Articles by Category
By: LARRY VAUGHT
LOUISVILLE — No matter what had happened before or during the game, Kentucky had a chance to beat Louisville here Saturday.
Forget the pregame scuffle between players that coaches and officials had to rush on the field to break up — three times. Forget the quick 13-0 lead UK got thanks to its defense and then let slip away when former Lexington Catholic star Kyle Bolin came off the bench to lead the Louisville offense after quarterback Reggie Bonnafon went down late in the first quarter.
Kentucky rattled off 13 straight points to go on top 33-28 with 9 minutes, 32 seconds to play. Louisville answered with a touchdown 94 seconds later on a 96-yard drive to regain the lead and then tacked off a field goal. But UK drove 75 yards in three plays to score on a not-to-be-denied run of 14 yards by Boom Williams for a 40-37 lead with 5:31 still to go.
It was the kind of pace the Kentucky-Louisville basketball game likely will be played at, but the Cats couldn’t hold on as Bolin led an 81-yard scoring drive to put the Cards back on top and then the Louisville defense held by picking off Patrick Towles’ fourth-down pass inside the final minute.
“There are several plays that are going to haunt,” a disappointed UK coach Mark Stoops said. “Good and bad, we had opportunities to change the game. We have to learn to make those plays.”
Louisville did even with Bolin — the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart — pressed into duty. He did throw an interception that Fred Tiller returned 40 yards for a score, but he also completed 21 of 31 passes for 381 yards and three scores. When the Cards needed a play, he made it or let Devante Parker (six catches for 180 yards and three scores) make it.
Kentucky made big plays of its own like a 30-yard interception return by A.J. Stamps, Tiller’s pick six, a blocked punt by Javess Blue in Louisville territory, a forced fumble by Bud Dupree that Za’Darius Smith recovered and another forced fumble by Dupree that Mike Douglas returned 30 yards for a score.
“It was a wild game,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, who has never lost to UK, said. “You have to give Kentucky credit because they played extremely hard. It was a great game.”
It was fun because of the emotion both teams put into the game. However, UK just could not avoid mistakes that cost it a chance to win a game when it picked off two passes, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt.
The Cats countered those defensive gems with these miscues:
— Failing to score a touchdown when they got inside the 5-yard line on the game’s second series when quarterback Patrick Towles overthrew a receiver in the end zone one play after the Cards just missed an interception that likely would have been returned for a touchdown.Fr
— Tiller fell down on coverage of Parker, Louisville’s best receiver, and gave up a 55-yard scoring pass two plays after Bolin came into the game.
— After Tiller’s interception return, redshirt offensive lineman Bunchy Stallings was penalized for running on the field. The penalty on the kickoff that was into the wind enabled the Cards to start a drive at the UK 47-yard line and score before halftime to take a 21-20 lead.
— Down 21-20 in the third quarter, the Cats had Louisville stopped when Douglas hit Bolin late out of bounds to give the Cards a first down. The next play Parker caught a 33-yard scoring strike.
— Clinging to a lead, safety Marcus McWilson had an easy interception in his hands but dropped it. The Cards scored the go-ahead touchdown right after that.
Offensively, Towles struggled most of the game and was just 14 of 29 passing for 176 yards with two interceptions. It was similar to other performances the second half of the season that were not as good as ones he had the first half of the year when UK was 5-1 before finishing with six straight losses.
“It would be unfair to put it all on him,” Stoops said. “But there are throws and plays he has to do better. It’s fair to say he was not on the money (with his throws). Plays that are there, we need to make.”
True.
Yet going forward Kentucky also has to play with the fight and energy it did here Saturday against a quality opponent and not take the beatdowns in did the second half of the season from LSU, Georgia and Tennessee. That’s what Stoops stressed to his team the last two weeks — and his players responded.
“We had to play with an edge and attitude. I challenged our guys and they responded,” Stoops said. “It’s hard to play 12 weeks at your best. We didn’t. Nine weeks we played at a level that was acceptable. I can live with the results if you are giving everything you have and know you left it on the field.”
Kentucky did that Saturday from the pregame ruckus to the final play and Stoops and his players needed that type of effort going forward in recruiting and rebuilding.
“I know we are improved,” Stoops said.
But just not enough to beat Louisville or get to a bowl game.
KSR Twitter Feed
vBulletin Message