With Brohm back from injury, Louisville looking up

	Brian Brohm is ahead of schedule on his rehab from a torn ACL. Bob Rosato/SI
	Pass Happy Louisville quarterbacks under Petrino Year QB Comp. Yards TD-INT Eff. 2003 LeFors 61.3 3,145 17-10 145.5 (21*) 2004 LeFors 73.5 2,596 20-3 181.7 (1) 2005 Brohm 68.8 2,883 19-5 166.7 (2) *national rank

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It was a sight Louisville fans came to enjoy countless times last season and are looking forward to many more times this fall. Few, however, would have expected to see it this spring.

During a sun-drenched practice at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Wednesday, quarterback Brian Brohm dropped back in the pocket, stopped, planted his feet and unleashed a bullet-point throw to streaking receiver Mario Urrutia about 30 yards downfield.

There were no offensive or defensive linemen on the play, mind you, and Brohm, wearing a yellow noncontact jersey, would be relegated to spectator moments later when the Cardinals broke into regular 11-on-11 situations. That the nation's second-ranked passer last season is practicing at all this spring, however, is considered something of a minor miracle.

"It's amazing watching him," said Urrutia. "I think he could come back and play a game right now."

Louisville's coaches and trainers aren't allowing Brohm to participate in live action, like Friday night's spring game, just yet. After all, he is technically recovering from a torn ACL.

Not that you'd know it watching him throw passes or run on the sideline during practice.

"If someone had asked me back when I got hurt if I was going to do anything in spring practice, I would have said no way," said the rising junior. "But I don't even feel it when I'm [passing]. I'm getting pretty close to 100 percent."

Brohm, Louisville's homegrown hero and former USA Today high school Offensive Player of the Year, didn't disappoint in his much-anticipated debut as the Cardinals' starting quarterback last season. In 10 games, he completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 2,883 yards, 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions to lead Louisville to its first New Year's Day bowl berth (the Gator Bowl) in 15 years.

In the third quarter of a Thanksgiving weekend game against Syracuse, however, Brohm, while attempting to scramble for a first down, was dragged down awkwardly from behind by Orange linebacker Kellen Pruitt. When his right foot planted, his right knee twisted, sending Brohm shriveling to the ground in a scream of pain.

"I felt the pop," said Brohm. "I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew it wasn't something good. When I was sitting on the table on the sideline, the doctor told me I probably tore my ACL. They knew right away."

It was a devastating blow both for Brohm -- who had never before experienced a major injury -- and the Cardinals, who were forced to play their final regular season game and bowl game against Virginia Tech with walk-on Hunter Cantwell at quarterback. "It was unfortunate," said head coach Bobby Petrino. "Brian was starting to get real hot right before the injury."

Normally patients with a torn ACL are instructed to wait several weeks before undergoing surgery in order to allow the trauma to dissipate, but Brohm, concerned about recovering in time for this season, underwent his procedure on Dec. 5, just nine days after the injury. He also opted for a newer form of the surgery in which a tendon from a cadaver, rather than one's own knee, is used to construct the graft in order to form a more accurate replica.