Brown: U of L’s Plummer, UK’s Leary can change narrative with their play in Governor's Cup

Louisville and Kentucky both imported quarterbacks through the transfer portal with hopes that getting veteran signal callers would lead to high-powered passing attacks.

It hasn’t quite played out that way.

Louisville’s strength on offense is in its running game, with quarterback Jack Plummer fitting the role more of a game manager.

Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary was supposed to be the strength of its offense, but he’s had a hard transition from constantly being in an uptempo offense at N.C. State to operating a pro-style offense at UK.

Neither Plummer nor Leary have had the kind of memorable seasons individually that would keep them etched in U of L or UK history for years to come.

A winning performance in the Governor’s Cup on Saturday can change that quickly.

Or it can amplify it.

At one point this season, there were rumblings from both fanbases about what a replacement would look like that stopped just shy of calling for a benching. Neither player was ever supplanted, which also implied the Cards and Cats didn’t have a backup who was close enough to being ready to try to step in.

U of L stuck with Plummer and UK stayed with Leary understanding they were being asked to perform in a different way than they were accustomed.

Plummer had only one game where he didn’t have at least 30 passing attempts last season at California. He’s only surpassed that threshold four times with U of L. If his confidence was ever shaken because of it, he didn’t let on with his play.

That paid off for Louisville in last week’s win at Miami. Plummer had struggled away from L&N Stadium with seven of his 10 interceptions coming on the road.

And it looked like he might fall into that pattern again early against the Hurricanes when he was picked off in the first quarter. But he would settle into his best road performance of the season.

Plummer threw for more than 300 yards for just the third time this season and his 64.9 completion percentage was his highest of any road game this year.

During Leary’s best season at N.C. State in 2021, he once threw for more than 300 yards in five consecutive games. That was the version of Leary UK thought it was getting after Will Levis became the second-round pick of the Tennessee Titans in April.

Leary was supposed to be fully healthy after playing in just six games before a pectoral injury ended his season, and career, with the Wolfpack.

His play at UK started off as slow as the Cats' tempo on offense. Even in UK's win over Florida, Leary was only 9 of 19 passing for 69 yards. It was a career low for him as a starter.

Leary's best game was in UK's loss to Tennessee in which he threw for a season-high 372 yards while completing a season-high 28 passes.

Kentucky’s inconsistencies on offense aren’t solely because of Leary. The offensive line has struggled to protect him. The receivers haven’t played up to expectations.

But again, UK fans won’t lament much of that if Leary comes through against the Cards on Saturday.

Leary does know some success against Louisville. He was already sidelined last season when N.C. State faced the Cards, but in 2021 he led the Wolfpack to a 28-13 victory in Raleigh, North Carolina. Leary completed 25 of 36 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

(He did lose to U of L 34-20 as a freshman in 2019, but part of the reason he got the starting job was because that N.C. State team was terrible and it was looking toward the future early.)

Leary and Plummer entered the season hoping to play in a way that would serve as a springboard onto NFL draft boards. It hasn’t played out that way, but they can still reach greatness if they power their respective team to a win on Saturday.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville-Kentucky football: Jack Plummer, Devin Leary opportunity