The word for the day was ridiculous. Jeff Brohm used it liberally and disdainfully, describing touchdown runs made untouched and penalties incurred through emotions left unchecked.
The University of Louisvilles head football coach was reacquainted with his alma maters arch rivalry Saturday afternoon with grating, gnawing, sleepless-night exasperation. Kentucky rallied twice from 10-point deficits to earn its fifth straight Governors Cup victory, 38-31, and the best thing that could be said about it from a UofL standpoint is that the Cardinals may be too busy to brood, having qualified for next Saturdays Atlantic Coast Conference championship game against Florida State.
But there was no disguising their disgust and no point in pretending their pain would soon pass.
This is my third year at Louisville, and I havent beat Kentucky yet, Louisville linebacker Ben Perry said. And knowing what we have now the weapons we have now, I feel like we should have finished. We aint finish today and its going to be on my mind ’til next year.
In a little more than 11 minutes of game clock, spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, UofL squandered a 17-7 lead by allowing Kentuckys Barion Brown to return a kickoff 100 yards, permitting a two-play touchdown drive that lasted only 59 seconds, and facilitating two more UK scoring drives with lost fumbles on successive possessions.
In 11 previous games, all but one of them victories, Louisville had lost only three fumbles. In losing five of its last six games, Kentucky had averaged a double-digit defeat while being outscored, 191-120. Yet despite the significant disparities in their trend lines, and the payback anticipated by a record L&N Stadium crowd of 59,225, the ridiculous succeeded in seizing the day from the sublime.
This hurts more than the others, Brohm said. We wanted to win this game, we put a lot of emphasis on it. I give Kentucky credit. They came in here and beat us. Congrats to them. We didnt do a good enough job, and, yeah, it stinks.
A year from now, when the College Football Playoff expands from four to 12 teams, a second loss to an unranked opponent might cost Louisville a berth in the championship bracket. The stakes are surely lower now. Though beating Florida State would ensure UofL a spot in the Orange Bowl, losing the ACC Championship might not keep the Cards from spending New Years in Miami if the Seminoles are selected for the playoff.
Still, the psychic cost could be considerable. Losing to Kentucky for the fifth straight time means continued condescension from Wildcat fans and players. It could embolden more comments such as those made in advance of Saturdays game by UK defensive tackle Deone Walker, who called Louisville fans snobbish and its players entitled. It leaves a taint on a 10-win season enhanced by a comparatively soft schedule.
To be quite honest, I think the last three games on defense have been subpar, Brohm said, and we need to do better than that. So it will start with me and our coaches first. We need to have a better plan. I think thats the main culprit there needs to be a better plan put in place to make sure it doesnt happen and you give up 100-yard rushers and 300-yard passers and a ton of points in three straight games. . .
Sometimes when youre doing something, there has to be a little change here and there. There has to be something they havent seen. You cant just run the same thing every week against really good opponents. Theres got to be some creativity and some coaching going on, so we need to make sure we do that.
Though its hard not to read that statement as an indictment of UofLs co-defensive coordinators, Ron English and Mark Hagen, reading too much into what a coach says in the immediate aftermath of a crushing disappointment is generally unwise. And sometimes ridiculous.
This article appears in November 21, 2023.
