Louisville Upset by Cal for Second Overtime Loss of Season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program has made their hay with strong second halves this season, but that second half magic has officially found their match.

Returning home to L&N Stadium for a primetime showdown against Cal, the Cardinals - who entered as 20.5-point favorites - could not make winning plays against the Golden Bears, and were dealt a stunning 29-26 overtime loss on Saturday night.

On the first possession of overtime, a chop block penalty and a pair of incompletions forced Louisville to have to settle for a 49-yard field goal. When Cal took the ball, QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele found WR Jacob De Jesus - who finished with 16 receptions for 158 yards - for a three-yard game-winning touchdown.

Louisville (7-2, 4-2 ACC) not only sees their three-game win streak broken by the hands of Cal (6-4, 3-3 ACC), their chances of reaching both the ACC Championship and the College Football Playoff have been dealt a crushing blow. UofL was ranked No. 15 in the first CFP rankings this past week, and a win would have put them in a five-way tie for first place in the ACC standings.

Both of the Cardinals' losses so far this season have come in overtime at home. Louisville dropped a 30-27 loss against Virginia back on Oct. 4.

Louisville put up only 351 yards of offense, including just 137 in the second half, thanks primarily to a rough outing from QB Miller Moss. He went 20-of-38 for 203 yards, but threw for no touchdowns and one interception. Keyjuan Brown, stepping in as the starting running back following Isaac Brown's injury, ran for 136 yards on 14 attempts.

Conversely, the Cardinals' typically stout defense had trouble containing the Golden Bears for large swaths of the night. Sagapolutele went 30-of-47, throwing for 323 yards and two touchdown, and helping Cal put up 427 yards of offense - the most surrendered by UofL all season.

Early, it seemed like Louisville might be able to avoid a slow start. Cal missed a 40-yard field goal on the first drive of the game, then the Cardinals turned around and strung together a 10-play scoring drive - ending with a two-yard touchdown run from Duke Watson - who returned for the first time since an ankle injury vs. Virginia earlier in the month.

However, Louisville's offense began to stall out afterwards, having to settle for 30- and 49-yard field goals from Cooper Ranvier on two of their final three drives of the half. After putting up 78 yards on drive No. 1, UofL could only put up 131 yards on their next four.

Conversely, the Golden Bears' offense, and specifically Sagapolutele, began to heat up. Cal went three-and-out on their follow up drive, but then strung together three straight scoring drives to end the half - putting up 214 yards of offense during that span.

Morris caught a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game, Chase Meyer booted a 27-yard field goal to tie it again, then RB Kendrick Raphael punched it in from two yards out with seven seconds left in the half take a 17-13 lead into the break.

Louisville certainly didn't have the best start to the second half. Moss threw an interception on the second play of the quarter, and Cal then turned that into a 45-yard field goal from Meyer to make it a touchdown advantage.

Aided by some untimely penalties by the Golden Bears, the Cardinals were able to tie the game up on their next drive out, with Moss rushing for a score from a yard out. The two teams then traded field goals, with Meyer booting a 26-yarder, and Ranvier connecting from 39 yards out to make it a tie game with 11:08 to go.

Unfortunately, neither team could break the tie in the final minutes of regulation. Following Ranvier's kick, Cal and Louisville combined for seven punts and 56 yards of offense

Next up, Louisville has a short turnaround, and will host Clemson for a primetime weeknight showdown. Kickoff against the Tigers is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. EST.

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