Louisville Rallies to Defeat Boston College, 31-27

GUTS!

Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images

Let me start by saying I never ever want to see a Nada Yada Island commercial again for the rest of my life. By the end of the game it was slightly amusing, but for the first half it was taunting me.

In all seriousness, what an absolutely gutsy and inspiring win. Overcoming a 20-point deficit when not just the game looked lost, but the entire season looked lost, is not something to take lightly. I hope this team appreciates how massive of a result this is and can build on the belief and momentum from this huge come-from-behind win.

To put into perspective how big this comeback was, I’ll let the stats do the talking:

Fourth largest comeback in school history. First ever win after trailing by 10+ in the 4th quarter. Extremely impressive and just all around encouraging.

I don’t want to speak for all of us, but I think many of us were in a dark place in the first half. The defense started the game hot and got two stops early, but the offense got zero points out of it and on BC’s third drive they scored on a 4th down wheel route that went for 54 yards.

After ANOTHER Brock Travelstead miss, BC would score 10 plays later to go up 14-0. It was a nightmare start, but it still felt like the game was in reach until.... the AHB fumble. BC recovered after the big hit on AHB and scored 7 plays later to go up 20-0. That really felt like the all is lost moment. Tyler Shough looked the shakiest he’s ever looked in a Cardinal uniform, having already thrown a pick, and the defense who had started out well was getting gashed like we’d seen so many times before.

It felt like the season was officially over and dark days were ahead of us. You even had idiots tweeting garbage like this:

But then the Cards showed signs of life. They responded by cutting the lead to 13 after a surgical 10-play drive that was capped off by Isaac Brown punching it in from the 4.

BC then let the clock run out on the half to take a 20-7 lead into the locker room. I don’t think it was an accident that Brohm didn’t call any timeouts at the end of the half. It seemed like a proper indictment of the dfefnse and how little faith he had in them.

What happened next I can only imagine. It probably was a biblical ass chewing by Brohm in the locker room because when the Cards came back out they scored on four of their next six drives, and the defense did not allow a single point after BC went up 27-10 with 8 minutes left in the 3rd Quarter.

Tyler Shough returned to the form we’d gotten so used to seeing, Ja’Corey Brooks played out of his mind, the defense bowed up and finally slowed down Castellanos, and Brohm got deep into his bag.

HOW?! Great throw and even better catch.

Speaking of Brohm getting into his bag, it was so refreshing to see all the wrinkles he ran in the second half. He scored twice by leaking Kurisky out underneath to the flat, in what is just a simply delicious concept:

I cackled when he did it a second time. After some of the complaints we’d seen from fans, including myself, wondering where the zaney and fun playcalling Brohm had earned a reputation for had gone, it was great to see play after play scheming players wide open and giant lanes opening up for runners. Going to need a lot more of that these last few games.

I am not going to comment on the ACC refs picking up the PI flag towards the end of the game. I will simply be sending a bag of the finest dog poop my old english sheepdog can produce to the commissioners office. How on earth does this keeping happening?

At the end of the day it’s just such a great feeling to go into the weekend with a win like this. Sure there’s a lot to nitpick, especially with the lifeless and sloppy play in the first half, but if the team can learn from a win like this and build on it, we may have a few more highlights in store this season.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that Bill O’Brien was giving Dave Clawson a run for his money with the amount of complaining to the refs he did. No matter whether or not the call was in his favor, he was in a refs face virtually the entire game. Truly impressive stuff.

BC’s punter and placekicker also deserve a ton of credit. Had BC been able to make even average punts to win back some field position this game could have gone a lot differently. And had BC’s kicker made that extra point to go up 21-0 instead of doinking it for 20-0, the rest of the game plays out entirely differently. That one point was the difference between BC needing a touchdown at the end of the game when really they should have just needed a field goal. God bless Liam Connor and Ivan Zivenko, the latter of whom got benched for averaging 33.5 per punt. Not something you see every day!

I’m so glad we get to celebrate an incredible gusty win and enjoy the rest of what should be an incredible weekend of college football. I’m sure Jeff Brohm is just as thrilled as the rest of us.

Super happy for guys like Tyler Shough, Ja”Corey Brooks, Isaac Brown, and Ashton Gillotte who didn’t quit on the team and led them to victory when things looked most bleak.

Go Cards. See y’all next week in Death Valley #2.

LATE EDIT: I forgot to mention how ominous the vibes were when BC were lining up for a hail mary attempt with Doug Flutie in the building. Glad history didn’t repeat itself.