Winning Back Governor's Cup 'Huge' for Jeff Brohm, Louisville Players

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After half a decade of rivalry disappointment, the Louisville football program's long national nightmare is over: the Governor's Cup is finally coming back to the Derby City.

The latest chapter of the annual rivalry between Louisville and Kentucky was written this past Saturday, and it was matchup where the Cardinals left little doubt on the gridiron who the victor was. By the time the clock hit double zeroes, Louisville has emerged with a decisive 41-14 victory over their arch rival - and anyone that watched it knows it could have been a lot worse.

It was a cathartic moment for coaches, players and fans alike following several years of rivalry ineptitude. Louisville had lost each of the last five matchups vs. Kentucky, including three in which they were the betting favorite, by an average margin of 25.8 points.

For everyone involved with the program, they know just how massive it was for Louisville to finally swing the pendulum of rivalry momentum back in their favor.

"It's huge," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "I'm fully aware of this rivalry, and what it means to the fan base, and to the university and to these two really good programs. We came ready to play. I thought that our guys wanted it. We worked really hard. We knew the importance of finishing the season. We talked about finishing as strong as we could, and that every game matters. To come through on the road in a pretty convincing fashion, is a really good win."

For Brohm himself, a Louisville native and alum, it was a chance for him to finally get one over on Kentucky. He never got a chance to face the Wildcats as a player before the rivalry was renewed in 1994, and he dropped his first matchup against UK as a head coach last season.

"To finally get the Governor's Cup back and represent our university and bring it back to our fans, is really a great day for us, and we're really happy to get this victory," he said.

Brohm's desire to snap the losing streak to their bitter rival trickled down to the rest of the team not only during the week, but over the course of the entire season. But for the handful of Louisville natives on the roster, such as defensive end Ramon Puryear, the magnitude of this game wasn't something that had to be explicitly expressed.

"This is definitely something I've envisioned since I was a kid," Puryear said. "It's been great. It feels like a Disney movie. It's been wonderful. We knew it was gonna be a hard fought game, and we came out and we executed."

The win also gave Puryear and the rest of the seniors to go out on a high note, and make sure that they would not go winless against the Wildcats for their collegiate career.

"It's a surreal moment," defensive end Ashton Gillotte said. "I think it's a great team win. I think we needed it as a senior group, just to be able to basically get the last laugh on the way out. That's just something I think we all were anticipating and preparing ourselves for, and it came to fruition today.

Even for the players who experienced the rivalry for the first time, they fully understood what was at stake against Kentucky, and wanted to make sure they played their part in helping bring the Governor's Cup home.

"It was great," true freshman running back Duke Watson said. "You could feel the energy from everywhere. We knew we had to come out here and do what we supposed to do. All week at practice, just all week anywhere you see them, you just got to beat Kentucky. We got the job done."

(Photo of Jeff Brohm: Jordan Prather - Imagn Images)

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