By Derek DeBurger

Louisville started their 2025 campaign off right by boat racing the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

Midseason form

Louisville received the opening kickoff and proceeded to slowly move the ball down the field. The Cards offense then exploded, getting four straight gains of 17 yards or more culminating in a 31-yard rushing touchdown from Isaac Brown.

Then after forcing a three-and-out on EKU’s first drive, Caullin Lacy took the punt 93 yards to the house.

Lacy’s touchdown was the longest punt return for the Cards since 1970.

After forcing yet another three-and-out, Lacy got a huge 32-yard catch to start the next drive. Miller Moss then drove Louisville into the redzone before scrambling for an eight-yard touchdown.

Moss’s first score in a Louisville jersey brought the lead to 21-0.

The Colonels didn’t pick up a first down until the second quarter, but it was all for naught as the Cards once again forced a punt.

It then took just three plays for Louisville to score again, with Brown going 68 yards for his second touchdown of the day.

After yet another three-and out, Lacy took the punt 31 yards to give the offense great field position. One play later Moss hit Duke Watson in the endzone for a 30-yard score, taking the lead to 35-0.

Another three-and-out gave the Cards the ball once again. And in spite of several penalties negating big plays, Moss picked apart the EKU defense. Down to just the one-yard line, Keyjuan Brown took a handoff and barreled into the endzone for another Louisville score.

But the missed extra point only brought the score to 41-0.

After failing to get a first down again, Louisville got the ball right back. But an overthrown pass from Moss tipped off of TreyShun Hurry’s hands and into Vito Tisdale’s for an uncontested pick six.

On the very next drive Moss threw a great ball down the sideline, but it was bobbled and fell into the hands of another Colonel defender for a second interception.

Louisville led 41-7 at halftime.

Call off the birds

As expected, Louisville went into the second half with their starters on the bench, but the second-string defense still looked fierce.

Brady Allen got the start at QB in the third quarter. He looked good for the most part, making good decisions an throwing a great 31-yard touchdown to Kris Hughes.

But he had a couple of inaccurate passes and one horrendous throw that resulted in an interception right at the end of the quarter.

The pick turned into points on the other end as the Colonels scored their only offensive touchdown of the game on a two-yard rush.

Deuce Adams was at the helm in the fourth. He looked solid as well, showing his duel threat ability.

He threw what would have been a touchdown, but it was dropped in the endzone forcing a field goal.

Louisville gave up one more score, but still dominated 51-17.

Good with the bad

The big picture is that Louisville’s first-string looked great.

Isaac Brown had 126 yards on just six carries for a mind-blowing average of 21 yards per rush.

Moss threw for 223 yards, and even with the several dropped passes he had a solid completion rate of 17-of-25 (68%).

What was somewhat shocking was how great the defense looked.

The front seven was disruptive, with Clev Lubin getting two sacks and AJ Green recording another.

The defensive starters only gave up one first down in their time on the field.

The concerning part was the penalties.

Louisville was flagged for 12 penalties for 106 yards. Against most competition, that is a damning statistic.

The bright side is that the penalties were little things here and there, nothing stupid. As long as Jeff Brohm and the coaching staff clean these up, it’s nothing too serious to worry about.

For now, Louisville is 1-0 on the young season.

Photo by Vinny Porco