A quick look back at the weekend that was for the four Kentuckiana Football Bowl Subdivision teams (Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana and Western Kentucky).
Louisville, we have a problem. The Cardinals dropped to 0-2 - their first such start in 17 years - with a 34-31 loss to Houston (and these weren’t even the Andre Ware Cougars) on Saturday. It’s only the second time a Bobby Petrino-coached team has lost its first two games of a season (the first was that infamous year he spent with the Atlanta Falcons in 2007). And with 12th-ranked Clemson coming to town Thursday night, UofL could be looking at its first 0-3 start since the final season of the Bob Weber (gulp!) Era. Suddenly a year that started with plenty of promise is in danger of going down the toilet faster than that new Zac Efron movie. Is it time for Cards’ fans to hit the panic button? Not quite yet, but it's close. It’s going to take a lot of work for Louisville to make its sixth straight bowl game. The good news is that the second half of the schedule isn’t as difficult as the first half. The bad news is that the Cards still haven’t found their starting quarterback yet. Lamar Jackson’s struggles, followed by Kyle Bolin’s terrific relief Saturday muddled up the QB situation even more. While we're on the subject, what's up with Reggie Bonnafon and Will Gardner? Are they really the Nos. 3 and 4 quarterbacks on the depth chart?
The streak is over. One of the longest dry spells this side of Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell’s character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin) is over. Kentucky beat South Carolina, and The Visor, 26-22 Saturday night in Columbia, S.C. to end its 22-game road losing streak (which spanned five years, and six if you count SEC games). The Wildcats played great in the first half, but had to hang on for dear life in the second half. It looked like it was going to be one of those games that Kentucky fans are very familiar with, i.e. the Wildcats would lead most of the way then blow it at the end. Surprisingly, though, that didn’t happen. Denzil Ware’s thanks-for-dropping-the-ball-at-my-feet scoop and 2-point score in the fourth quarter, followed by Chris Westry’s interception on USC’s final drive, helped UK survive. This was definitely the biggest win of the Mark Stoops Era and could set the stage for Kentucky ending its even more Andy-esque streak against Florida next Saturday.
At IU any victory is a good one, even one against a Conference USA team that went 4-8 last season. The Hoosiers, who trailed 14-13 at halftime and 22-19 early in the fourth quarter, scored the last 17 points of the game to beat Florida International 36-22 Saturday night in Bloomington. Surprisingly IU’s defense - which was shredded by FCS member Southern Illinois a week before - didn’t do half bad against the Golden Panthers. The Hoosiers forced three turnovers and converted those into 20 points. Freshman Jameel Cook Jr.’s 96-yard pick-six - on an FIU fourth-and-goal pass - with just under 4 minutes to play sealed the win for IU. The Hoosiers are now 2-0 for the second time under Kevin Wilson, who is in the fifth year of a disappointing tenure. If IU is going to go 3-0 for the first time under Wilson it will have to beat Western Kentucky, the preseason favs in C-USA.
It was a win, but a big loss for WKU. The Hilltoppers avenged last year’s embarrassing performance (a 59-10 cold-cocking) at La Tech with a 41-38 triumph over Karl Malone U. on Thursday night in Bowling Green. However, it came at a cost. Standout running back Leon Allen suffered a season-ending knee injury in the victory. To say it’s a huge loss would be an understatement. Redshirt freshman D’Andre Ferby is the next man up for the Tops. He played well against the Bulldogs after replacing Allen, and Western fans are hoping he can carry that over for the rest of the season. The good news is that WKU still has quarterback Brandon Doughty and the play-calling prowess of coach Jeff Brohm.
Photo courtesy University of Kentucky Football Facebook Page
