LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Despite having lost their last four games against Kentucky, there was real hope that the Louisville football team could win again this season against their archrival. It’s one thing that the two teams were going in opposite directions, with the No. 9/10 Cardinals going 10-1 with four straight wins and the Wildcats going 6-5 and losing five of their last six. Furthermore, their new head coach, Jeff Brohm, had struck a different tone than his predecessor when it came to the significance of the rivalry and what it meant to him.
All of that positive momentum, however, came to a halt on Saturday at L&N Stadium. Despite being a two-touchdown favorite, Louisville’s losing streak to Kentucky was extended by a 38-31 upset loss. The Cardinals’ five consecutive losses to the Wildcats are the most since the rivalry was revived in 1994. Following that, Brohm did not hold back in expressing his dissatisfaction with the outcome.
“We didn’t do enough to win,” he admitted afterward. “It was a heartbreaking defeat. That is entirely our fault. Every loss is discouraging. This is disheartening. I thought we held our own in the first half.
. We came out in the second half, took it down and scored, and then gave up an untouched kickoff, which is absurd. Then take it down, score again, and give up two wide open wheel routes. A two-play drive is absurd. “We’re allowing far too many big plays on defense.” Special teams must become more consistent. We can’t afford to have two costly fumbles on offense. So, if you do those things, you will not win. So they deserved to win, not us.” Louisville outgained Kentucky in total offensive yardage, 403 to 289, and led by as much as 17-7 just minutes into the third quarter.
However, a slew of errors in the second half proved to be their undoing.
Kentucky immediately responded with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, bringing the score back to one. Louisville briefly tied the game at two after responding with a touchdown of their own, but the Wildcats needed only two plays to march into the end zone. Back-to-back fumbles by the Cardinals then allowed UK to score 10 unanswered points.
Brohm accepted responsibility for many of his team’s errors during this game. Having said that, he also called the number of missed assignments in the third quarter and second half overall – on offense, defense, and special teams – “ridiculous.”
However, a slew of errors in the second half proved costly.
Kentucky responded immediately with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, bringing the score back to one. Louisville briefly tied the game at two after responding with a touchdown of their own, but the Wildcats marched into the end zone in only two plays. The Cardinals then fumbled back-to-back times, allowing UK to score 10 unanswered points.
Brohm accepted blame for many of his team’s mistakes during this game. Having said that, he also called the number of missed assignments on offense, defense, and special teams in the third quarter and second half “ridiculous.”
“There could have been some coaching things we could have done better.” As I look at it, there are a lot of things that need to be corrected and fixed. So I’m not going to blame everything on the players. I believe we need to improve our coaching and put our players in better positions to make those plays.”
Louisville had a chance even after the third-quarter gaffes. Following an opportunistic interception, the Cardinals tied the game with 2:33 remaining on a fourth-down touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Plummer to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce.
Having said that, overtime was not in the cards. On the next drive, Kentucky used several big plays to get down the field and retook the lead with 1:10 remaining on a 37-yard rushing touchdown by Ray Davis. Louisville was unable to respond, and Kentucky went on to win the game by scoring 24 of the final 31 points.
“He was untouched, which is ridiculous,” Brohm said of Louisville’s defensive efforts on Davis’ game-winning score. “We wanted to move him back because they were nearly in field goal range.” We had called an all-out blitz, and someone didn’t close their gap, allowing him to sneak through. That can happen when you’re blitzing and hoping for a negative play. However, if just one person does
Brohm praises his team for their ability to stay in the game and fight until the bitter end. But, in the end, he was disappointed by the number of errors Louisville made, whether they were turnovers, missed coverage, or something else. “The fact of the matter is we just gave up too many big plays,” he told reporters. “You can’t afford to give up that many big plays.” You can’t afford to give up big plays on special teams. It’s not going to happen, and the two turnovers were costly.
So if you add those things up, you’ll lose by seven points, just like we did. I like our team; I believe they want to win, and we’ll just have to learn from all of the mistakes we made today and try not to repeat them as much as possible.”
Even though a fifth consecutive loss to Kentucky hurts both Brohm and his players, Louisville’s season is far from over. The Cardinals will still travel to Charlotte for the ACC Championship Game against Florida State next weekend, and they will almost certainly play in a New Year’s Six bowl game after that.
But Brohm understands that if Louisville continues to play like they did against Kentucky, their final two games will not go as planned. “We have to look in the mirror, man up, and work hard to fix it because we have a top-four opponent next week down in Charlotte.” We’re going to have to play a lot more efficient football if we want to stay in the game.”
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