Louisville football couldn’t stop Kevin Jennings.
SMU’s former backup quarterback found holes in the Cardinals’ defense and completed his first 13 passes to lead the Mustangs to a 34-27 win over No. 22 U of L on Saturday at L&N Stadium.
The loss will likely drop the Cardinals (3-2, 1-1 ACC) out of the polls and puts a damper on their chances of getting back to the ACC title game. The squad had a fiery comeback fall short after outscoring the Mustangs, 14-3, in the third quarter.
With 5:40 left in the third quarter, the Cardinals tied the game at 27 on an 86-yard touchdown from Tyler Shough to Ja’Corey Brooks. It was the longest play of the season and seventh longest in program history.
The Cardinals then had opportunities to take the lead in the fourth quarter but came up short in each. With U of L facing fourth and 1 from the SMU 19 two plays into the fourth quarter, the Mustangs (5-1, 2-0) stuffed running back Don Chaney for the turnover on downs.
After Louisville’s defense forced the first three-and-out, the offense stalled near midfield on two incomplete passes from Shough. The last pass was nearly picked off, but wide receiver Caullin Lacy batted it away.
With 2:29 left, Mustangs safety Isaiah Nwokobia was more successful and intercepted Shough’s pass in the end zone.
SMU regained the lead four minutes before that on a 1-yard TD run from LJ Johnson — its lone TD of the second half.
U of L’s troubles started before that point, though. Jennings was the fourth mobile quarterback the Cardinals have faced in as many games and struggled to contain him. They had some success last week in holding Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard to his second-lowest rushing performance of the season (52 yards).
But Jennings was at a different level. In the first half, he had 108 rushing yards to complement 149 yards on 13-of-15 passing. The bulk of those rushing yards came on a 59-yard touchdown that put SMU up, 21-10, midway through the second quarter.
Jennings had a quieter second half with only 5 rushing yards but finished with 113 to go along with 281 passing yards.
Louisville hits the road to play Virginia at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville football, women’s basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville football score: Jeff Brohm and Cards fall in ACC standings
