Still feeling fortunate for the University of Louisville football team to have escaped Charlottesville with a 32-25 cliffhanger over Virginia. Too easy to take teams for granted during an otherwise great campaign, potentially sending the season into the weeds.
There’s a reason the Las Vegas oddsmakers rarely forecast 20-point wins for favorites because margins of victory are inevitably tighter. Yet there they were, predicting UofL to beat Virginia by 30 points. Predicting a 30-point romp on the road no less.
Were the Cardinals taking the Cavaliers seriously? Never doubt that the players don’t feed off the expectations of their fans. The Cavaliers, having won only two of their first seven games under new coach Bronco Mendenhall, knowing UofL was taking them lightly.
Mendenhall, arriving at VU by way of Brigham Young where he compiled a 99-43 record over 11 season, changing Bobby Petrino’s script at the coin toss, opting to put his team on offense to start the game. The game would have an odd, off-kilter, feeling from the get-go.
James Quick, wide open, no one in front of him on UofL’s first offensive play, unable to pull down a 45-yard pass from Lamar Jackson on his team’s second play from scrimmage. Two plays later, same actors, this one on the tips of Quick’s finger tips, the ball landing on the turf again. And again on a quick outlet pass on the next series of downs.
Petrino jerking off the headphones, glaring. No opening strikes this game, no early haymakers putting away a team that was supposed to roll over. UofL wants to score quickly, forcing the other team to play from behind. Let a bad team hang around and bad things can happen.
The Quick drops getting Jackson off to a slow start in a game in which he would be sacked five different times. He would complete only 24 of 41 passing attempts, but still account for 361 yards through the air. He would put up 90 rushing yards.
All of Louisville’s four touchdowns coming on Jackson passes — a 15-yarder to Jamari Staples in the first quarter, an eight-yarder to Reggie Bonnafon in the third, a 10-yarder to Bonnafon in the fourth, and the game-clincher, the 29-yarder to Jaylen Smith.
Jackson and company can thank Jaire Alexander for a couple of key interceptions. His first stopping a Virginia drive and a sure touchdown, coming on Louisville’s 5-yard line in second quarter, the second in the fourth quarter with Alexander returning the ball 25 yards to the Virginia 12, setting up Bonnafon’s second touchdown.
Painfully close to a second loss, with Virginia going for a two-point conversion, taking the lead with less than two minutes remaining. A timely reminder to respect every opponent, with the Cardinals headed to the Northeast to take on a Boston College team that everybody wrote off before the season even started.
UofL is an early 24.5-point favorite over BC. Game on the road at Boston College, with a highly-motivated quarterback named Patrick Towles (formerly at the University of Kentucky). What could go wrong?