Welcome back, Governor’s Cup. Kentucky-Louisville football rivalry makes its return.
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Governor’s Cup preview: Kentucky at Louisville
The University of Kentucky football team concludes its 2021 regular season Saturday against archrival Louisville in the annual Governor’s Cup game at Cardinal Stadium. Click below to view all the stories previewing the game that have been published on Kentucky.com.
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It’s back.
Thank goodness the Governor’s Cup is back.
When last we left the Kentucky-Louisville football rivalry, new U of L coach Scott Satterfield was complaining about UK players giving “L’s Down” hand gestures after the Cats’ 45-13 win over the Cards in Lexington in 2019.
This, of course, carried on a tradition including a Kentucky player attempting to hit Louisville players with a trash can in 2017 and U of L head coach Bobby Petrino and UK football staff member Dan Berezowitz going nose-to-nose during a pregame standoff in 2014.
So, yes, Governor’s Cup, you were missed when the coronavirus pandemic last year forced a one-year hiatus. We welcome your return for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Cardinal Stadium on ESPN2.
The layoff did little to take the edge off matters. On Tuesday, UK’s first-year offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, a Governor’s Cup newbie, was asked if he had acquired a sense of the rivalry.
“Yes, today for the most part at practice,” Coen said. “And it wasn’t anything negative or anything like that toward (Louisville). It was more our level of practice and the way we practice, the energy and enthusiasm today we had at practice was hands down the best we’ve had all year.”
He added, “It reminded me of 2018 when I was with the (NFL’s Los Angeles) Rams and we finished the regular season and we were going to play the Cowboys in the first playoff game of the year. You just felt the level of play, the level of focus and the level of practice, just totally different. That’s when I realized playoff football is a lot different and so is rivalry football.”
Kentucky and Louisville are coming off 40-point wins
Kentucky enters 8-3, fresh off a 56-16 beatdown of poor New Mexico State in Lexington. Louisville enters 6-5, fresh off a 62-22 beatdown of poor Duke in Durham, N.C.
Louisville could easily be 9-2. Wake Forest kicked a field goal with 22 seconds left to beat Louisville 37-34 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Virginia scored a touchdown with 22 seconds left to beat the Cards 34-33 in Louisville. And the Cards failed to score after a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line with 1:01 to play in a 30-24 loss to visiting Clemson.
The Cardinals also enter with one of college football’s most dynamic players. Quarterback Malik Cunningham has thrown for 18 touchdowns and rushed for 18 more. In an epic performance against Duke, he passed for 303 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 224 yards and two more scores.
“He’s arguably the most talented offensive weapon we’ve seen all season,” UK defensive coordinator Brad White said this week.
Kentucky’s run game has made the difference in the last two meetings — UK wins by a combined 101-23. In 2019, Kentucky out-rushed the Cardinals 517-209. This Louisville defense ranks 47th nationally in rush defense compared to 112th in 2019.
UK’s offensive attack is more balanced than it was then, however. Under Coen, the Cats have rushed the football on 55.6 percent of their plays. In 2019, under former OC Eddie Gran, Kentucky ran the football 69 percent of the time.
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is improving
And if Cunningham is Saturday’s star attraction, UK quarterback Will Levis has shown a steady progression. The Penn State transfer has thrown for 23 touchdowns, compared to 12 interceptions. On the one hand, Levis’ competitive fire lends itself to a rivalry game. On the other hand, Coen has stressed to his quarterback the need to slow down, relax and remain calm in the pocket.
“I will say he probably had his best practice of the season, not even close,” Coen said Tuesday. “The way he threw the football, the level of execution, detail. I would have thought I would have seen a little more of an amped-up guy, maybe miss some throws early in practice, but that wasn’t the case.”
No doubt, an amped-up atmosphere will be the case Saturday night under the lights at Cardinal Stadium.
“It’s my understanding they serve alcohol in that stadium,” UK Coach Mark Stoops said Monday, prompting a laugh from the media. “It will be a rowdy atmosphere. It always is no matter what.”
Saturday
Kentucky at Louisville
When: 7:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
Records: Kentucky 8-3, Louisville 6-5
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Kentucky leads 17-15
Last meeting: Kentucky won 45-13 on Nov. 30, 2019, in Lexington.
This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 1:06 PM.
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