LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Nobody said it would be easy. Technically, before this season, no one had said anything about the Louisville football team’s appearance in the ACC championship game.
This is the same Louisville team that was picked to finish eighth in the conference.
On Thursday night, the Cardinals beat Virginia 31-24 to improve to 9-1, 6-1 in ACC play.
Mathematically speaking, they can now do nothing worse than a tie for second place. Depending on what happens this weekend, the Cardinals may have punched their ticket to the Dec. 2 conference championship game against Florida State on Thursday night.
Otherwise, they may have to finish their work in Miami a week from Saturday. There are still several tiebreaker scenarios in which they could lose.
Regardless, it’s remarkable that Louisville is in this position under first-year coach Jeff Brohm — and not just because it lost all momentum after a 42 fumble return touchdown yards by Virginia.
The Cavaliers led 21:14 in the quarterfinals. It had been one of those bad quarters, of which Louisville had three more Thursday night.
The second quarter against Georgia Tech (28 points allowed).
The third quarter against Indiana (14 points allowed) and the third quarter at Pittsburgh (17 points allowed).
In total, those four quarters (including Thursday’s third quarter) account for 47 percent of the points Louisville has given up all season.
And they represent deep trenches for Louisville’s offense.
This game seemed more or less in hand, then UVa scored 14 points in 10 seconds: a 1-yard touchdown run by Jack Griese with 4:15 left in the third quarter and a pick-six by Kam Robinson with 4:05 left in the third quarter. the end.
Just over three minutes later, Virginia scored its third straight touchdown on a fumble return touchdown to take a 21-14 lead.
Such a change of destiny can make you dizzy.
But this Louisville team, which had come back once before, pulled through.
Or maybe it made him dance. The fourth quarter came, “The Joker and The Thief” played on PA Stadium. Louisville players jumped and danced like they usually do.
The 44,628 spectators at L&N Stadium roared, and if there was any magic (perhaps in the second losing draw of the season), it was shattered.
There were big plays on defense. A dismissal of Ashton Gillotte. A hit pass from Mason Reiger.
And a passing play gone awry finally tied things up — a 52-yard touchdown pass from Jack Plummer to Ahmari Huggins-Bruce tied the game at 21.
Next up was Louisville’s running game, which had carried body shots all night, finally scored when Isaac Gurrendo broke through the line and rumbled 73 yards for the winning score.
Louisville has outscored its opponents 73-30 in the fourth quarter this season. They outscored them 76-7 in the first quarter.
As Gurendo crossed the goal line for the kickoff, he reared up and pulled the ball hard, immediately earning him a 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff.
A personal foul by Virginia on the extra point attempt negated her foul.
“They had breaks,” Brohm said. “But I’m sure we also had breaks in the last few weeks. They took advantage of it. We knew we had to keep fighting and play until the end.”
The transfer portal is about talent acquisition. What we cannot predict is whether this set of actors will integrate and whether they will demonstrate resilience. These things are the product of coaching.
The winning touchdown was well executed, yes. A good – but not perfect – pass from Plummer. A well-run route from Huggins-Bruce.
The ball was thrown underhand. He had to wait a bit, but he was so open based on the play call that it didn’t matter. This is an example of coaches and players working together to make a difference.
“Everything won’t always go perfectly,” Brohm said. “Not everything will be exactly as you designed it.
Some days some guys will do multiple shows. Some days another guy will do more shows. You just have to persevere and play together.
These guys stuck together. We had some close games that we could have easily lost. I wouldn’t be sitting here in the great position we’re in. But we found a way to win.
Hats off to our coaches and players because they did enough to win the game. You go back, circle the wagons, figure out how to improve and fix things.
We did this every week. We are not afraid when it comes to recognizing the mistakes we make and figuring out how we can improve. So we’re going to start again.
I think our team should take advantage of this and take a mental break because, like I said, we end the season with two really tough opponents where we need to be more efficient and play better to win.
Louisville now finds itself in a strange situation. With two games remaining, he has already exceeded season expectations.
But Miami is pursuing a fundamental program goal: an appearance in the ACC championship game. And at home against Kentucky, he has a moving goal: ending Kentucky’s recent dominance in the football series.
However, we must not forget that this team put itself in a position to make these games so valuable.
I don’t think anyone does. When the next home game is at Kentucky, the chant of “Beat UK” will usually echo through the stadium after a victory.
Nothing was heard Thursday evening. With bigger goals in sight, the Louisville fan base also remains in the moment.
Louisville moves to 11th in AP poll after beating Virginia Tech.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The University of Louisville moved up four spots in the latest Associated Press Top 25, released Sunday.
After beating Virginia Tech 34-3 at L&N Stadium on Saturday, Louisville (8-1) moved to No. 11 in the AP poll.
The Cardinals sit alone in second place in the ACC with a 5-1 conference record.
Louisville can clinch a spot in the ACC championship game with a win over Virginia on Thursday night, followed by a Duke win over North Carolina this weekend.
The ACC has three teams ranked No. 4 in the poll, including No. 4 Florida State (9-0), No. 11 Louisville and No. 24 North Carolina (7- 2). Southern California was eliminated from the Associated Press college football poll for the first time Sunday under coach Lincoln Riley and No. 15 Oklahoma State jumped in the rankings for the first time this year.
The top nine teams in the Top 25 retained their places, led by No. 1 Georgia.
The Bulldogs now have the second-longest streak atop the poll, at 21 consecutive weeks, dating back to the middle of last season.
The last time the top nine teams in the poll remained unchanged this late in the season was November 19, 2017. AP Top 25: College football poll
1. Georgia: 9-0
2.Michigan: 9-0
3. Ohio St.: 9-0
4. Florida Street: 9-0
5. Washington : 9-0
6. Oregon : 8-1
7.Texas : 8-1
8. Alabama : 8-1
9. Penn St. : 8-1
dix. Mississippi: 8-1
11. Louisville: 8-1
12. Oregon Street: 7-2
13. Utah: 7-2
14. Tennessee: 7-2
15. Oklahoma Street: 7-2
16.Missouri: 7-2
17. Oklahoma: 7-2
18.LSU: 6-3
19.Kansas: 7-2
20. Tulane: 8-1
21. James Madison: 9-0
22. Notre Dame: 7-3
23. Arizona: 6-3
24. North Carolina: 7-2
25. Freedom: 9-0
