It was a cool, fall day as the Louisville Cardinals took on the Boston College Eagles in front of 46,007 fans at Cardinal Stadium. Both offenses were explosive as the teams combined for more than 1,100 yards.
The Cardinals made key plays on defense towards the end of the game to secure a 41-39 win, improving their record to 3-2 (1-1 in ACC). Boston College fell to 3-3, (1-3 in ACC).
Pass in Review
Relying on the passing game, Boston moved the ball quickly down the field during their opening drive. The Louisville defense held star running back AJ Dillion in check at the start of the game.
As the Eagles poised to strike first from big passing plays, Louisville’s Monty Montgomery ripped the ball from Dillion as he pushed for the goal line, causing a fumble and a touch-back for the first turnover of the game. Javian Hawkins made a huge splash to set up a Malik Cunningham TD run.
Boston College responded with an Anthony Brown pass to Hunter Long for a 72-yard, Boston College touchdown. The reception was a career-long for Long. Louisville answered back with a Seth Dawkins reception from Cunningham with a 59-yard TD pass.
Quarter Pounder
Javian Hawkins ran wild in the second quarter. He had a 32-yard run, followed by a 3-yard TD run to give the Cardinals a 21-14 lead. Hawkins kept the big plays going with a 21-yard run. Tutu Atwell dropped what would’ve been a TD as he broke free on a play-action pass from Cunningham.
Rodjay Burns returned a punt down to the Boston College 3-yard line, but was called back for a holding penalty. Cunningham made up for the penalty with a strike to Seth Dawkins, who broke free for a 77-yard pass play. The ensuing play with Hassan Hall capped off the drive with a 6-yard at 28-14.
The UofL crowd rocked at what seemed to be a double-digit lead leading into the half, but Boston College had other ideas. The Eagles struck quick with a 9-play 70-yard for a touchdown and a trick play for a two-point conversion, making the halftime deficit 28-22.
What appeared to be a clear fumble was called dead due to forward progress, even though Boston was still fighting for yards when stripped. After Boston College scored due to the call, Hassan Hall returned the kick-off 43 yards.
Cardiac Cards
A Cunningham-to-Dez Fitzpatrick, 41-yard pass brought Cards fans back to life, but not for long. As UofL scored, a holding call and questionable personal foul pushed the Cardinals to 3rd and goal from the 30-yard line.
Even so, Evan Conley got the Louisville offense rolling again as he split time with Cunningham in the second half. Conley connected on 23-yard pass to Dez Fitzpatrick for a touchdown on a 13-play, 96-yards-just-over 6-minutes-drive. Anthony Johnson followed with an interception.
It was the first interception of the season on the 143rd throw against UofL. Louisville’s defense came up huge as Boston College sought to win the game in the closing seconds with a field goal. The Cardinals picked up 664 yards of total offense, including 428 through the air.
