Hey, it’s Governor’s Cup week, but it’s not the Kentucky-Louisville football week we once expected.
For one thing, Scott Satterfield is still here. The Louisville coach was supposed to be gone by now, remember. After the Cardinals’ 34-33 loss at Boston College on Oct. 1, Satterfield was destined to be sitting on a beach somewhere counting his buyout.
Meanwhile, Kentucky was supposed to be preparing for the SEC championship game or a major bowl game in a tropical setting. Picked to finish second in the SEC East, led by a projected high NFL Draft pick at quarterback in Will Levis, this was to be another year Mark Stoops’ program would take another step forward.
It hasn’t worked out that way for either side.
At 7-4, Louisville enters Saturday’s 3 p.m. SEC Network kickoff at Kroger Field with the better record. It has won five of its last six. It beat No. 24-ranked North Carolina State 25-10 on Saturday. It did so without the services of star quarterback Malik Cunningham, out with a shoulder injury.
After a 4-0 start and a No. 7 ranking in the AP Top 25, Kentucky is 6-5, having lost five of its last seven. It finished 3-5 in the SEC after Saturday’s 16-6 loss to No. 1-ranked Georgia at Kroger Field.
“I am proud of the response of our football team,” Stoops said afterward, despite the defeat.
He had reason to be. In year 10, Stoops’ program is past the “moral victory” stage, but encouragement can be drawn from UK’s effort against the defending national champions. After the previous week’s loss to Vanderbilt, the Cats didn’t fold their tents. A 22.5-point underdog, Kentucky fought to the end.
Brad White’s defense was outstanding, holding the nation’s No. 3 offense to a touchdown and three field goals. Georgia entered Saturday averaging 509.6 yards per game. It departed with just 363 yards.
In the fourth quarter alone, UK stopped the Bulldogs on a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line; on a third-and-2 at the Georgia 41 and a third-and-1 at the Georgia 37. Those were pride downs, once in which the Kentucky defensive line refused to give an inch.
“Georgia is deadly on their (bootlegs) because of their tight ends and all that,” Stoops said. “They throw a boot, it’s on me, but we’re going to stay big and stay firm in there and I wasn’t going to let them give them that.”
Offensively, Kentucky produced a nine-play, 99-yard drive on the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense to pull within 16-6. Next possession, UK moved from its own 10 to the Georgia 20, only to see a bad snap (again) turn into a missed 38-yard field goal by Matt Ruffolo that would have made it a one-score game.
Freshman receiver Barion Brown was outstanding, catching 10 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. The Nashville native caught passes of 47, 42 and 31 yards from Levis, who was 20 of 31 for 206 yards with that TD plus a red-zone interception.
This Saturday, a struggling Kentucky offense faces a much-improved Louisville defense. A year ago, the Cards were 83rd nationally in total defense. This year, they’re 37th. Last year, Louisville allowed 4.36 yards per rushing attempt. This year, it’s allowing 3.77 per attempt. In a 48-21 win over Wake Forest, the Cardinals defense forced eight turnovers.
Cunningham’s status is a question mark. Even if he can’t go, Louisville has proved it can win without him. It beat both Virginia (34-17) and North Carolina State with junior Brock Domann at quarterback.
Bottom line: The Cards would love to (a) snap it’s three-game losing streak against its archrival and (b) watch Kentucky finish off a disappointing regular season with a 6-6 record. It’s only one game, but a major perception difference exists between 7-5 and 6-6.
A Kentucky win would end both team’s regular campaigns at 7-5, but at least the Cats would have a bit of momentum after a representative showing against Georgia and a fourth straight win over the Cards.
This might not be the UK-U of L game we were expecting, but it’s an intriguing one, nonetheless.
