How it happened: Unforced errors doom Louisville in overtime loss to No. 24 Virginia
Statistically, Louisville dominated No. 24 Virginia, but at the end of overtime, it was the Cavaliers who raced off the field as the victors.
In Saturday’s 30-27 OT loss to UVA, the Cardinals found themselves trailing double-digits in back-to-back weeks. Louisville scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to tie it, including a 50-yard Cooper Ranvier field goal in the final minutes of regulation.
The U of L outgained the Hoos by 146 yards, but still ran the ball for just 54 yards. An ailing run game and a pair of turnovers that were returned for touchdowns ultimately doomed the Cards and prevented Louisville from staying unbeaten.
A hobbled Isaac Brown was the team’s leading rusher, carrying it 13 times for 66 yards. And it didn’t help that quarterback Miller Moss was sacked five times.
Aside from the interception, Moss was nearly perfect throwing the football. He finished the game completing 34-of-48 passes for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Moss’s mistakes, when he makes them, were crucial. In the third quarter, the senior looked like he was going to be sacked, but flipped the ball forward into the arms of Virginia’s Kam Robinson, who returned it for a touchdown.
It wasn’t the only defensive touchdown for Virginia, as in the first quarter, a fourth-and-one pitch play gone wrong resulted in a scoop and score for the Hoos. Gifting UVA 14 points negated a day where Louisville gained 11 more first downs than its opponent and should have done enough offensively to win.
Wide receiver Chris Bell had the best game of his career, consistently beating UVA in one-on-one coverage. Bell even snagged a one-handed touchdown in the fourth quarter on top of his 12 receptions for 170 yards and another first-half score.
It looked like Louisville had the momentum when the game went to overtime, but it ultimately came down to running the football, and the Cardinals had struggled to do so through two ACC games. Jeff Brohm had to settle for a field goal, where Tony Elliot’s Virginia team ran the ball up the middle and scored the game’s winning touchdown on a three-yard direct snap to J’Mari Taylor. Taylor finished the game with 68 yards on 16 carries.
Louisville goes to 4-1 and 1-1 in the ACC entering another bye week. Brohm’s team will travel to Miami (FL) for a Friday night showdown following the time off.
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