Injuries Add Up for Louisville and Kentucky Ahead of Governor's Cup

Louisville may need to host open tryouts to field a football team against Kentucky. Okay, that is a bit over the top, but it isn’t too far from the truth. As the losses stack up for the Cards, so do injuries to their star players.

On Monday morning, head coach Jeff Brohm revealed that Chris Bell will miss the regular season finale against Kentucky. Many fans and foes alike have pondered whether this is an opt-out or an injury. Bell did leave the SMU hobbled after a season-low 46 yards on five receptions.

Bell is arguably Louisville’s best player. He leads the Cards with 72 receptions for 917 yards (second-most in the ACC) and six touchdowns. NFL Draft analysts believe he could be a first-round pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

“We’ll try to get some other guys ready that are niched up that we won’t know until later in the week,” said Brohm.

Bell is just the latest in a string of high-profile injuries for the Cards that have accumulated during this three-game losing streak. Isaac Brown was injured at the end of a 130-yard game against Virginia Tech at the beginning of the month. Despite only receiving double-digit carries in six games this season, his five rushes of 40+ yards are the fifth-most in college football.

Brown’s nagging hamstring injury opened the door for another Brown. Keyjuan Brown had four straight games with 90+ rushing yards, but did not play at SMU. The other tailback, Duke Watson, suffered an injury in Dallas, forcing a couple of wide receivers, Caullin Lacy and Shaun Boykins, to take carries.

To add to the uncertainty, we don’t know who will play quarterback for Louisville. Deuce Adams started for the maligned Miller Moss, who reportedly suffered a “freak weight room accident” ahead of the SMU game. Mark Stoops expects Moss to start on Saturday.

Kattus Among Those “Out” for Kentucky

Kentucky was down six defensive backs Saturday against Vanderbilt. They lost another defensive contributor in the loss to the Commodores. Former Kent State EDGE Kam Olds will miss the Louisville game. The Cats have already lost Sam Greene for the season. Lorenzo Cowan and Steven Soles will have to hold down the fort for the Cats.

Stoops also revealed that Josh Kattus will be unavailable to play for the Wildcats on Saturday. The senior tight end has 17 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown this year. In his absence, Willie Rodriguez had 68 yards on six receptions, the most by a Kentucky tight end since CJ Conrad in 2015.

Cornerback Terhyon Nichols and linebacker Alex Afari are among the defensive starters who could be “close” to healthy enough for the Louisville game, but we did not receive too many details. Without a mandated availability report, expect Mark Stoops to keep the injury situation close to the vest ahead of the Governor’s Cup.