Louisville football game balls: Offense stars in win over Boston College

Evan Conley

Stats: 10/16, 140 yards, 1 touchdown

Giving our fourth game ball to split between the two quarterbacks who played snaps against Boston College is something that could be done (and probably should be). But to me, the quarterback who gets to hold the game ball high after the huge victory against Boston College is freshman Evan Conley.

At the early signing period when Conley flipped from Appalachian State to follow Scott Satterfield to Louisville, many Louisville fans wondered if the three-star quarterback from Georgia would get a chance to play early on in his career. With Jawon Pass and Micale Cunningham on the roster already, and Louisville’s likely to pursue a graduate transfer after the spring semester signs pointing to Conley being a backup for the first season or maybe “just another arm in practice.”

After the performance from Conley on Saturday, there shouldn’t be a single doubt in any one’s mind on whether he belongs on the field for the Cards.

Against Western Kentucky, Conley came into the game late with a nice lead after Cunningham went down to an injury and he got his career started with a bang after connecting on a 60-plus yard touchdown to Tutu Atwell.

That taste of game action left Conley hungry to prove that he could play at the level needed for Louisville win. After Pass missed his second straight game against FSU, and Cunningham once again was injured, Conley went hard to work during the bye week making sure he was ready to go if his number was called.

When he got the call against BC early in the second quarter, he didn’t disappoint as the Louisville offense kept moving the football right down the field just as they had done during two of their previous three drives leading to a touchdown by Javian Hawkins.

That wouldn’t be it though. Cunningham would once again go down to a lower leg injury, and Conley was inserted back in the game and never looked back.

Conley led Louisville on an eight-play drive that lasted upwards of three and a half minutes before the Cards ultimately had to punt, setting up a drive that would end in a BC field goal that would give the Golden Eagles the lead with less than four minutes to go.

With a lot of help from Hawkins and receiver Seth Dawkins, Conley showed incredible grit and poise for a true freshman as he led the Cards on an eight-play, 52-yard drive that would finish in the game-winning kick from Blanton Creque.

After the game, Satterfield gushed about Conley and the heart he showed under pressure against a good Boston College team, saying:

"“What happened with him doing that, he gained respect from his teammates. I think that’s huge. You can have respect from your coaches and all that, but you have to get it from your peers, and the guys you’re throwing to and your O-line who’s blocking for you. Because he works his tail off the whole week….This is a true freshman and that says a lot about him and we got confidence in him,” Satterfield said. “I’ve told you guys, I don’t care who plays quarterback. I really don’t. I just want whoever’s going to move the offense. And both guys moved the offense today.”"

Maybe the most reassuring part of Conley’s late-game heroics was the freshman not being blinded by the big lights of the moment. After the game he told the media:

"“It’s just football. It’s not anything different. Just a bigger crowd than I’m used to”"

With Cunningham’s status unknown and Jawon Pass still being out, Conley now has a shot to take the quarterback job for good and never look back.