LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Every football team needs a chin-check eventually. In its ACC opener on Saturday, Louisville got clocked square in the jaw.
It was down 17 before Primanti Bros. even shut down its breakfast menu. A cringeworthy pick-six. A Pittsburgh team that looked more prepared, more physical, and more ready for conference life.
And yet, here stood Louisville at the end, wobbling but upright, arm raised in a 34-27 win, the kind you earn by playing through mistakes, grabbing the duct tape to adjust on the fly, and trusting your quarterback to forget what just happened.
It was the kind of game Jeff Brohm hoped wouldn’t be necessary — but probably knew was.
“We hadn’t faced a team of this caliber,” Brohm said afterward in the calm tone of a guy who just used a kitchen fire to learn how to work an extinguisher. “So it was good to see.”
That’s coach-speak for: We needed this mess.
Soft landings make for shaky takeoffs
Can we be honest for a minute? September had been a pillow fight in shoulder pads. It wasn’t Brohm’s fault, or anyone else’s at Louisville. Indiana bailed. Ole Miss wasn’t interested. Tennessee made a business decision and decided to play Syracuse instead.
Had Louisville played one of those teams, maybe the first quarter wouldn’t have looked like it’d been tossed into deep water without its floaties.
There’s no substitute for competition. And Pitt was happy to oblige.
The Panthers delivered two long drives, a gift-wrapped pick-six, and a 17-0 lead before parking lot lines had died away.
“Stuff starts hitting the fan and you think, ‘Man, what the heck is going on?’” Brohm said. “But you’ve got to still believe.”
That’s the moment where you learn what you’ve got. It’s not just about talent. It’s about temperament.
And Louisville answered. With its passing game. With two picks. With one very timely fumble recovery and a kicker -- Nick Keller -- who hit his second 57-yard field goal in as many weeks. So what if it had six inches to spare? In this one, style points went out the window.
Coming back once is hard enough. Coming back twice says something.
Moss made some strides
Miller Moss threw a football into the teeth of the defense in the first quarter and watched it come back the other way like a boomerang.
But he didn’t blink. He finished 33-of-51 for 339 yards and three touchdowns. His mistakes were evident, but so was his resilience. He completed 10 of his last 12 passes. He made a couple of plays with his legs. He dealt with a variety of Pittsburgh blitzes and a run game that wasn’t much help. He was 9-for-14 on third down and completed five of his last six third-down passes.
He got better as the game went on, like everybody.
It’s what acclimating looks like.
“We spaced them out more. Got the ball out quicker,” Brohm said. “He made some really good decisions after that.”
And when the game was there to be won, Moss found his guys. Chris Bell had his best game of the season, finishing with 10 grabs for 135 yards. Touchdown tight end Nate Kurisky extended in the corner of the end zone for the game-tying touchdown. Tight end Jaleel Skinner ran around a Caullin Lacy block and scored the go-ahead touchdown. And Lacy did whatever he could do – including playing a little running back -- to keep the chains moving.
'The Lifer' delivers
The ESPN2 broadcast kept calling T.J. Quinn a “Louisville lifer.” That’s fair. A fifth-year player who hasn’t ever been in the portal is a unicorn in college football these days. Quinn had a chance at a first-quarter interception, maybe the easiest chance he’ll ever have, and dropped it.
“I felt like I had to make up for it,” he said.
He did.
His first interception set up the go-ahead score. His second wrapped the game in red and black ribbon.
“That’s just a testament to our team — pushing through and sticking together,” Quinn said.
He wasn’t alone. Antonio Watts saved a touchdown with a pick just outside the end zone. The defense that gave up 130 yards in its first two drives gave up just five yards the rest of the quarter and 100 yards in the second half.
Special teams made its contributions. No, they didn’t cause Pitt to muff a punt when a Louisville gunner was blocked into him as he caught the ball, but Blake Ruffin did have the presence to jump on the ball. And when Pitt punter Caleb Junko fumbled a snap, Denzel Lowry was there to cover it.
Things to clean up
Now, before the parade permits get filed, let’s be clear: this was not some masterpiece.
The offensive line was shaky. The running game was invisible. Isaac Brown and Duke Watson were not 100 percent, and it showed. There were eight penalties, including two personal fouls. Moss missed some open shots and had several big throws that were just a tad high.
You don’t want to live off of opponent turnovers and quarterback CPR long-term.
But if you’re going to have warts, better to reveal them in a win. And better still to know your team has the grit to play through them.
“We hadn’t faced a team of this caliber … and we got hit in the mouth a little bit, but we regrouped,” Brohm said. “...To be down 17, find a way to tie it up, be down 10, find a way to take the lead, get multiple turnovers in the second half -- our defense held them to zero points (in the second half), our guys did a great job. I thought the (Boston College) comeback last year was great. This one, I think, tops that. It’s a huge win for our team. And I couldn't be prouder of them. They stood in there and took some blows, got right back up and kept swinging and fighting and found a way to get the victory.”
Final word
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t polished. But it packed more lessons than a month’s worth of pre-conference pillow fights.
What do we know now? The defense is opportunistic. The quarterback is coming along. The running backs will heal. The coaching staff adjusts. The offensive line will remain a question. The penalties have to ease up. The road will get harder, not easier.
But now, finally, the Cardinals know what it’s like to take a shot, and their coaches know that they’ll reach for a mouth guard, not a white flag.
We also know this. The Louisville equipment staff isn’t about to give up a football — intercepted or not. Just ask the Pitt player who had his pick-six souvenir wrestled away on the sideline. Thankfully, that wouldn’t be the last fight Louisville showed.
The Cardinals came to Pittsburgh unblemished and left with some cuts and bruises. That’s not a bad trade.
If you’re going to get punched in the mouth, you might as well answer the bell.
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