LOUISVILLE — Mark Stoops was all smiles. His seniors cried tears of joy after Kentucky defeated No. 11 Louisville 41-38 Saturday to end a five-game losing streak against the Cardinals.
“As you can imagine, it’s an exciting, very emotional win,” Stoops said. “One that our program desperately needed and deserved. Our players have worked extremely hard for a long time. This team has been fun to coach from that beginning.”
The beginning wasn’t exactly fun at times for Kentucky, which opened with losses to Southern Mississippi and Florida, respectively, casting doubt over whether or not Stoops could get the job done in his fourth season at the helm. The fanbase was running out of patience. Stoops knew it, the coaching staff knew it and the players weren’t immune from the noise. The staff, players and administration stayed the course.
Despite the slow start, the Wildcats (7-5) recovered and won seven of their last 10 games to close out the regular season and earned their first postseason bid in five years. The team’s bowl destination won’t be known for at least a week, but Stoops isn’t concerned and wants his players to enjoy the taste of victory for more than a day or two.
The scene in the locker room following the breakthrough victory was an emotional one for Kentucky, which reclaimed the Governor’s Cup after losing to the Cardinals for the past five seasons.
“Every senior was crying,” Kentucky freshman Benny Snell said. “They really wanted this win and we got it.”
After losing two of its past three games, including a heartbreaker to Georgia in the closing seconds nearly a month ago, almost no one gave the Wildcats much of a chance against the highly-touted Cardinals, who were in the conversation for a national championship until a loss at Houston last week bounced Louisville out of the Top 10 and eliminated the Cardinals from consideration for a coveted playoff spot.
Despite the Houston let down, the odds favored Louisville and its Heisman Trophy candidate Lamar Jackson. Although a big underdog, the Kentucky camp never doubted a different outcome and slowing down Jackson was a big part of the game plan.
Jackson got his yards — 171 rushing and 281 passing — but failed to deliver at crunch time and his fumble inside the red zone in the closing minutes resulted in Kentucky’s game-winning drive, capped by Austin MacGinnis’ 47-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
It was junior middle linebacker Courtney Love who scooped up the decisive fumble that kept the Wildcats’ upset hopes alive.
“I was trying to wrap up Lamar and he fumbled and I just thought, ‘I have to get this ball and hang on for dear life,” Love said.
Although Jackson ripped off some big plays against Kentucky’s defense, the Wildcats collected three sacks and had two interceptions, keeping Jackson out of rhythm, especially in the second half.
“You shut him down, you shut down the team and I think that’s what we did,” Kentucky linebacker Jordan Jones said.
Jackson didn’t have his best performance against the Wildcats, but it was still a difficult task for Kentucky to keep the Louisville quarterback grounded.
“It was tough getting him on the ground and he made a lot of unbelievable plays,” Love said. “He’s a great player and I voted him for the Heisman Trophy. Recovering that fumble just shows the hard work that we put in a team to win like that is a blessing.”
Kentucky signal-caller Stephen Johnson nearly matched Jackson with an impressive performance of his own. Johnson threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns, with all three of those going for 35 yards or more.
“Stephen Johnson was very amazing, really,” Stoops said. “He has a knack for making plays and he threw the deep ball beautifully. He has a lot of poise.”
Stoops also praised the rest of the team for remaining poised throughout the contest.
“We had to make big plays (across the board) and we did that tonight,” the Kentucky coach said.
Stoops wasn’t ready to determine whether or not the win was the biggest in his tenure with the Wildcats but knows it takes the pressure off the criticism he endured earlier this season.
“It’s big,” Stoops said. “There’s no denying that.”
Keith Taylor is a senior sports writer for KyForward, where he primarily covers University of Kentucky sports. Reach him at keith.taylor@kyforward.com or @keithtaylor21 on Twitter