LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Miami started the day by stomping on the Louisville Cardinal logo in the middle of field. That might be that last sign of swagger the Hurricanes show for a while.

Three hours later, it was the Louisville fans on the field after one of the biggest wins in school history.

No. 12 Louisville dominated No. 17 Miami 31-7 on Saturday, gaining the signature win it’s been searching for under coach Bobby Petrino even as the Cardinals (3-0) lost another Heisman Trophy hopeful to injury.

Quarterback Brian Brohm dislocated the thumb on his right (throwing) hand in the third quarter and will miss three to six weeks. He threw for 181 yards and a touchdown before giving way to backup quarterback Hunter Cantwell, who finished off the Hurricanes with 113 yards and a touchdowns pass .

“I think it just shows how deep we are and how much talent we have,” said Brohm, who expects to be back by the time the Cardinals host No. 5 West Virginia on Nov. 2. “Just to go out there on home field and put it to Miami like that, it felt good.”

Miami fell to 1-2 for the first time since 1997 and will probably find itself out of the rankings for the first time since 1999 when the new poll comes out Sunday.

“Well it was pretty obvious today we were embarrassed,” Miami coach Larry Coker said. “Our players are embarrassed. Our coaches are embarrassed. We thoroughly got whipped.”

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The Cardinals had already lost one Heisman Trophy contender for the season, when running back Michael Bush broke his leg in the season opener.

Kolby Smith, one of a committee of backs used to replace Bush, ran for two touchdowns as Louisville beat a ranked opponent from a Bowl Championship Series conference for the first time since 2002.

“They’re always saying that we can’t win the big one,” Smith said. “They’re saying that we’ve beat up on other teams, and we haven’t beat a ranked team. Miami, you take your hat off and they’re a good program, but to go out and win a game in that fashion, it says a lot about our team.”

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Miami quarterback Kyle Wright threw for 278 yards, but spent most of the second half running from a fierce Louisville pass rush that sacked him four times and harassed him countless others.

The Cardinals rallied from an early deficit to take a 10-7 lead at the half on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brohm to Mario Urrutia. They were marching again on their first drive of the third quarter when Brohm fell on his hand while scrambling away from pressure.

He came up holding his hand, and was replaced by Cantwell, who started two games for the Cardinals last season — including a Gator Bowl loss to Virginia Tech — after Brohm injured his right knee in a win over Syracuse last November.