JUSTIN ROWLAND:
That’s the only way Kentucky could have salvaged something here at the end of the season. Folks are still going to look back at this year and wish they had accomplished more, but winning on the road against a Top-10 Louisville team is a nice consolation prize and does give UK the chance to carry some momentum and good feelings into the offseason. Devin Leary didn’t play a perfect game but he made some outstanding throws and did not back down. He didn’t flinch. Ray Davis, Barion Brown, Deone Walker, JJ Weaver – just some of the other players who make exemplary plays. Mark Stoops really owns this rivalry. Brohm had talked about UofL’s players not wanting to let the fan base down, but they probably feel pretty down today.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
Like JR said above, I think this one goes a long way toward soothing some of the disappointment from what was expected to be a much better season. Not only do you beat your arch-rival, you do it in their house with a rabid sell-out crowd foaming at the mouth to end the losing skid, you retain the Governor’s Cup for a fifth straight year, and you do it in a season when you were down and they were knocking on the door of the College Football Playoff with a 10-1 record. That has to be a soul-crushing loss for the Cards. To accomplish that, several players came up with some great individual efforts. Ray Davis goes for 137 combined rushing and receiving yards while scoring three touchdowns. Barion Brown delivers a 100-yard kickoff return for a TD and comes up with some huge plays to keep the chains moving. JJ Weaver saved his finest performance for his hometown team, recording eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Fellow linebacker D’Eryk Jackson forced another fumble, and Jordan Lovett called “game” with an interception in the end zone with two seconds remaining. Today, the Cats came up with those game-changing plays that have eluded them since a 5-0 start to the season.
