LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — There are uglier and more disturbing ways to lose football games than the way the University of Louisville lost to Stanford, 38-35, Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto, Calif.
Just don’t ask me to come up with one on deadline. Don't ask Louisville coach Jeff Brohm either.
"We pretty much handed them an easy (game-winning) field goal," Brohm said.
That ain't coach speak. That's the harsh truth. This video will go directly into a coaching clinic on how not to finish a game.
Sluggish for the first 20 minutes, the Cards were even worse and more undisciplined at winning time, blowing a 14-point lead in the final seven minutes to lose on 52-yard field goal on the game’s final play.
Mark it down as a field goal that was not going to be in the same Zip Code of a make-able kick until the Cards (6-4) committed not one, but two absurd penalties with one second to play. Ten games into the season, it was a terrible display of the unfocused attention to detail that losing teams make.
First U of L defensive back Tayon Holloway gave Stanford 15 bonus yards with a ridiculous unsportsman-like conduct late hit on the sidelines. It was one of those fake macho plays that might look good on a video game but serve no winning purpose on a football field.
Then Quincy Riley, an all-conference defensive back, jumped offsides to move the ball five yards closer for the Cardinal. Riley knows better.
Excuse me as I take a timeout here. The Cards jumped offsides on Stanford's first offensive play and last offensive play -- as well as three other times. The Cards finished with 13 penalties for 101 yards. The defense committed 11 of them for 91 yards. Apparently they never realized that Stanford's plan was to vary its snap count.
"The fact that we did it that much was a complete lack of discipline," said Brohm, who also said several times that the blame belonged on him.
Until Holloway and Riley earned their yellow flags, Stanford was looking at a 67-yard field goal -- or a desperation pass and likely overtime.
Instead Emmet Kinney made the game winner from 52 yards with less than 5 yards to spare.
That's how you lose to a 2-win team that had lost six straight games by an average of 26 points. That's how you kick away the No. 19 ranking and the chance for a 10-win season.
"It's just a lack of focus and discipline and I think that starts with our practice habits," said U of L quarterback Tyler Shough, who threw a batted interception on the Cards' second play.
"We know what we can be and know what we are, and that wasn't us as an offense or as a team."
For the first 20 minutes as well as the fourth quarter the University of Louisville football team failed to perform like the group that stormed into Clemson and dominated the Tigers two weeks ago.
Lowly Stanford did most of the storming.
There were too many sloppy penalties, including one on the game’s first play and another six plays later. Shough’s second pass attempt was batted and then intercepted, leading to a Stanford field goal.
Halfback Isaac Brown, the Cards’ best runner, exited in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and did not return. A missed tackle led to a 62-yard Stanford passing touchdown and a 10-0 Cardinal lead.
The home team burned through a 9 minute and 11 second possession for another field goal that gave Stanford a 13-7 lead. The upset alert sign was flashing early in the at least 60% empty Stanford Stadium, where the crowd was announced as 18,685.
The Cards looked like a team still celebrating the Clemson win from two weeeks ago or suffering from jet lag. Brohm’s team did not play like a team favored to win by three touchdowns.
"I don't think there was a lack of motivation of message," Shough said.
Somehow the Cards steadied for three straight touchdown drives before halftime. They built a 35-21 with less than 10 minutes to play.
Then the price of a lack of discipline or commitment to the plan was paid. Stanford is a team that averages 20 points per game. The Cardinal scored 14 points or less against Clemson, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and SMU. There's a reason their offense ranks 16th, next to last, in the ACC.
Stanford scored 24 points in the final 15 minutes and 7 seconds against the Cards. They drove 80, 75 and 76 yards for touchdowns. Then Louisville gave them 15 of the final 21 yards for the final field goal.
Defensive fail. Offensive fail. Concentration fail. Scoreboard fail.
"We're all kind of heartbroken because we all feel like we had a hand in it," Shough said.
"You got to be able to focus and lock in the entire game and play football and compete whether things are going good or not," Brohm said. "We gave in at the end and did some really dumb things so we didn't deserve to win, and it was bad day for us."
You can even question Brohm's decision to risk giving Stanford the ball on the Cardinal 45 yard line with 4 seconds to play after Louisville attempted a Hail Mary pass instead of punting on fourth down.
Brohm had no idea his players would gift wrap 20 penalty yards to the home team. Nobody did. But it happened.
"A lot of silly things happened throughout the game that cost us, the entire game, not just the end," Brohm said. "Of course, the two times at the end were devastating. So that's all on me. We've got to have more discipline."
The loss, the Cards’ fourth by a touchdown or less this season, dropped their record to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This team should be 8-2. But it's tough going 8-2 when you beat yourself.
With Brown unavailable for the final three quarters, the Cards got four rushing touchdowns from two other backs — Donald Chaney Jr. scored on a 6-yard blast while freshman Duke Watson ran for three scores, two from the 5 and one for 68 yards.
Watson ran like a guy who does not want to return to a reserve role, rolling to 117 yards on 11 carries.
Shough shook off the interception to complete 23 of 33 passes, nine to Ja’Corey Brooks.
The Cards return to L&N Cardinal Stadium Saturday at 3:30 p.m for their Senior Day finale against Pittsburgh, the program that upset U of L last season for the Cards’ first loss last season.
"I know we're a better team than what we put out there today," said U of L linebacker T.J. Quinn. "We just made too many mistakes. And when you make that many mistakes, the other team will capitalize."
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
