Photo by: Rachel Klotz | Louisville Athletics
Consistency is the Key in Rivalry Game Versus Kentucky
November 25, 2024 | Football
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville football team will close out the regular season Saturday afternoon versus in-state rival Kentucky at Kroger Field. Coming off a resounding win over Pittsburgh last Saturday, the Cardinals are looking to maintain a sense of urgency heading into a tough matchup with the Wildcats.
Head coach Jeff Brohm said, "Well, we're definitely looking forward to this week. Our guys understand it's a rivalry game; it's a game we haven't won in quite some time and we're going to have to play well to win. So, you can throw out any records for this game, you've got to show up ready to play."
UofL is searching for its first win against Kentucky in five years, with the last win in 2017 when the Cards made the 90-mile trip east and came away with a 44-17 victory. Both teams will play for the Governor's Cup, dating back to when the rivalry first began in 1994.
"Well, I think the fans love rivalry games without question. The Louisville-Kentucky matchup in football and basketball and other sports is huge around the state, it's huge in this city. Everybody wears their red and blue and you want bragging rights for the year. These games are fun for fans, it's fun for players that know each other, it's one of those games that just like at any level, it doesn't matter what your record is, you want to win the game."
The Wildcats are currently 4-7 on the year and 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky is led by their defensive front of Jamon-Dumas Johnson, J.J. Weaver, and Jordan Lovett. The Wildcats rank 28th in pass defense, with opponents averaging 188.7 yards per game through the air.
"Well, they're very talented and the defensive line is the exact same as last year. They're big, they're athletic, and they produce. This defense has produced all year long. They shut Georgia down, they shut Ole Miss down and they know how to play football."
Louisville is looking to end the season on a high note after closing out the home portion of the schedule with a 37-9 win over Pittsburgh. Consistency has been the message to the team late in the season in order to finish games and stay disciplined for a full 60 minutes.
"Well, it's important to do, you only have so many plays in a game, and you have to take advantage of it. The main thing we do is try and identify all the mistakes we made and not shy away from it. Talk about it in detail, why did it happen? What caused it to happen? Why would it happen again? What are we doing wrong as coaches, and I think we work hard to try and fix that, and you hope you can get over the hump and have less of those as the year goes on and that's the goal. Occasionally it might pop up again, a couple things you didn't think of, or possibly reoccurred so it's up to us as coaches to try and get better at that as the year goes on and eliminate mistakes that we can help eliminate and of course our players have to buy into it as well."
The battle for the Governor's Cup will kick off at 12 p.m. ET from Lexington and can be seen on the SEC Network.
Head coach Jeff Brohm said, "Well, we're definitely looking forward to this week. Our guys understand it's a rivalry game; it's a game we haven't won in quite some time and we're going to have to play well to win. So, you can throw out any records for this game, you've got to show up ready to play."
UofL is searching for its first win against Kentucky in five years, with the last win in 2017 when the Cards made the 90-mile trip east and came away with a 44-17 victory. Both teams will play for the Governor's Cup, dating back to when the rivalry first began in 1994.
"Well, I think the fans love rivalry games without question. The Louisville-Kentucky matchup in football and basketball and other sports is huge around the state, it's huge in this city. Everybody wears their red and blue and you want bragging rights for the year. These games are fun for fans, it's fun for players that know each other, it's one of those games that just like at any level, it doesn't matter what your record is, you want to win the game."
The Wildcats are currently 4-7 on the year and 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky is led by their defensive front of Jamon-Dumas Johnson, J.J. Weaver, and Jordan Lovett. The Wildcats rank 28th in pass defense, with opponents averaging 188.7 yards per game through the air.
"Well, they're very talented and the defensive line is the exact same as last year. They're big, they're athletic, and they produce. This defense has produced all year long. They shut Georgia down, they shut Ole Miss down and they know how to play football."
Louisville is looking to end the season on a high note after closing out the home portion of the schedule with a 37-9 win over Pittsburgh. Consistency has been the message to the team late in the season in order to finish games and stay disciplined for a full 60 minutes.
"Well, it's important to do, you only have so many plays in a game, and you have to take advantage of it. The main thing we do is try and identify all the mistakes we made and not shy away from it. Talk about it in detail, why did it happen? What caused it to happen? Why would it happen again? What are we doing wrong as coaches, and I think we work hard to try and fix that, and you hope you can get over the hump and have less of those as the year goes on and that's the goal. Occasionally it might pop up again, a couple things you didn't think of, or possibly reoccurred so it's up to us as coaches to try and get better at that as the year goes on and eliminate mistakes that we can help eliminate and of course our players have to buy into it as well."
The battle for the Governor's Cup will kick off at 12 p.m. ET from Lexington and can be seen on the SEC Network.
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