How it happened: Louisville beats Toledo in Bush's Boca Raton Bowl of Beans
BOCA RATON, Fla. — The University of Louisville football team relied on its defense all season long. And it was that side of the football that ultimately gave the Cardinals a 27-22 win over Toledo in Tuesday’s Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans.
It’s the second consecutive Louisville football season that has ended in a win; last year, the Cards beat Washington 35-34 in the Sun Bowl.
Louisville quarterback Miller Moss played in his final college game, starting hot and leading the Cardinals to a game-opening 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 17-yard pitch and catch to TreyShun Hurry. Moss completed 16-of-24 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
The runningback room dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, and today, sophomore back Duke Watson didn’t dress, but both Keyjuan and Isaac Brown did. The two sat out several games this year, with Isaac, a Miami, Florida, native, missing the final month of the season with a hamstring injury. He punched it in twice on Tuesday and ultimately ran for 102 yards on 10 carries.
Keyjuan led all rushers with 112 yards on 15 carries and averaged 7.5 yards per attempt. In total, Louisville ran for 180 yards, 27 more than the Cards threw for.
Leading pass catcher Chris Bell missed the bowl-game with a knee injury, so senior slot weapon and All-American returner Caullin Lacy led the team with six catches and 88 yards. On top of Hurry, junior wideout Antonio Meeks also found the endzone and hauled in three passes for 26 yards.
Cards safety Corey Gordon led the team in tackles with eight and was filling in for an injured Antonio Watts, and as a team, the defense totaled 10 tackles for loss and four sacks. Senior linebacker TJ Quinn has now officially led the team in tackles each of the past three years after his eight-stop, 1.5-tackle-for-loss performance.
Clev Lubin forced the first-quarter fumble that was recovered by Louisville’s JoJo Evans and tallied two tackles for loss. Lubin was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter, one that featured 32 combined points.
In the end, Louisville was outgained by a feisty Toledo team, but still had to rely on the roster’s backbone — its defense. The Cardinals flew to the football, made several big plays on special teams, and denied one of the Rockets’ 2-point tries.
Jeff Brohm and Louisville now enter a pivotal offseason, as the transfer portal is set to open on Jan. 2 and the Cads are coming off three consecutive nine-win seasons. That has not happened at the U of L in over a decade.
