UK overcomes their self destruction, holds on to beat Louisville 31-27 thanks to two plays that never happened
By Staff
Randall Cobb pulls in a 12 yard TD pass with
4:28 remaining as UK improves to 2-0
In the end, a win is a win. And that is all that matters. And it is said that a good football team is a team that can win a game despite mental and physical errors. It is with some amazement that saw the UK still won despite dominating the third quarter in a fashion that has not been seen since Florida rolled over UK 63-5 at The Swamp last year. Yes, it was that bad. Yet, UK won with the help of a 100 yard kickoff return by Derrick Lock and an amazing performance by the UK defense that bended severely but never did break. In a bizarre game, UK was helped by two plays that never happened to get the win. Let’s take a look at the action.
Kentucky started the game with a nice drive that fizzled out around the 8 yard line and Lones Seiber booted a 26 yard FG to give the Cats an early lead. Then the Cards, in a surprisingly easy drive, made their way down the field and took a 7-3 lead. You can sense the uneasiness settling in the Commonwealth crowd until Derrick Locke took the kick off and raced 100 yards for a TD that put the Cat’s up 10-7. On the earlier play, Cardinal kicker Chris Philpott had a beautiful kick out of the endzone that was called back due to an offsides penalty. Because of the first play that never happened, UK was on top and had regained the momentum.
Louisville was in a position to take the lead midway through the second quarter but the Louisville drive fizzled out at the UK 12. Louisville was faced with a 4th and 1 and in an inexplicable coaching decision, Bilal Powell was stuffed for a 3 yard loss and instead of a chip shot FG, UK had the ball and was back in action. John Connor capped off a nice UK drive with a 2 yard run up the middle and UK was seemingly cruising 17-7. A quick three and out gave UK the ball in good field position and UK drove to the UL 10 with :15 left in the half but no timeouts remaining. Instead of taking a couple of shots at the endzone, Mike Hartline hit Chris Matthews for a screen pass for no gain that did not get out of bounds. Alas, time ran out and UK squandered a prime opportunity.
Then the third quarter happened. Trent Lott returned a Seibers kickoff 65 yards to the UK 34 and UL was in good shape with a first and goal from UK’s 5. Then Kragthorpe happened. Rather than simply pound the ball and get the touchdown, Burke lost a yard on a play action pass and then threw an incomplete pass and UL had to settle for a FG. UK survived the long kickoff return and felt pretty good with just giving up the 3 but then Derrick Locke fumbled the ensuing kickoff and UL recovered at the 44. Louisville got the ball down to the UK 11 and then UK averted another crisis when UL missed the 28 yard FG. Mike Hartline then threw an interception on UK’s 2nd play from scrimmage and UL had the ball at the 25. They advanced to the 5 and more Cardinal self destruction followed and DeQuin Evans had a huge sack that made UL settle for yet another FG and UK hung to a 4 point lead.
Tempting fate yet again, Mike Hartline fumbled on the second play from scrimmage and UL was back in business at their 41. Louisville started to drive again when mercifully the third quarter ended and UK had three turnovers on only four plays from scrimmage. Louisville did take advantage of this miscue and took a 20-17 lead a minute into the 4th quarter.
UK was looking desperate and Hartline was faced with a 3rd and 10 from the UK 43 when he hit Randall Cobb on a bubble screen that turned into a 27 yard gain. Kentucky then put the ball on the ground for 7 of the next 8 plays (including a nice Hartline scramble) and Derrick Locke found the endzone and all was good in the world with UK up 24-20.
Not so fast. Burke hit Trent Guy on a 66 yard pass that was eerily similar to Stevie Johnson’s TD against the Ville two years earlier and UL was back on top 27-24. After a couple of runs, Mike Hartline threw three straight incompletions and UK had to punt with around 6:00 remaining. Then fate happened. Trent Guy muffed a fair catch punt and AJ Nance recovered at the UL 25. Hartline found Randall Cobb for a great TD grab and UK was back on top. But the drama was not over. Louisville drove to the UK 21 and Dequin Evans tipped a Burke pass that Sam Maxwell intercepted. Kentucky could not run out the clock and UK was forced to punt from their own 27 with 1:06 left. That punt was seemingly blocked by Louisville and was returned for a TD …. but wait a minute…
Punter Ryan Tydlacka was called for delay of game and this was the second play that never happened. UK got the punt off and Louisville made several mental errors and in the end, Sam Maxwell batted down a Hail Mary as time ran out.
So UK survived. And while it was not pretty, it does say a lot about the character of your team that you can pull the victory from the edge of defeat.
SCORING SUMMARY
UK 3 UL 0 : 9:34 1st – Lones Seiber 26 yard FG
UL 7 UK 3: 5:37 1st – Victor Anderson 6 yard TD run, Payne kick
UK 10 UL 7: 5:24 1st – Derrick Locke 100 yard KO return, Payne kick
UK 17 UL 7: 2:27 2nd – John Connor 2 yard TD run, Seiber kick
UK 17 UL 10: 11:29 3rd – Ryan Payne 23 yard FG
UK 17 UL 13: 4:58 3rd – Ryan Payne 42 yard FG
UL 20 UL 17: 14:16 4th – Cameron Graham 5 yd TD pass from Justin Burke, Payne kick
UK 24 UL 20: 8:55 4th – Derrick Locke 2 yard TD run, Seiber kick
UL 27 UK 24: 7:49 4th – Trent Guy 66 yard pass from Justin Burke, Payne kick
UK 31 UL 27: 4:28 4th – Randall Cobb 12 yard pass from Mike Hartline, Seiber kick
PASSING
Mike Hartline 20-27-178 yards-1 TD – 1 INT
RUSHING
Derrick Locke 15- 72-(4.8) – 1 TD
Alonzo Smith 10-45-(4.5) – 0 TD
John Conner 3-28-(9.3) – 1 TD
Mike Hartline 3-18-(6.0)- 0 TD
Randall Cobb 1-6-(6.0) – 0 TD
Moncell Allen 1-(-1) -(-1) – 0 TD
RECEIVING
Randall Cobb 6-71-(11.8)-1
Derrick Locke 4-47-(11.8)-0
Chris Matthews 6-34-(5.7)-0
Matt Roark 2-15-(7.5)-0
TC Drake 1-6-(6.0)-0
Gene McKaskill 1-5-(5.0)-0
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