Kentucky football upsets No. 10 Louisville to extend rivalry streak to five games
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Game day: Kentucky 38, No. 10 Louisville 31
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Louisville Governor’s Cup football game at Louisville.
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Just hours after Mark Stoops was publicly linked to the Texas A&M coaching search, Kentucky football’s coach reminded Big Blue Nation why he has been so successful in Lexington.
The Wildcats capped what had been a disappointed 2023 regular season with a 38-31 upset of No. 10 Louisville, extending their winning streak in the Governor’s Cup rivalry to five games and dealing a blow to the Cardinals’ hopes of playing in a New Year’s Six bowl game in the first season of the Jeff Brohm era.
Kentucky rallied from a 10-point deficit to win for the first time since the 2019 Belk Bowl, capping its comeback with a 37-yard Ray Davis touchdown run with 1:02 remaining.
UK quarterback Devin Leary completed 12 of 22 passes for 206 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Davis totaled 127 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns.
The game looked far from promising for Kentucky early.
Louisville marched down the field for a 14-play, 70-yard touchdown drive on its first possession, but Kentucky‘s defense settled in from there, limiting the Cardinals to just three more points in the first half.
UK’s offense started slow again though. Leary was sacked on third down to end each of UK’s first two possessions. The Wildcats did find the end zone on their third drive with an impressive throw and catch from Leary to Dane Key, but the offense recorded just one first down after receiving the ball again with 4:14 left in the first half.
What had been a defensive struggle suddenly turned into a shootout in the third quarter.
Louisville opened the second half with a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off with a Jordan 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal for a 17-7 lead. Kentucky immediately answered with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from sophomore wide receiver Barion Brown.
Running back Isaac Guerendo set Louisville up with good field position by returning the ensuing Kentucky kickoff 48 yards to the Louisville 49-yard line. From there, Louisville needed just five plays to score another touchdown against a tired UK defense. This touchdown came on an 11-yard pass from Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer to tight end Joey Gatewood, who previously played quarterback for Kentucky.
UK opened its next drive with a 55-yard pass from Leary to Louisville native Izayah Cummings. The Wildcats scored again on the second play of the drive on a perfect 20-yard pass to running back Ray Davis in the end zone.
Louisville was driving again when UK outside linebacker J.J. Weaver forced a fumble near midfield that he also recovered. Kentucky managed just 20 yards on 10 plays on the ensuing drive, but kicker Alex Raynor converted a 46-yard field goal to tie the game at 24 with 10:21 remaining.
Louisville’s next drive also ended in a fumble, this time from Plummer, that Weaver recovered at the Cardinals’ 22-yard line. Two plays later, Leary hit Davis for a 20-yard touchdown on a screen pass. With the score, Davis tied Benny Snell’s UK single-season touchdown record (19).
Kentucky stopped Louisville on fourth down to regain possession with 5:34 remaining, but Leary’s attempt to throw the ball out of bounds while being hit was instead intercepted by Louisville defensive back Jarvis Brownlee and returned to the Kentucky 25-yard line. Four plays later, Plummer eluded pressure on a fourth-and-6 play long enough to find Ahmari Huggins-Bruce open just outside the end zone for a game-tying touchdown.
Kentucky just needed four plays to take the lead on Davis’ touchdown though. Louisville’s last hope ended when Jordan Lovett intercepted a Hail Mary attempt in the end zone
TURNING POINT
When Louisville opened its late third quarter drive with gains of 10, 11 and 17 yards on the first three plays, it looked like Kentucky’s defense had run out of gas. At the end of the 17 yard run from Jordan though, Weaver managed to force the fumble that he also recovered. That play gave Kentucky the edge it needed to rally from a 10-point deficit to win for the first time since the final game of the 2019 season.
MVP
The 2023 season had been a disappointment for Weaver, who returned to Kentucky with hopes finally proving himself as a top NFL draft prospect with a healthy season. Weaver managed to stay healthy this year, but his pass rush production largely disappeared with just four sacks in the first 11 games. Weaver had an afternoon to remember Saturday though with eight tackles to go with one sack, one fumble forced and two fumble recoveries.
KEY STAT
A Kentucky team too often prone to undisciplined play looked in danger of letting the rivalry emotions spill over when players had to be separated in pregame warmups and after the opening kickoff, but Stoops’ team made it through the game without being flagged for a single penalty.
This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 3:31 PM.
