Louisville football: Crucial mistakes cost Cards late vs. FSU

Louisville football had a real chance to get their first signature win against Florida State, but untimely mistakes cost them late.

This weekend the 2-1 Louisville football program made the trip to Tallahassee for a week four showdown with conference rival Florida State.

For the second straight week, the drama began before kickoff.

Some pre-game pleasantries were exchanged between both squads hours before the game, causing both teams to eventually be separated.

Louisville quarterback Jawon Pass was officially ruled out on game day for the second week in a row. Meaning it was time for Malik Cunningham, or maybe even Evan Conley. This move caused some slight movement, moving Florida State from a six point favorite to seven.

A very empty Doak Campbell stadium had their eyes on two teams that desperately needed this win, here’s how it played out:

The first quarter was, well, a nightmare for the Louisville football team. From beginning to end, Florida State just looked like the better team. They looked faster, stronger, more prepared, and more motivated than the Cardinals.

A huge 4rh down stop on Florida State’s first drive as they were approaching the end zone looked to give Louisville some momentum early. But an immediate three and out from the Cardinal offense had the defense right back out on the field.

Florida State put together a solid eight play scoring drive after the UofL punt, capped off by a one yard touchdown run from star running back Cam Akers.

On the ensuing kickoff, Louisville had a touchdown on the return called back due to a block in the back, which was a back breaker for the Cards.

Louisville found their way to two first downs, only to be stopped on 4th & three in FSU territory to give the ball back to the Seminoles.

On Florida State’s next drive, they made a quarterback change. A familiar face in the college football world, Wisconsin transfer Alex Hornibrook made his first appearance as a Seminole. His first pass went for 44 yards and a touchdown, to put the Seminoles up 14-0.

More kick return drama followed for the Cards, as a deep kickoff that caught Javian Hawkins in no man’s land, had Louisville starting their next drive from their own one yard line.

The Seminoles seemed to recognize from the opening snap that Louisville was going to struggle to pass successfully without Jawon Pass, they were focused on stopping the run.

The stacked box from the Seminole defense forced another three and out before Louisville could gain one first down, which meant FSU would start their campaign for a third score with fantastic field position.

It took the Seminoles just four plays to fine the end zone, on another power run from Cam Akers. This put the Seminoles up 21-0 right as the first quarter concluded.

The Louisville defense was much better in the second quarter, forcing one three and out and forcing the Seminoles into a missed 51 yard field goal.

After the missed field goal, Louisville finally found some offensive success. A long16 play, 66 yard drive that ended in a Tutu Atwell touchdown on a crucial 3rd & goal put the Cardinals back within two scores.

Florida State looked like they might add three before the half ended, but Seminole kicker Ricky Aguayo missed his 2nd field goal of the half, this time from 47, to take this game to intermission.

The squads exchanged field goal attempts early in the third, Louisville concerting to make it 21-10 and FSU missing for a third consecutive time.

Louisville took advantage, engineering a 76 yard drive, highlighted by a 48 yard catch and run from freshman Marshon Ford. Malik Cunningham wouldn’t be denied on a four yard quarterback keeper, as the Cards cut the lead to four and were right back in the game.

The Louisville defense did it’s job again, allowing only 1 first down on the following drive to put the ball back in Cunningham’s hands just 73 seconds later. On the third play of the following drive, Cunningham did something we hadn’t seen yet, throw deep. He found Dez Fitzpatrick for a 74 yard touchdown, to give Louisville their first lead after being down 21-0.

The Cardinal defense forced another three and out, making this game seem more winnable then ever. Louisville was close to the red zone, when Malik Cunningham threw a costly interception to give the Seminoles the ball back and to end a solid drive with zero points.

Then the game turned again, Florida State capitalized on a blown coverage by the Cardinals for a 60 yard, no doubter touchdown to retake the lead.s

Life was brought back into the stadium, as the Cardinals had their backs against the wall once again. A fumbled snap on the first play of the following drive doomed the Louisville offense, causing a loss of 9 yards and producing an imminent punt.

Florida State drove down the field and found themselves with 1st and goal to go. The Cardinal defense made a huge stand to keep the Seminoles out the end zone and to seemingly keep this is as a one possession game. However, on the Florida State field goal try, a costly roughing the kicker penalty on Louisville extended the Seminole drive. When you give a guy like Cam Akers three more chances from the two yard line, he’s going to make the most of it, which he did. FSU took an 11 point lead, which would remain the score until the clock struck zero.

This game is very confusing to analyze. Louisville looked like they were done for after one quarter. But they fought back, scored 24 unanswered points on the road to give themselves a chance. But they did leave Cardinal fans wanting more, as three costly mistakes down the stretch cost them the game. They’ll have two weeks to think about this one, the next time we’ll see the Cardinals, October 5th at Cardinal Stadium against Boston College.