By Andrew Krumme
Louisville’s 41-17 knock off of Syracuse last Saturday must’ve impressed the Gator Bowl representative who was in the stands.
Today, the Cards were extended an invitation to the Jan. 2 bowl game in which the team will face the Atlantic Coast Conference champion í- Florida State or Virginia Tech í- in Alltell Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
“We’re excited and proud to accept an invitation to the Toyota Gator Bowl on a traditional New Year’s Day bowl date,” said U of L Vice President for Athletics Tom Jurich.
U of L Head Football Coach Bobby Petrino was excited about the invitation as well. “The Gator Bowl has an incredible history of putting on a first class game,” he said. “I’m pleased for our players who have put in a tremendous amount of hard work.”
It was hard work in games like the win over Syracuse that Petrino referenced.
In that contest last Saturday, the Cards battled hard against the Orange at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium until a couple of late fourth-quarter touchdowns sealed Louisville’s win.
Running backs George Stripling, a redshirt freshman, and Kolby Smith, a junior, combined for 233 yards on the ground, while back-up quarterback Hunter Cantwell came in for sophomore quarterback Brian Brohm who was was carried off the field with what was reported to be a sprained right knee at the end of the third quarter. Cantwell led the Cards on three scoring drives.
Louisville opened the game up with a defensive stop against the Orange and then scored on its second play from the line of scrimmage with a 60-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Brian Brohm to senior wide receiver Montrell Jones.
“I guess it was a breakdown in coverage. I just ran my route hard like I always do. Brian just made the right read and saw me,” Jones said. “That was all she wrote; it was a touchdown.”
With that quick score, it looked as if the Cards were going to roll over Syracuse and throw up another remarkable scoring output.
But the Orange responded with a six-play drive to even the score.
“The first touchdown pass, they caught us in something. Give them credit,” said Syracuse Head Coach Greg Robinson. “They picked it up, we were pressuring them and they hit one. But our offense came right back and responded to make it a 7-7 ball game.”
The Cards’ offense then hit a snag as Brohm’s pass on third and six was picked off by the Orange’s Kellen Pruitt. The interception was Brohm’s first among about 115 attempts.
The Cards’ defense responded, soon forcing the Orange to a punt.
Despite the stop, Louisville corner back Rod Council, a redshirt freshman, fumbled the ensuing punt. Syracuse fell on it, but could only muster up 9 yards on the next possession and had to settle for a 33-yard field goal to go up 10-7.
Louisville responded with an 11-play, 73-yard drive ending with a 9-yard run by Smith for a touchdown pushing the Cards’ lead to 14-10. Louisville led the rest of the game.
The Cards struck again with a little over 10 minutes left in the first half, moving farther ahead 21-10. The running of Smith and Stripling marched the Cardinal offense down the field where Brohm again hooked up with Jones for a 19-yard touchdown catch. Playing in his last game at home, Louisville native Jones finished the contest with a game-high 118 yards receiving on six catches.
Louisville held its 11-point lead at the half.
Still, the Cards were far from finished. They opened the second half with another long push: this time, a 13-play drive ending in a 23-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Arthur Carmody.
The two teams traded defensive stops through the rest of the quarter, with the exception of Syracuse running back Paul Chiara’s 24-yard scamper to knock his team’s deficit to just 24-17 and draw the Orange within a touchdown of Louisville.
Syracuse’s drive started with Kelvin Smith picking off Brohm for the second time in the game, giving the Orange another short field to work with. Perry Patterson hooked up with Rice Moss and Bruce Williams for a couple big pass plays to put Chiara in position for his touchdown run.
With just a touchdown’s lead at the end of the third quarter, the Cards looked on in angst when Brohm went down.
“Obviously, I’m worried about the health of Brian Brohm.” said Petrino. Brohm underwent an MRI test yesterday to determine the extent of his injury.
Red-shirt freshman Hunter Cantwell took Brohm’s spot and led the Cards to 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.
With Brohm going down at the end of the third, Petrino’s defense had to step up if Louisville had any hope of squeaking this one out. And they did just that, shutting out the Orange in the fourth.
In his last game at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium senior defensive lineman Montavious Stanley realized the importance of the defense’s play in the final minutes of the game, especially after the loss of Brohm.
“[Brohm] is a big part of our team, not only offensively, but defensively,” Stanley said. “When he went down, it was like a burden on our back as a unit and as a program. We had to pick it up. I saw everybody step up their game.”
Louisville’s win pushes the team’s record to 8-2 for the season.
“That was a good win for us,” Petrino said. “It was a lot harder than we probably anticipated.”
The Cards now must shift their focus to next week away game at UConn, a team with an inconsistent track record for the season.
“We’ve got to make sure that we’re mentally prepared for that game – not just for what UConn will do on offense and defense, but also for the physical side with the wind and cold,” Petrino said.
Managing Editor Chris Brown contributed to this story.
