard TD run with just 49 seconds left. To start that drive, Hester gave the Canes great field position on the kickoff that he returned to the 44 yard line.
The last quarter, was a frenzy of back and forth scoring as Hester scored on a 78-yard punt return to put Miami ahead 34-31, but the Cardinals, who switched quarterbacks to Brian Brohm regained the lead when the freshman led an 80-yard touchdown drive. Starting Louisville QB Stefan Lefors had played well throwing 3 touchdown passes but was literally knocked out of the game with a concussion in the fourth quarter.
Berlin who had been booed by the Orange Bowl faithful earlier in the game when the Canes fell behind in the first half. He would later be injured with a bruised chest in the second quarter but showed strong grit and didn’t miss a play. Brock ended the game passing for 25-of-37 and 308 yards, including a completion on fourth-and-4 to keep the winning drive alive.
Brohm had the Hurricanes worried until the final play when the final Hail Mary pass was intercepted. Tempers flared post game and a shoving match between the teams ensued. In the end it was another ESPN Instant Classic, one of many in Miami’s vaunted history.