Louisville football stumbles in Governor's Cup. What we learned ahead of ACC title game

Jeff Brohm used the term “ridiculous” five times and “disappointing” four times Saturday after his ninth-ranked Cardinals lost the Governor’s Cup for the fifth consecutive time.

The sentiments summarized the frustrated, first-year Cardinals coach’s feelings after Kentucky rallied to defeat Louisville, 38-31, at L&N Stadium. U of L led, 24-14, late in the third quarter and had the momentum with 11 straight wins at home and a four-game winning streak. Kentucky found a way to win, salvaging a 7-5 season and keeping the rivalry trophy.

“This team found a way to pick themselves back up after last week and finish strong in a game that’s important for us,” UK coach Mark Stoops said. “(It’s) important in terms of where we want to go for a bowl game. It’s important for our fans that we bring the Governor's Cup home for the fifth straight season against a great Louisville team that I have a lot of respect for. I have tremendous respect for Jeff (Brohm) and what he’s managed to do in his first season."

Brohm shouldered some responsibility for the loss, saying he didn’t want to “blame it all on the players.”

“There are a lot of things, as I look at it, (that) probably need to be corrected and fixed,” he added. “I think we need to do a better job coaching and making sure we put our guys in a better position to make those plays.”

Kentucky will use the next few weeks to prepare for its bowl game, but Louisville needs to rebound quickly to get ready for the ACC championship game next Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Taking on an undefeated, fourth-ranked Florida State team will come with its own challenges. The Cardinals will have to learn from their mistakes against the Wildcats for a chance at the upset.

Here are three takeaways from U of L’s Governor’s Cup loss:

Kentucky’s big plays

Brohm’s first use of the word "ridiculous" happened when the coach described Louisville giving up a 100-yard kickoff return to Kentucky’s Barion Brown. The Cardinals had just gone up, 17-7, after running back Jawhar Jordan’s 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down in the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, Brown found an opening on the right side and beat Louisville defenders down the field.

It was just one of the big plays the Cardinals gave up to the Wildcats, and all were key in the win. UK had 47 plays to Louisville’s 76 but was efficient in its opportunities. The visitors averaged 6.1 yards per play and had 11 plays go for 10 or more yards. In addition to two 20-yard touchdown receptions, Wildcats running back Ray Davis broke a 31-31 tie on a 37-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left.

“I can't tell (what happened) from the sideline. He was untouched, which is ridiculous,” Brohm said. “We wanted to push them back. They're almost in field-goal range. We pretty much had an all-out blitz call, and I guess someone didn't contain their gap, and (Davis) snuck through. That sometimes happens when you're all-out blitzing.”

Brohm said the defense’s last three performances have been “subpar,” and the Cardinals need to have a better plan.

“I think that’s the main culprit,” he said. “There needs to be a better plan put in place to make sure it doesn’t happen (when) you give up 100-yard rushers and 300-yard passers and a ton of points in three straight games. … There has to be something (opposing teams) haven’t seen. You can’t just run the same thing every week against really good opponents. There’s got to be some creativity and some coaching going on, so we need to make sure we do that.”

Eliminating big plays will be a focus ahead of the ACC title game against Florida State, which is averaging 6.9 yards per play and 451.6 offensive yards per game.

Losing the ball

Prior to Saturday’s regular-season finale, Louisville had fumbled 15 times and lost the ball only three times. The Cardinals lost both fumbles against Kentucky, which proved costly.

The turnovers stuck out most to quarterback Jack Plummer when he explained what went wrong for Louisville late in the game.

“Those two fumbles were huge, giving them short fields,” the Cardinals quarterback said of the Wildcats. “And then, just not doing the little things right, and it came back to get us. … We came out in the third quarter and played really well, had two really good drives, and then we laid the ball on the ground twice, and that’ll lose you the game in college football.”

A rare Jordan fumble led to a 46-yard field goal from Kentucky that tied the game at 24 in the fourth quarter. Plummer had the last fumble, losing the ball on the next drive. That led to UK going up, 31-24, on a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Devin Leary to Davis.

Brohm said ball security is something Louisville works on “probably more so than any team in the country.”

“We are driving the ball down the field, and you have to secure the football,” he said. “Quarterback starts scrambling, and I know he is trying to get some extra yards and the first down, but you have to protect the football. You can’t display it so they can put their helmet on it and punch it out. Attention to detail needs to happen. They made a couple of physical plays and knocked it out, and it hurt us.”

Florida State opponents have fumbled 15 times, and the Seminoles have recovered seven. The Seminoles’ +10 turnover margin, which includes eight interceptions, was tied for seventh most nationally heading into this weekend.

Emotions ran high early

Brohm’s final “disappointing” was in response to the Cardinals' early skirmishes with Kentucky. Prior to the game, Louisville and Kentucky chirped at one another. A more heated exchange led to Cardinals receiver Chris Bell being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct during the opening kickoff. He received another personal foul penalty during the second quarter.

Though the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize on the extra yardage at the beginning of the game, the second penalty hurt Louisville on offense. The Cardinals had just been backed up on a negative run by Jordan when the 15-yard penalty was called. They still managed to score on a 46-yard field goal by Brock Travelstead, which broke a 7-all tie at the 4:25 mark of the second quarter.

“We couldn't have talked about that garbage any more than we could've,” Brohm said of the emotions of the game. “(Bell) is a great player for us. He's a great young man. So, it can't happen. Costly penalties, and just foolish, childish. Our guys are better than that. That person is better than that, too, and I'm sure we'll get it fixed."

Louisville was penalized three times for 40 yards. Kentucky wasn't flagged.

Looking ahead: Louisville football still has history it can build on this year after falling to Kentucky

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jeff Brohm's team stumbles in Governor's Cup ahead of ACC title game