Louisville misses golden opportunity, suffers overtime loss to unranked Cal
Well, that’s certainly a way to lose a football game. The Cardinals just laid an egg at home against the California Golden Bears, 29-26 in overtime.
Louisville may have just watched its ACC title and CFP dreams go right down the drain, and it sucks knowing that this team could very well be undefeated.
There are a few reasons why Louisville has two losses to teams that aren’t better than them at home, including mediocre quarterback play. Miller Moss hasn’t had the best season, to say the least. The once highly touted quarterback just doesn’t seem to understand what this team needs him to do consistently, and it’s limiting their potential. It’s hard to win with a liability at that position, and I wanted to be wrong about Moss in that regard, but that’s what he is. Without Isaac Brown running for 25 yards a carry, it seems like just about every time, Jeff Brohm has to rely on Moss to be able to push the ball down the field, quickly and efficiently. Moss has had his struggles with that throughout the season, and it becomes a glaring issue when Brown isn’t in the backfield with him.
Louisville is superior to Cal in just about every single way on the football field, except for the quarterback position. The Golden Bears had a true freshman who looked like he had more experience than the Cardinals’ senior. With the right talent around a subpar quarterback, it’s certainly possible to win a good amount of games, but eventually that problem will get exposed, and that’s exactly what happened to Louisville.
Ron English’s defense, that’s been wreaking havoc all season, didn’t have its best day either. Giving up 29 points to THAT Cal team isn’t going to work when your star running back is out. Of course, you give credit to Cal for coming into a hostile environment and coming away with a win against all odds, but the story is about how Louisville didn’t show up to play their best football. There was one receiver that looked like he was even shorter than Caullin Lacy, and he gave that Cardinals defense major fits the entire game. English absolutely had zero adjustments when it came to covering De Jesus, or Louisville possibly could’ve squeaked out a win.
Whether it’s Miller Moss’s questionable quarterback IQ or the defense letting Cal be too comfortable, this was an all-around forgettable performance by Jeff Brohm’s team. They also missed a golden opportunity to become the top two in the ACC Championship race officially, because Virginia suffered a loss to Wake Forest shortly before. It ended up only mattering for about five seconds because Louisville choked the game away right after. Now the Virginia loss means absolutely nothing, and the Cardinals are in the same position they were before. Only this time, the verdict is out on Moss. With wild inaccuracy and shaky pocket presence, the remaining teams on Louisville’s schedule are going to make it a priority to pressure him for the whole game. What he’s shown all season doesn’t give the people of Louisville hope that he can find a way to manage. There’s a small sliver of hope that Louisville can salvage the season by making a good bowl and beating the in-state rivals from up the road. However, even that feels like a step down from where they’re truly supposed to be.
That’s firmly in the hunt for the ACC title game and firmly in the mix for the CFP for the first time in program history. When you put those hopes in the trash by losing to two very beatable teams in your own backyard, it’s hard to stay optimistic.
It’s a short turnaround for the Cardinals, though, as they have a Friday night matchup with the Clemson Tigers. Louisville will have to lock in on what’s gotten them wins all season to get back on track, because if not, they’ll end up losing that game as well.
