Miller Moss: Louisville unsportsmanlike conduct penalties are 'cultural thing,' can't be fixed this season

In the fourth quarter of Friday’s game against Clemson, Louisville committed multiple unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The Cardinals eventually lost the game, 20-19, but quarterback Miller Moss said those issues go beyond the week-to-week grind of the season and called it a culture-related issue.

Louisville got called for three unsportsmanlike conduct fouls in the fourth quarter. One of them came after a 2nd and 17, which pushed Louisville back to a 3rd and 29 play. Another came after a missed field goal – which proved to be the difference – and gave Clemson better field position.

Speaking with reporters afterward, Moss expressed his frustration considering it’s so late in the year. That’s why he said it’s hard to fix those issues during the season.

“I get it. You’re competitive. It’s getting to the end of the game. You want to do everything you can to win the game,” Moss said in his postgame press conference. “The ultimate competitors have the greatest amount of focus in those moments. … They’re able to kind of flatline and stay even-keeled. That’s obviously something that we have to work on.

“I don’t think something like that gets fixed week to week. That’s a cultural thing and an offseason thing that’s going to need to be addressed. It didn’t come down to any one thing or any one penalty. We own this as a team and we all have each other’s backs in doing that.”

With Friday’s loss, Louisville virtually fell out of the ACC race with two weeks to go in the season. The Cardinals are now 4-3 in conference play, falling a game behind the rest pack of teams at the top of the league standings after coming in at No. 19 in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings.

Miller Moss completed 19 of 27 passes for 212 yards and ran in a touchdown in the effort, but the Cardinals relied heavily on the run game. Keyjuan Brown led the team with 135 rush yards while Duke Watson took 11 carries for 39 yards. Louisville will now get ready for its final two games of the year, including its conference finale next week against SMU before the rivalry matchup against Kentucky to close things out.

Clemson, meanwhile, improved to 5-5 on the season and effectively played spoiler with Friday’s win. The Tigers can secure bowl eligibility next week as Furman comes to town.