Louisville rebounds to defeat Boston College 31-27

First, let me say that I never want to see another Nada Yada Island commercial again for the rest of my life. It was a bit amusing at the end of the game, but it was taunting me in the first half.

Seriously, what an absolutely brave and inspiring victory. Overcoming a 20-point deficit when not just the game but the entire season seemed lost is not something to be taken lightly. I hope this team appreciates the great result and can build on the belief and momentum of this big win after coming from behind.

To illustrate how big this comeback was, I'll let the stats do the talking:

Fourth-largest comeback in school history. First win ever after trailing by 10+ in the 4th quarter. Extremely impressive and all around encouraging.

I don't want to speak for all of us, but I think a lot of us were in a dire situation in the first half. The defense started the game brilliantly, getting two stops early, but the offense scored zero points and scored on BC's third drive with a 54-yard fourth down drive.

After another miss from Brock Travelstead, BC scored 10 plays later to take a 14-0 lead. It was a nightmare start, but it still felt like the game was within reach until… the AHB fumble. BC bounced back from AHB's big blow to take a 20-0 lead seven plays later. It really felt like all was lost. Tyler Shough looked the shaky he's ever looked in a Cardinals uniform, having already thrown a pick, and the defense that had started well was shattered like we'd seen so many times before.

It felt like the season was officially over and dark days lay ahead. There were even idiots tweeting nonsense like this:

But then the cards showed signs of life. They responded by cutting the lead to 13 after a surgical 10-play drive capped by Isaac Brown's hit from the 4.

Then BC let time expire at the half and took a 20-7 lead into the locker room. I don't think it was a coincidence that Brohm didn't take a timeout at the end of the half. It seemed a fair indictment of the defense and how little faith he had in them.

I can only imagine what happened next. It was probably biblical assholery from Brohm in the locker room, because when the Cards came back out, they scored on four of their next six drives, and the defense didn't allow a single point after BC trailed 27-10 with eight minutes left The lead was taken in the 3rd quarter.

Tyler Shough returned to the form we had become so accustomed to, Ja'Corey Brooks went crazy, the defense bent over and eventually slowed down Castellanos, and Brohm went deep into his sack.

HOW?! Great throw and even better catch.

Speaking of Brohm coming into his pocket, it was so refreshing to see all the wrinkles he had in the second half. He scored two goals by releasing Kurisky into the flat, which is just a delicious concept:

I giggled as he did it a second time. After some complaints we heard from fans, including myself, who wondered where the crazy and funny moves Brohm was known for were, it was great to see game after game of scheming players left wide open and huge tracks opened up for the runners. I'm going to need a lot more of that in the last few games.

I won't comment on the ACC referees picking up the PI flag near the end of the game. I'm just going to send a bag of the finest dog poop my Old English Sheepdog can produce to the Commissioner's office. How on earth does this happen?

At the end of the day, it's just a great feeling to start the weekend with a win like that. Of course there's a lot to complain about, especially given the lifeless and sloppy play in the first half, but if the team can learn from a win like this and build on it, we may have a few more highlights in store this season.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that Bill O'Brien put Dave Clawson in his place with his many complaints to the referees. Regardless of whether the decision went in his favor or not, he was in the referee's face for virtually the entire game. Really impressive stuff.

BC's punter and placekicker also deserve a lot of credit. Had BC been able to make even average punts to regain some field position, this game could have turned out very differently. And if BC's kicker had hit the extra point to make it 21-0 instead of making it 20-0, the rest of the game would have been completely different. That one point was the difference in whether BC needed a touchdown at the end of the game when they should have only needed a field goal. God bless Liam Connor and Ivan Zivenko, the latter of whom was benched for an average of 33.5 per punt. You don't see that every day!

I'm so glad we can celebrate an incredibly tough win and enjoy the rest of an incredible weekend of college football. I'm sure Jeff Brohm is as excited as the rest of us.

Super lucky for guys like Tyler Shough, Ja-Corey Brooks, Isaac Brown and Ashton Gillotte who didn't drop out of the team and led them to victory when things looked their bleakest.

Go cards. See you next week in Death Valley #2.

LATE EDIT: I forgot to mention how ominous the mood was when BC lined up with Doug Flutie in the building for a Hail Mary attempt. I'm glad history didn't repeat itself.