By Brett Jager

The University of Louisville football team was looking for a measure of revenge Friday night when the Connecticut Huskies came to town for the Big East opener. The players and fans alike all remember last year’s heartbreaking loss to the Huskies, 21-17, because of a controversial call on a fair catch.

Early on, the fans were rowdy greeting the UConn team with a chorus of boos as they entered Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.  With Louisville wide receiver Doug Beaumont back to receive UConn’s first punt, the fans yelled “Run!” after the fair catch in reference to last year’s contest.  When it was all said and done, the Cards fell short again, 26-21.

“We were our own worst enemy tonight,” said Coach Steve Kragthorpe.

Kragthorpe is referring to U of L committing three turnovers, which led to ten points for UConn.  The most crucial of which was an interception thrown by senior quarterback Hunter Cantwell returned for a touchdown with 2:45 left in the game. The interception gave UConn a 26-21 lead, and took all the wind from U of L’s sails.

Cantwell, who left the game in the third quarter for a sprained ankle, re-entered in the fourth, but did not look the same at all.

“On the roll out to the left, I got hit pretty hard,” said Cantwell. “My ankle gave and luckily my knee didn’t. It was my decision to go back in and that’s a throw I cannot make whether I’m hurt or not.”

On the ensuing possession, Cantwell hit freshman wide receiver Josh Chichester for a couple of big passes to go into UConn territory. Unfortunately, the Cards could not get a score and turned the ball over on downs.

“I feel like we let one get away tonight,” said Cantwell. “UConn’s a very good football team. They came in here and played well. We still feel that we’re a good team too.”

Not only was Cantwell injured throughout the game, but UConn’s starting quarterback, Tyler Lorenzen, left the game in the 2nd quarter with a broken foot. Sophomore quarterback Zach Frazer, who had never taken a snap at UConn, entered the game.  Frazer looked rattled when he first came in, but settled down, and threw for 90 yards and a touchdown.

Cantwell had a huge first half before he got hurt completing 14 of 17 passes for 210 yards and one touchdown. In the second half, he only went 3 for 12 for 37 yards and two interceptions, as he was clearly affected by the injury.

The running game was a strength again as sophomore Bilal Powell had 11 rushes for 112 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Victor Anderson had 19 rushes for 103 yards and a touchdown, as well as a receiving touchdown. U of L put up good numbers and a lot of yards, but just could not close the game out.

“We had 500 yards of total offense and only 21 points,” said Kragthorpe. “That should definitely correlate into more points.”

The Cardinals will look to build off the positives from this game as they hit the road for the first time this season, taking on Memphis on October 10.