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

Monty Montgomery & Anthony Johnson

Stats:

• Monty Montgomery – 2 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery
• Anthony Johnson – 2 tackles, 1 interception 

Two defensive reserves, two huge forced turnovers, one game ball.

Without the big plays of linebacker Monty Montgomery and cornerback Anthony Johnson, Louisville very well might be sitting at 2-4 heading into a three week stretch against ranked opponents.

But thankfully, due to both of their respective forced turnovers, the Cards were able to do enough to pull out a close victory at home and move on to continue fighting for bowl eligibility.

Leading up to Boston College, Louisville statistically was one of the worst teams in the country when it came to forcing turnovers. After forcing Notre Dame’s Ian Book into a fumble in the season opener the Cards weren’t able to force the turnovers that we expected with Bryan Brown leading the way as the defensive coordinator.

Louisville did force two fumbles against Western Kentucky, but when they desperately needed an interception or fumble against Florida State it unfortunately never came.

Against Boston College, Louisville had to find a way to force an interception to keep the ball out of the hands of the dynamic AJ Dillon and that’s exactly what they did – and they did it when it counted most.

One the first drive of the game, Boston College’s offense provided some foreshadowing as to how the rest of the day would go as they drove down the field with ease getting down to the four-yard line in little under four minutes of gameplay.

But on third and one at the Louisville four-yard line, sophomore Monty Montgomery came up with a huge play, stealing the ball right out of the hands of AJ Dillon and getting a touchback for the Louisville offense.

The heady play by Montgomery, who has proven to be a playmaker in limited action this season, not only saved what would have likely been a difference-making touchdown (and maybe changes the momentum of the game) but also helped Louisville set up a six-play, 80-yard scoring play.

The second forced turnover of the game, and arguably the most important of the season, came in the fourth quarter on a crucial third and three at the fifty-yard line when cornerback Anthony Johnson picked off backup quarterback Dennis Grosel.

Once again, the timing for the turnover could not have been more perfect. Boston College had taken the kickoff to the 43-yard line, setting them up for a potential easy scoring drive. After an incompletion, and then a seven-yard run from AJ Dillon, Boston College had a manageable third down that would put them into scoring territory. Had Johnson not made that play, BC easily could’ve gotten the game closer (earlier than what they did) and it could have pressed Louisville into forcing things.

Ultimately that didn’t happen and now Louisville has their first of hopefully many interceptions this season.

Turnovers are a huge part of creating a winning team, and for Louisville’s defense to come up huge in two crucial moments shows that regardless of what had happened in other games and in the moments leading up to them, the defense had fight in them that we hadn’t seen in quite some time. A true sign of the cultural transformation at work.