Louisville Runs Over Cincinnati in Fenway Bowl

The Keg of Nails will remain in the hands of the Cardinals.

BOSTON - Following a roller coaster two-week period, the Louisville football program is at least heading into the offseason with some momentum on their side.

Taking on former longtime conference rival Cincinnati for the first time since 2013, the Cardinals were able to come out on top in the Fenway Bowl to keep the Keg of Nails, taking down the Bearcats 24-7 Saturday at Fenway Park.

Louisville finishes the 2022 season with a record of 8-5, their first eight-win season since 2019. Cincinnati concludes their year with a 9-4 mark.

It was a matchup in which both teams were incredibly shorthanded amongst both their player rosters and coaching staffs. Not only was there a combined 21 opt outs and transfer portal entries between the Cardinals and Bearcats, neither team had their head coaches from the regular season.

UC's Luke Fickell left to take the vacant head job at Wisconsin, then Scott Satterfield, ironically, departed UofL to take the job that Fickell left behind. Cornerbacks and special teams coach Kerry Coombs coached the Bearcats for the bowl, whereas director of player personnel Deion Branch did the same for the Cardinals. Both coaches were left with skeleton crew assistant staffs.

Louisville more than tripled the Bearcats in total offensive production, collecting 419 yards of offense to Cincinnati's 138. This was fueled mainly by a phenomenal effort running the ball, with the Cardinals collecting 287 yards on the ground.

Running back Jawhar Jordan continued his stellar late season burst, rushing for 115 yards and two touchdowns on just nine attempts. Maurice Turner also broke the century mark with 164 rushing yards on 31 carries, mainly in the second half.

Quarterback Brock Domamn went 10-of-18 for a touchdown and an interception, with wide receivers Jaelin Carter and Braden Smith serving as his primary targets. Carter finished with four receptions for 50 yards, both of which were game-highs, and Smith caught three passes for 45 yards.

Louisville's defense was firing on all cylinders for the entire game, and never truly allowed the Bearcats to be comfortable with the exception of their lone scoring drive. The Cardinals notched 10 tackles for loss, seven sacks, three forced fumbles and four pass breakups.

Inside linebacker Monty Montgomery led the way defensively for Louisville with a team-high eight tackles, 1.5 TFLs, a sack and a forced fumble. Outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah, who set the school record for most games played with 61, notched six tackle and 1.5 tackles for loss that were also sacks.

With a majority of the opt outs and transfer portal entries from both sides coming on offense, it was a struggle to move the ball right out of the gates. On the first six drives of the game, the Cardinals and Bearcats generated just 66 total offensive yards, combining for three punts, two fumbles (one for each team) and a turnover on downs in the process.

After that, both teams took a step forward on offense, especially Louisville. The Cardinals struck first on their final drive of the first quarter, needing just one play after a UC fumble to find the end zone, courtesy of a 49-yard scoring run from Jordan.

Cincinnati was able to immediately respond with a methodical drive that culminated in an insane 20-yard touchdown catch and run by Wyatt Fischer. However, Louisville countered with back-to-back scoring drives before halftime, with Ford catching an eight-yard touchdown pass and Jordan rushing for a 41-yard score to give the Cards a 21-7 lead at halftime.

The scoring cooled down in the third quarter, but Louisville still used it to pad their lead, as James Turner was able to connect on a 48-yards field goal for the only scoring play in the quarter. It marked the longest field goal in Louisville bowl history.

Louisville's offense hit a major snag in the fourth quarter as Domann and wide receiver Braden Smith threw interceptions, and Turner fumbled just short of the goal on three straight drives. Fortunately, their defense didn't allow Cincinnati to score off any of the three turnovers, en route to pitching a second half shutout and clinching the game.

(Photo of Maurice Turner: Eric Canha - USA TODAY Sports)

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