Louisville Cardinals vs Cincinnati Bearcats Recap

Louisville 's season of struggle wasn't expected to produce a win at top 10 titan Cincinnati on Saturday, but the Cards at least hoped to make the Bearcats sweat at Nippert Stadium.

Zach Collaros had other ideas.

If the pigskin punditocracy figured that Cincinnati would slip up and stumble with a backup quarterback under center, the crystal-ball gazers had it all wrong. Solid if not spectacular in a relief effort on Oct. 15 against South Florida, Collaros--the replacement for regular starter Tony Pike--positively flourished after a week of preparation under the watchful eye of UC coach Brian Kelly, who is rapidly reaffirming his place as the hottest name in college football coaching circles. Collaros completed 15-of-17 passes for 253 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions, as Cincy smacked Steve Kragthorpe's club by 31 in Southwestern Ohio.

There really wasn't much guesswork involved in accounting for this Bearcat blowout. For most of the college football world, losing a starting quarterback usually spells trouble. Imagine what would happen if Tim Tebow couldn't have played at Florida with his concussion. Notice what happened with Oregon's offense when Jeremiah Masoli went down for a week. Comprehend how USC and Oklahoma regressed when Matt Barkley and Sam Bradford couldn't play. There's a reason quarterback is the glamour position in football, and so when Pike--an accomplished veteran gunslinger--got knocked out of the South Florida game a week and a half ago, Cincinnati--author of a meteoric rise in the college football ranks--might have appeared to be vulnerable in the eyes of many.

Yet, this piece of craftsmanship from Collaros suggests otherwise. Brian Kelly had his second-stringer ready to play first-rate football against Louisville.

The Cards used to fatten up on Cincy when they owned the weapons and the wisdom in this Keg of Nails series. When Brian Brohm propelled the pigskin for UL, and Bobby Petrino dialed up the plays, the Cardinals decked the Bearcats in Big East competition. Today represented a painful piece of payback, as the outgunned Cards were simply caught in the crossfire created by Collaros. The fact that Louisville committed two turnovers didn't help the cause of the visitors, who emptied the tank in the game's first 35 minutes but didn't have anything left for the stretch run. Down only 11 to the Bearcats after the first five minutes of the third quarter, the Cards couldn't keep pace with a deeper, faster, and far more precise opponent loaded with big-play capability. A 31-yard touchdown pass from Collaros to NFL-ready receiver Mardy Gilyard fattened Cincy's lead, and a 67-yard touchdown run by UC's Isaiah Pead fully put the game out of reach.

Louisville can't--and shouldn't--hang its head after this game. Some days, an opponent is too good... even with a backup quarterback. Brian Kelly doesn't have Cincinnati in the top 10 just because he's been lucky. The boss of the Bearcats knows how to coach up his signal callers; just ask Zach Collaros.

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By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer