LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — It was the kind of stinging, avoidable loss that made you wonder about the direction of the University of Louisville football program.
Matched against a 1-3 Boston College team that had not scored more than 21 points against its 3 FBS opponents, Louisville surrendered a 5-point lead in the final 7 1/2 minutes and lost to the Eagles, 34-33, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The defense surrendered 449 yards to a Boston College offense that ranked last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in offense at 283 yards per game.
"Bottom line is too many big plays given up in the pass game," U of L coach Scott Satterfield said. "We knew coming in we had to stop that."
The Cards did not stop that. BC's dynamic receiver Zay Flowers scored on touchdown passes of 57 and 69 yards. BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec threw for 304 yards, a week after Florida State limited him to 105 yards and three weeks after he managed only 135 yards passing against Virginia Tech.
Boston College widereceiver Zay Flowers gains yards during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Louisville, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
"You can't give up the big play," Satterfield said.
On offense, quarterback Malik Cunningham went to the locker room with an undisclosed injury after playing only two snaps in the fourth quarter. Halfback Tiyon Evans spent the second half on the sidelines wearing a boot on his injured foot.
Satterfield had no specifics about either injury after the game.
"Lower leg injury," was his description for Evans, who finished with 48 yards on eight carries.
"Undisclosed injury and couldn't go back in," Satterfield said about Cunningham. The Cards' quarterback sat for one play midway through the third quarter after he was the victim of a head-to-head targeting hit by BC's Jaylen Blackwell, who was ejected.
But Cunningham returned and led the Cards for two more plays and a 48-yard field goal by James Turner. He later threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ahmari Huggins Bruce with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Satterfield went for it on fourth-and-4 on the Boston College 39-yard-line with less than five minutes to play. Instead of punting and trying to pin the Eagles near their goal line, he trusted backup quarterback Brock Domann to get the yards with a pass play.
Didn’t happen. It was one of seven straight incompletions by Domann, who only nailed his first throw.
Media members covering the game remotely were not able to ask Satterfield about the decision, and he did not address it.
BC took advantage of the shorter field. They drove to the U of L 9, allowing Connor Lytton to kick a 26-yard field goal for the 34-33 win. The defense was unable to stop the worst offense in the ACC at winning time.
Domann threw four incompletions of the Cards’ final series and Louisville dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It's impossible to craft a path to a winning season without the Cards beating at least 3 teams that are ranked in the current AP Top 25.
Louisville's Tyler Hudson makes the connection from quarterback Malik Cunningham during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Boston College, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)
Although Satterfield did not discuss his decision not to punt, he did lament a chop block penalty on the Cards that wiped off a 48-yard touchdown run by Jawhar Jordan late in the third quarter, saying he needed to review the violation, which happened away from the run.
"It's a tough momentum thing," he said. "When you to score a touchdown, you're up two scores and now all of a sudden you're second and 20."
"(Any turnaround) starts tomorrow with our practice," said U of L defensive end Yaya Diaby. "We've just go to come in with the right mindset. Even though we got a loss, we've just got to come in with good mindset and get after it."
Let the howling begin. The Cards are also likely to be favored in only one more game -- against James Madison. And the Dukes are 4-0 with a win over Appalachian State.
The first half was a mess. The Cardinals crackled 70 yards for a touchdown on their first drive to move ahead, 7-0. It certainly appeared as if points would not be a problem.
But on their next five drives resulted in 29 yards and three points. They pushed to the BC 6-yard-line and were forced to settle for a field goal. They went for it on fourth-and-3 from the BC 49 and failed.
You could argue that BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec was Louisville’s best friend. He threw an interception on a tipped ball in the first quarter.
Jurkovec was simply warming up. He made a play that was a sure nominee for Dumbest Play of the Year. Chased by U of L linebacker Monty Montgomery, Jurkovec was in serious trouble at the BC 48.
A reasonable quarterback would have taken a sack. Or thrown the ball out of bounds. Reason escaped Jurkovec. He threw a backwards pass that was uncatchable. It was also a free ball. U of L defensive end Yaya Diaby ran it down for 31-yard loss at the BC 17.
The Cards needed two plays for Cunningham to score from the 6, bumping Louisville ahead, 16-14, after James Turner’s extra point was blocked.
The teams traded touchdowns to finish the half, sending Louisville into intermission with a 23-21 advantage.
Louisville remains on the road next week. The Cards visit Virginia for a game that will kickoff at noon in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers are 2-2, losing to Syracuse and Illinois, while defeating Old Dominion and Richmond. They will play at Duke Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"If you love the game, you're going to keep playing as hard as you can," U of L receiver Tyler Hudson said. "That's just my mindset and hopefully that's how the mindset is for the entire locker room."
"We can't give up," Satterfield said.
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