Where to being….
Normally my goal with these posts is to get them out as quickly as I can after the final whistle while the thoughts and emotions are still fresh. But after this fever dream of a football game I had an incredibely difficult time trying to even process what I had just witnessed and thought maybe giving it a few hours to marinate would help me gain some clarity.
Unfortunately, even with some time to think I’m still struggling massively to comprehend the absolute roller coaster that was
today’s game.
First and foremost, that was an instant classic in all of the worst plays possible. Even the gross boxscore details like 6 total turnovers and a combined 140 penalty yards can tell the full story of how wild and sloppy this game truly was. And that’s only mentioning what actually happened between the whistles. We could get into the hilarious extracurriculars like this:
Or this:
Actually, let’s pause there. Louisville’s equipment manager Zephian (@zephian5) is a certified legend after taking on Pitt’s entire receiving corps to get back what is rightfully ours. Also, I don’t think it was lost on anyone how bush league of a move it was to go after a student staffer like that. Especially not the UofL football team as they responded to this grave offense by going on a 34-10 run to close out the game and avenge Zephian’s assault. Best of all, he got the ball back:
Legend.
Going back to the football game, it was a disappointing and humiliating start as the team came out as flat and uninspired as possible. It only took 5 minutes and 7 seconds for Louisville to go down 10-0, and after Moss’ eye-bleed-inducing pick-6 it looked like UofL was in for a day of pain. If you felt this way, too, you’d be right to as UofL statician Kelly Dickey (@realcardgame) stated, “Louisville is 1-21 when trailing by 17 or more points at the end of the first quarter, beating Rutgers 41-38 on Nov. 29, 2007, after trailing 21-3”. Make that 2-21 now, babyyy.
In all seriousness it really did look insurmountable with how badly the secondary was getting picked apart by Holstein, and how inept the entire offense was. Moss was bad, the o-line was bad, the playcalling was bad, the running backs couldn’t even get to the line of scrimmage without getting blown up in the backfield, it was all BAD.
But then the second quarter got off to a wild start as the offense went 3-and-out following the pick-6, which wasn’t out of the ordinary up to this point, but what happened next was. In one of the weirder officiating calls I’ve seen all season, the Pitt returner was interfered by the Louisville defender which was then reversed since the Louisville defender was “blocked” into the receiver. And because the ball touched the receiver, the ball was live, which Louisville recovered…. WHAT!
Honestly, great call in my opinion. Refs nailed it. No notes.
Moss would punch the ball in for UofL’s first score three plays later, and the offense would capitalize on Pitt’s ensuing 3-and-out, with Cooper Ranvier’s 35 yd field goal to keep him perfect on the year and cutting the lead to 17-10. Pitt would then have another 3-and-out, but things went from bad to worse when their punter bobbled the snap and kick leading to a Denzel Lowry fumble recovery. A play later Moss zipped one to Chris Bell for a 25-yard TD on a post route to even the score.
As hard as it was to believe, UofL had pulled themselves out of the massive early hole they’d dug. But Pitt finally got back on the scoreboard with a field goal on the proceeding drive. Louisville got the ball back with 1:37 left in the half, and knew they’d be getting the ball back at the start of the second half, but that didn’t stop the coaching staff from mismanaging the clock at the end of the first half for the umpteenth time. This time with Moss dirting the ball with 51 seconds left on the clock when he should have taken the sack to help eat some clock. Louisville would punt away and then get burned on a wide-ass-open 38-yard strike from Holstein to Raphael Williams Jr. to push the lead to 27-17 going into the half.
It was at this point I had to drive home from a watch party so that my poor children could finally nap, and I was in a seriously dark place on that drive home. I felt the exact same way I did during last year’s game at Boston College, and Brohm’s debut game at Georgia Tech. And just like those two games, both sides of the ball figured things out in the second half and started playing complimentary football.
Not enough can be said about the defense coming up huge and pitching a second half shutout. With a QB still trying to find his footing in an offense that still has a lot to figure out, especially on the line, having a defense do everything in their power to give the offense a chance to win was exactly what the doctor ordered. And that’s exactly what happened. Moss began to settle in, fewer and fewer of his passes soared over receiver’s heads (a major issue for the majority of the game), and he started throwing some legitimately great balls. More on that in a minute.
After Nick Keller tied his own school record with a 57-yard field goal, the defense forced another Pitt 3-and-out. On Louisville’s ensuing drive Keller was asked once again if he could putt a rabbit out of a hat, but his 56-yard attempt fell short this time.
What happened next may have been the most important sequence of events of the entire season thus far, and may have changed the trajectory of the entire season going forward, and I’m really not trying to be hyperbolic in any type of way.
Pitt took over after the missed field goal and on their second play Holstein delivered a 56-yard strike to former Cardinal Cataurus “Blue” Hicks to set up 1st-and-goal at the Louisville 4 yard line. It truly felt like the all is lost moment of the season. Staring down the barrel of the gun of a loss at Pitt I couldn’t help but think of the next two games against a now-scary UVA team and the #2 Miami Hurricanes on the road, and what a tough pill it would be to swallow being 3-3 going into the BC game at the end of next month. But then this happened….
I really don’t think I can emphasize how important that play was and how it may have saved the season. Pitt should have been able to walk it in and make the score 34-20 and put all of the pressure in the world on an unstable Miller Moss-led offense. But that jolt of life seemed to electrify the entire team as the offense had to punt on the next drive, but flipped field position, the defense forced a massive turnover-on-downs on the UofL 39, and then Moss was able to find Skinner for the game-tying TD on an absolutely beautiful RPO (maybe even a designed RPO play action?):
Just a really fun and clever play design, and love getting the TE’s involved. More of that please, Jeff.
Pitt would get the ball back only for Rene Konga to sack Holstein on first down, and T.J. Quinn to pick him off on second down, setting up Louisville at the Pitt 30 with 9:57 left in the game. Also, in a questionable move, Holstein would be benched for the remainder of the game after those back-to-back picks.
Six plays later Moss would toss an absolute beauty to Nate Kurisky (TE touchdown again!) in what I think is his best throw of the season and the final score of the game:
I said something similar on twitter, but we all remember the moment we fully bought into Tyler Shough last year after his insane TD at Notre Dame. I don’t even have to name the play or show a clip because if you’re still reading this you know exactly what I’m talking about. That was an NFL-level throw. And so was this one.
I’m not saying that this should be what gets UofL fans on board with Moss, but I do think it’s incredibly encouraging to see him throw this type of ball in this type of situation. We’ve been looking for that flash of potential all season and there it is in all of its glory. Hopefully we can see some more of that, and hopefully this play, and his second half performance, give him the confidence he needs to perform at a high level for the rest of the season. He looked like a totally different player in the second half.
The offense and the defense would ice the game away on the last four drives of the game, and Louisville would leave don’t-call-it-Heinz-Stadium 4-0 and with their first conference win.
I feel like I’ve said it 100 times this year, but there’s still plenty to clean up. The o-line looks to be an issue we’re just going to have to work around this point. I do think the coaches figured some things out as the offense was able to give Moss easy passes in the second half and the running backs were able to get more running room than they had all day. The penalties are still a massive problem (9 for 92) and just have to be cleaned up because you’re not always going to have refs, especially ACC refs, giving you help on the road like that. Figure it out.
But I do think what we’re left with overall is a very encouraging result and hopefully a catalyst for better things to come this season. Things aren’t going to get any easier with UVA on deck and Miami in the hole, but I feel a hell of a lot better about those games being 4-0 rather than coming off a loss to Pitt.
God bless you if you’re a sicko and still reading this at this point. See y’all at L&N next week.
