By Jesse Welte

Brian Brohm, starting his first game since injuring his thumb versus Miami, looked impressive throwing for 324 yards and a touchdown. However, the Louisville Cardinals’ defense was the key in a 23-17 win over Big East foe Cincinnati.

“It all came down to the defense,” said defensive back, Gavin Smart. “It was a little tense, but games like this will only help us down the road.”

Smart, the smallest defender on Louisville’s team, came up huge, knocking down UC quarterback Dustin Grutza’s fourth down pass in the corner of the end zone with three seconds left to secure the win for the Cards.

After a sloppy first quarter, Louisville trailed Cincinnati 3-0. The Cards’ Patrick Carter fumbled a punt at his own 12 yard line which was recovered by UC. The defense held the Bearcats to a 23-yard field goal by Brian Steele. On the next drive, running back George Stripling coughed up the ball at his own 22 for Louisville’s second of three fumbles on the day. The Louisville defense held tough, escaping when Kevin Lovell missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

After Art Carmody’s second quarter field goal tied the game at three, Grutza marched the Bearcat offense down the field on a 17-play, 78-yard drive capped off with an eight yard touchdown pass to Brent Celek. The drive lasted 7:52 as the Bearcats converted five straight third downs.

Another Carmody field goal cut the lead to 10-6. With less than three minutes to go in the half, Latarrius Thomas recovered a Grutza fumble. Brohm capitalized hitting tight end, Gary Barnidge, later for a one-yard touchdown with 54 seconds to play in the half giving the Cards a 13-10 lead.

Barnidge led the Cardinals in receiving with five catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. He had a 59-yard catch and run in the third quarter that led to a 17-yard touchdown run by freshman, Anthony Allen, putting the Cards up 20-13.

In the fourth quarter, Carmody’s third field goal of the game made the score 23-13. Grutza responded by leading the Bearcats on a 72-yard drive and hitting Derrick Stewart for his second career touchdown.

The Bearcats got the ball back with 2:38 to go on their own eight yard line. After marching to Louisville’s 22 yard line, Grutza’s final pass fell incomplete, killing UC’s dreams of handing Louisville its first loss of the season.

Grutza threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for another 75 yards, nearly leading the Bearcats to the upset over seventh-ranked Louisville. Nevertheless, the Cardinals held on for their 15th straight home win.

“Every team has these close games,” head coach Bobby Petrino said. “I’m not upset. I’ve learned they’re all going to be battles from here on out. We need to play better and I think we will.”

Despite Brohm’s impressive numbers, the highest scoring team in the nation was held to just 23 points. The Cards couldn’t establish a running game and failed to run the clock out toward the end, allowing the Bearcats an opportunity to win.

“I don’t want to blame anything on my thumb. I made a few dumb decisions. That interception was a dumb decision.” Brohm was picked off by linebacker Kevin McCullough early in the fourth quarter.

Amongst all the football, the university honored several others. Part of the pre-game festivities included honoring Jeff Brohm, Brian’s brother, who led the Cards to a Liberty Bowl win in 1993. At halftime, the homecoming king and queen were announced. The Inter-Fraternity Council’s (IFC) sponsor, junior political science major, Brian Bennett, won king while junior biology major, Charis Botelho, who was sponsored by the Guaranteed Entrance to Medical School (GEMS) program, won queen.

Louisville (6-0) plays at Syracuse Saturday at noon. Cincinnati (3-4) will host South Florida on Sunday at 8 p.m.