By Tyler Bright and Derek DeBurger

The Louisville Cardinals faced off against the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes in a thrilling shootout, and looked to hold onto Howard Schnellenberger’s boots after last year’s thriller in the Orange Bowl.

Expectations vs. reality

Louisville was the first to receive the ball, and promptly went three-and-out. After punting the ball away, Miami marched down the field on a 12-play drive and struck first with a 55-yard field goal by Andres Borregales.

But Louisville responded quickly, once again going three-and-out but the third play was Isaac Brown braking free for a 43-yard touchdown run, giving the Cardinals a brief 7-3 lead.

Miami answered almost immediately with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Cam Ward to Jacolby George, making it 7-10.

After another Louisville punt, Ward extended the Hurricanes’ lead early in the second quarter with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Samuel Brown.

Louisville, desperately needing to kept pace with the Ward’s high-flying offense, composed a nine-play drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Shough to Mark Redman, cutting the deficit to 17-14. During this drive, Louisville only faced one third-down and had no trouble converting.

After forcing Miami to punt, Caullin Lacy had a nice return to give the Cards nice starting position. However, a holding-flag thrown after the play was over, forcing the Cards to start their drive at the three-yard line. Needing some breathing room, Brown took a handoff, but got the ball stripped from him and Miami recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The deficit grew to 14-24.

On their next drive, Louisville drove down the field and got stopped, setting up a Brock Travelstead try, but Travelstead missed the kick, leaving the Cards empty-handed.

Louisville forced a three-and-out, and were able to maintain their timeouts. After getting the ball back, Travelstead got another try from a closer distance, and made up for his earlier error.

Louisville was down 17-24 going into the half.

Offensive explosion

After being a fantastic second-half-defense all season long, Louisville allowed Miami to start the half by driving 75 yards on 14 plays in six-and-a-half minutes, capped off with Ward’s nine-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Restrepo.

With the energy in the crowd low, Caullin Lacy returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. After forcing a fumble on the first play of Miami’s next drive, Louisville took only three plays to tie the game at 31-31 with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Corey Brooks. The entire sequence took only 88 seconds.

Miami kept the good times going with a massive 63-yard bomb assisted by a no-call on an offensive hold. One play later, Miami reclaimed the lead with Ward’s fourth passing touchdown of the day.

Louisville ended the third quarter and began the fourth by methodically marching down the field in 13 plays, yet again tying the game at 38-38 with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Duke Watson. The drive consisted of two fourth-down conversions on seven yards or longer, one of which was a fake punt by Duane Martin, showing Jeff Brohm’s urgency to keep up with the Canes.

Miami didn’t get the memo that the Cards wanted to slow things down, as the Canes scored in just four plays to once again capture a seven-point lead.

Louisville went four-and-out on their next drive, and only then did Miami decide to kill the clock. Miami slowed down their up-tempo game plan, but a fumble from Ward was recovered and taken back for a touchdown to tie the game back up, and give the Cardinals life.

But after a referee review, it was determined that Ward’s arm was moving forward, and The Canes continued their 11-play drive to pound the ball on the ground for six minutes, culminating in a touchdown run to give Miami a 38-52 lead.

Shough made a late push, connecting with Brooks for his own fourth touchdown pass, and cutting the deficit back down to seven. Louisville would need an onside kick to keep them in the game, but failed to get a player near the ball before Miami recovered.

Louisville would lose 45-52.

Louisville’s Struggles Continue

Shough threw for 342 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in what was likely his best performance in a Cardinals uniform, orchestrating the offense to near perfection.

Unfortunately, perfection was what the Cards needed, as the Hurricanes amassed 538 total yards. Louisville was able to clean up some of their penalty issues, but their corners got picked on by Ward.

This game was an unfortunate example of one step forward and one step back, as the Cards are now essentially eliminated from playoff and ACC championship contention.

Louisville is now 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in the ACC. They will look to rebound against Boston College for some Friday night lights.

Photo by Vinny Porco