Louisville Blogs

John Calipari and Rick Pitino sit down with Jim Rome in their best wind suits.

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I’m going to make this recap quick because you guys are going nuts with $12 t-shirts. Which I’m not mad at. Just a reminder, all of our shirts are on sale through Monday for just $12 when you use the promo code “MUCHLOVE”.

Please ignore all typos because my fingers go faster than my brain sometimes.

Wow. What a game. If the UK/U of L game wants to be like that every single year, I’m down. It really had the feel of a game that was going to go seven overtimes and last six-plus hours. But, in the end it only took Louisville 60 minutes to beat Kentucky, 44-40. The game did last almost four hours though.

Going into the game, I thought the story would be Louisville’s ability to just run it down Kentucky’s throat. Didn’t happen. Louisville managed just 83 yards on the ground. In Kentucky’s last five games, these are the numbers they gave up on the ground: 214, 305, 156, 326, and 303.

For Kentucky to have a chance, they had to limit the Cards’ rushing attack. They did just that. And they did have a chance.

Here are some quick hitters on the game.

UK dominated the first quarter, but couldn’t get into the end zone and managed just six points. That ended up being huge.

UK’s up 13-0. Reggie Bonnafon gets hurt early in the second quarter. It’s third and seven. Enter redshirt freshman and Lexington native Kyle Bolin. Things appear to be in a tailspin for the Cards. Bolin then hits Eli Rogers to his right for ten yards and a first down. The next play Bolin stands in the pocket, takes a monster hit from Bud Dupree and find DeVante Parker streaking down the sideline after he beat Fred Tiller. Just like that it’s 13-7. And Bolin has confidence. Tailspin avoided.

From that point on the game was pretty much back and forth.

Wow, was Bolin good. I know he made two critical turnovers that led directly to UK points, but still. He finished the game 21-for-31 for 381 yards, three touchdowns and a pick.

Speaking of good, how good is DeVante Parker? The kid is a difference maker. He gives you the option as a QB to just loft it up anytime the defense brings pressure and Bolin took advantage of that. He just goes up and makes plays. Then he’s impossible to tackle. And for a team like UK that struggles to tackle anyways, tackling a guy like Parker is near impossible.

For UK, two guys stood out because of their good play. Boom Williams. How has he not been UK’s featured back for at least the last eight games. The true freshman is an absolute stood. UK’s best offense was getting him outside. Yet, they didn’t continuously do that. His touchdown late in the fourth quarter that gave Kentucky a 40-37 lead was an absolute man’s run.

Bud Dupree. It appeared that he was in on every single play. The Bolin fumble that was scooped up by Mike Douglas. That was Dupree. He was already going to be a decent NFL draft pick, but man he made himself a lot of money on Saturday afternoon.

Mike Douglas. Yeah, he made up for it a bit with his scoop and score, but his personal foul early in the third quarter was straight ignorant. Bolin was a good two steps out of bounds. They were going to punt. Instead you give them a free first down. Next play Bolin hits Parker for a 33 yard touchdown to give the Cards a 28-20 lead.

I didn’t get either teams’ play calls. I thought Louisville should have focused on the run more. Even though they still racked up 44 points and 472 yards.

Kentucky’s offense was putrid. It really reminded me of the Missouri game where UK’s defense kept them in the game, but their O’s couldn’t do anything. The O’s were a little more effective against U of L, but I still don’t get a lot of the things they do. They look down field never. I don’t know if Neal Brown is a bad coordinator or if he just has zero confidence in Towles and the UK offensive line. But, be more creative. Try to go down field.

And Towles looked lost, but the one thing he can do, when protected, is make throws down field. His throw to Joey Herrick for 42 yards early in the fourth quarter on 3rd and sixth was perfect. On that play, U of L only brought three guys. I didn’t get that. When pressured, Towles has happier feet than Julianne Hough.

After the Douglas fumble touchdown that put UK up 33-28, the Cards started at their own four. It was third and ten from their own four. Then Bolin found James Quick streaking the sideline in between the safety and the corner for 29 yards and a first down. Four plays later he hit Parker on the same play down the left sideline for 45 yards and a touchdown and a 34-33 lead.

Bolin just made plays when he had to and knew to rely on Parker.

In the end, it was too easy for Louisville to score and for UK it was like pulling teeth.

The play that really summed up the game for me was the second down call with just about a minute to go and UK trailing 44-40. It’s second and ten. You have two timeouts. And they run a QB draw. I’ve been a critic of their commitment to run Towles all year. But right there? With a minute to go? You’re running? A joke. I’ll have fun with that tomorrow on ESPN 680.

In the end, the game was fun. I thought Kentucky competed. I think that surprised Louisville a little bit. UK’s defense, which has been putrid, was a little less than putrid and kept the Cats in the game. Bolin was unreal, which was totally unexpected. Parker was unreal, which was expected.

The better team won.

Nick Curran and I will break down this game on ESPN 680 tomorrow from 10 to noon.

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ESPN’s ACC reporter Andrea Adelson and SEC reporter Greg Ostendorf broke down the UK at U of L game. You can check out their entire preview by clicking here.

Here’s a look at their keys to victory.

Key to victory for Kentucky: Quarterback Patrick Towles threw for at least 200 yards and a touchdown in six of Kentucky’s first eight games. The Wildcats were 5-3 during that stretch. In his last three games — all losses — Towles has failed to surpass 200 yards, and he’s thrown more interceptions (three) than touchdowns (two).

While Towles and the UK offense does need to play better for the Cats to win, the key to a UK victory is their defense actually making some tackles and getting some stops. If their defense resembles the defense we have seen the last couple of games, it doesn’t mater how well Towles moves the football, the Cats aren’t winning.

Key to victory for Louisville: Establish the run. Louisville is most effective offensively when its ground game and pass game are working in concert. In two of their three losses this season, the Cards failed to gain 100 yards rushing.

Sounds like a good place to start for the Cards. Michael Dyer is healthy and Brandon Radcliff is coming off of a stellar second half at Notre Dame. The key to their win over the Irish was their success on the ground. They rushed for 229 yards as a team and really took the pressure off of true freshman quarterback Reggie Bonnafon. Oh, and here are the rushing yards that Kentucky has allowed in their five consecutive losses (Tennessee-214, Georgia-305, Mizzouri-156, Mississippi State-326, LSU-303). Yeah, I’d focus on the ground game if I were the Cards.

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When they first announced that this season’s UK/UofL football game would be played at the end of the year, I quickly rejected all of the complaints. Most of the complaints pointed towards the fact that they liked it being the first game. I quickly bounced back by saying that I liked it as the first game too, but it’s only the first game 50-percent of the time. The other 50-percent you get the game after both teams have played the likes of Ohio or Murray State to start the year.

The first game is great, but the first game every other year is not. At least now, we knew that the game was going to be played last every single year.

Then I looked at the other possible positives. What if you get to the last game of the year and one team is playing for a BCS bowl and needs a win to get there? What if one team has five wins and needs to beat their biggest rival to get to a bowl?

If these things happened, it would be nuts right?

We inch closer and closer to Saturday and both of those scenarios are exactly the case. But, nuts it is not.

The anticipation feels different than it has in years’ past.

And maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the anticipation is there. Maybe football fans in this state are pumped.

But, I just don’t feel that right now.

A lot of the lack of anticipation may have something to do with the fact that basketball has started, which was something a lot of critics pointed towards when the new game date was announced.

Maybe it’s because we didn’t have all summer, while basketball was dormant for the most part, to debate this game. Even when it was the third game, something I hated, Cards and Cats fans could still fight it out all summer.

But, let me tell you the real reason why. It’s because Kentucky’s season has spiraled out of control. It’s because Louisville is going in completely the other direction.

And we know this because we have seen them play a whole season. And because we have seen them play, not many think this is going to be much of a game.

This is a brand new element to the whole UK/U of L football rivalry. For the first time we have evidence of how good these teams are.

After starting 5-1, Kentucky has lost fives traight. In those five games, the Wildcats have lost a combined 219-91. That’s an average loss of 37-15. And it’s gotten even worse the last two games. Georgia and Tennessee combined to beat Kentucky 113-47. Georgia put up 559 yards. Tennessee put up 511 yards.

At times they looked more interested watching their opponent dance in the end zone after a score then simply making one tackle.

They were awful. They looked spent. They were physically and mentally drained after eight straight weeks of football and six straight weeks of losses. All the while that elusive sixth win dangled right there in front of them.

The Cards on the other hand are rolling. DeVante Parker and Michael Dyer are healthy and the offense is clicking like it hasn’t all year. The defense continues to cause havoc. And Louisville is coming off of a road win at Notre Dame that many are calling the biggest win away from Louisville in the program’s history.

The Cards brought in Bobby Petrino to assure that their program didn’t skip a beat. And that is exactly what has happened. They enter Saturday with an 8-3 record and a win over the ‘Cats puts them in position for a possible trip to the Orange Bowl.

If you look at this game simply by the records, the hype should be there. Heck, the hype should be greater than it’s ever been before.

Kentucky is playing Louisville for a chance to go to a bowl. Louisville is playing Kentucky for a chance to go to the Orange Bowl.

But, you can’t just look at the records. You have to look at the trends. And these two teams are trending in different directions. If they continue in those directions, the game on Saturday will be a laugher.

And that is why it seems that the interest isn’t the same as it has been in the past.

But, I still believe that this move can be good for the rivalry. Louisville is where they need to be and will continue on that path with Petrino. Despite their recent rough stretch, I still believe that Kentucky is heading in the right direction. Mark Stoops will continue to improve this team’s talent and overall play.

When Stoops gets them there, they can make this football game matter in a basketball-crazed state.

This can become a game that is not only relevant in the state of Kentucky, but across the nation.

I really believe that.

But, this is now. The Cats aren’t playing well. The Cards are.

And that is why the feel is different.

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