Louisville, Kentucky- Boston College lost a 41-39 shootout against Louisville at Cardinal Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It has been a long time since Louisville beat an ACC foe and you could feel this game was special watching them run on the field yelling, screaming, and high fiving each other as they entered the Howard Schnellenberger complex.
Six hundred and eighty-six days had passed since Louisville’s last ACC win at home against Syracuse on Nov. 18, 2017. Kicker Blanton Creque made eight extra points in that game.
None was so instrumental as the 41-yard field goal that gave the Cardinals the win over the Eagles, ending a nine-game ACC losing streak.
Creque jogged out on the field as usual and did his job kicking the pigskin through the uprights.
Louisville fans weren’t worried when Creque took to the field given the last few years, he’s been a sure-footed kicker in clutch situations.
“Cold-blooded Creque, that’s what we call him,” Dawkins said. “He hit one at Florida State a couple years ago. He’s cold-blooded. He has ice in his veins.”
He is fourth in Cardinals history with 43 made field goals and senior receiver Seth Dawkins can recall several big kicks throughout his time with Louisville.
This game was a boxing match between these two ACC rivals, like Ali and Frazier. After a force fumble by Louisville the game started to heat up. The next two drives were capped off by long pass plays from both the Eagles and Cardinals. Quarterback Anthony Brown hit tight end Hunter Long on a 72-yard seam route down the middle to tie the game at 7-7. The Cardinals would then take a 14-7 lead after Cunningham found Seth Dawkins deep on a corner route for a 59-yard touchdown.
Brown had gotten off to a hot start, going 6-for-7 with 193 yards and one touchdown. But his afternoon would be cut short in the second quarter as he suffered an injury. Backup quarterback Dennis Grosel stepped up and picked up where Brown had left off, hitting Korab Idrizi for a ten-yard touchdown pass to knot it at 14.
The Cardinals scored two touchdowns on their next two drives, with Javian Hawkins (three yards) and Hassan Hall (six yards) both rushing in for scores.
The Eagles would answer with another touchdown pass from Dennis Grosel, as he hit Kobay White for a 13-yard touchdown connection. A two-point conversion by Boston College was successful, and that cut Louisville’s lead to 28-22. Louisville had a chance at a 45-yard field goal from Blanton Creque at the end of the first half, but it bounced off the upright and was no good.
BC threw for 304 yards, its season high. Louisville totaled 428 yards, the most it has had since throwing for 417 against Marshall in 2016.
Dawkins finished with a game-high 170 yards and was one of three Louisville receivers with more than 100 yards. Tutu Atwell finished with 110 yards and Dez Fitzpatrick finished with 108 yards.
Creque kicked in a 34-yard field goal to give Louisville a 31-29 lead halfway through the third quarter.
Both teams traded scoring drives the rest of the way.
Conley threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Fitzpatrick, expanding Louisville’s lead to 38-29 with 14 minutes left in the contest. The Eagles answered with a Travis Levy 37-yard touchdown run and an Aaron Boumerhi 45-yard field goal with a little over three minutes left in the game.
Boston College took a 39-38 lead after the Boumerhi field goal.
The stage was setup for Creque to kick the winning the field goal and he didn’t disappoint the Louisville fans.
