Prior to the fourth quarter, the vaunted matchup of two of the Big East's most athletic quarterbacks had been a let-down, as both Munchie LeGaux and Teddy Bridgewater struggled early. However, in the final quarter, both played like the quarterbacks people expected to see, but Bridgewater got the best of LeGaux as he led the Louisville Cardinals to a 34-31 win in overtime.
Cincinnati vs. Louisville 2012 final score: Cardinals earn overtime victory, 34-31.
The Louisville Cardinals hit a 30-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats, 34-31.
Andy Lyons
After clawing back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter to tie the game, the Cardinals earned the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Bridgewater hit DeVante Parker for a 64-yard touchdown pass. With less than two minutes remaining for LeGaux, the Bearcats quarterback had no difficulty driving the field and throwing his first touchdown pass of the game to Damon Julian from 27 yards to tie the game, 31-31, with 1:03 before it eventually went to overtime.
On the third play of overtime, LeGaux made an ill-advised pass to the end zone that was intercepted by Terell Floyd. That set up Louisville with the opportunity to stick to a very conservative game-plan and run the ball five times before setting up for a 30-yard field goal. While a snap appeared to fly over the head of the holder, a timeout was called by Cincinnati’s Butch Jones and the Cardinals got another attempt that was good.
While the Bearcats led for the majority of the game, including earning a 10-point lead in the second half, Louisville out-gained Cincinnati 518 yards to 347.
Box Score Hero: Bridgewater struggled early, completing just 9-of-22 first half passes with an interception and no touchdowns, but he was the star of the fourth quarter as he led the Cardinals back to victory. He finished the game 24-of-41 passing for 417 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Rankings Ramifications: The Cardinals entered the game No. 16 in the BCS and a win over a quality team like Cincinnati will likely cause them to climb some, although it likely won’t be drastic.
But Did They Cover? Louisville was favored to win by four points and didn’t cover the spread as a field goal wasn’t enough to do so.
Next Week's Schedule: Louisville will look to remain undefeated when it hosts the Temple Owls, while Cincinnati will try to bounce back from consecutive losses when it hosts Syracuse.
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