LOUISVILLE, KY - The Bears traveled East for the third conference road trip tonight against heavily-favored #15 Louisville and pulled off an exciting upset, stunning the Cardinals in overtime with a 29-26 win in a nationally televised contest on ESPN.
The Bears got a huge day from receiver Jacob De Jesus with 16 catches for 161 yards to key Bears upset victory, with the final catch coming on the game’s final play in OT. Quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele also had perhaps his best game of his young career, going 30-for-47 for 323 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. The Bears won the critical turnover battle, 1-0 in the win.
"(We had) confidence in the guys to make the right play at the right moment," head coach Justin Wilcox said after the win. " Felt good about the call. Coaches felt good about it. Players felt good about it.
"Jacob's such a competitor. We put them in a lot of different places. We put an awful lot on his place and the coaches did an awesome job of putting him in a bunch of different matchups. We put him in the backfield, in motion, put him in x, put him in z, put them in slot. Every week the guy delivers and he had a huge game."
The game got off to a promising start for the Bears with a double pass from Sagapolutele to De Jesus who tossed a 27-yard completion to receiver Trond Grizzell to move the ball to the Cal 48 on the first play from scrimmage. The Bears moved the ball to the Louisville 10 in quick fashion but a trio of lingering problems that have plagued the Bears all season reared their ugly heads; a false start by offensive guard Jordan Moko, a 7-yard sack and a missed field goal in quick succession kept the Bears off the board as kicker Chase Meyer’s 40-yard kick missed the mark.
Louisville took advantage of the Bears’ failure, driving 78 yards in 10 plays to open the scoring. After driving to midfield, Cardinals QB Miller Moss hit receiver Caullin Lacy for a 40-yard completion and two plays later, Louisville got on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run by running back Duke Watson to go up 7-0 with 5:11 left in the first quarter after the PAT.
After both teams traded 3-and-outs, the Bears finally got going late in the first quarter. Facing 3rd-and-4 from their 32, Sagapolutele hit speedy receiver Quaron Adams down the right sideline for a 39-yard completion, moving the ball to the Louisville 21. Two plays later, the frosh QB raised his already high bar for impossible completions to a new level, hitting heavily covered tight end Landon Morris for a perfect back shoulder TD pass on the sideline where the backup tight end made an acrobatic twisting catch for the equalizer touchdown as the Bears evened the score with the Meyer PAT with 40 seconds left in the quarter.
Louisville answered right back, going on a long, 12-play, 67-yard drive before settling for a 30-yard Cooper Ranvier field goal to go up 10-7 with 11:01 left in the half.
The Bears started off their next drive hot, hitting on consecutive big plays with a Sagapolutele 25-yard completion to De Jesus at midfield followed by a 24-yard Kendrick Raphael (83 yards in 19 carries) run that advanced the ball to the Louisville 26. The drive stalled at the 10 and the Bears settled for a 27-yard Meyer field goal to even the score at 10 with 5:58 left in the half.
After another Louisville field goal put the Cardinals up 13-10, the Bears had a chance to take the lead, getting the ball back at their 25 after the touchback.
The Bears moved methodically down the field with their last possession of the half. Facing 2nd-and-10 from the Cardinals 33 with 30 seconds left in the half, Sagapolutele hit Raphael with a short pass that the speedy running back advanced to the Louisville 10. Two plays later, Raphael hit paydirt on a 2-yard run up the middle for his 12th TD of the season to put the Bears up 17-13 at the end of the half.
The Bears had a chance to build some strong momentum to start the second half as cornerback Hezekiah Masses hauled in his fifth interception of the season on the Cardinals second play from scrimmage at the Louisville 37.
Facing 3rd-and-13 on the Louisville 27, the frosh QB hit a diving De Jesus for what looked like a 14-yard completion and first down but on review, the catch was ruled an incompletion on what appeared to be a questionable call as the Bears settled for a 45-yard Meyers field goal to go up 20-13 2:26 into the third quarter.
Louisville answered right back and the Bears’ defense reverted to some of the undisciplined play that’s plagued them much of this season with unnecessary roughing the passer and facemask penalties gifting the Cardinals with 30 yards of penalties on the drive. A 1-yard Moss keeper and the PAT eventually evened the score at 20 with 7:43 left in the quarter.
After getting the ball back, the Bears went right back on the move, driving deep into Louisville territory. Facing 4th-and-goal from the 3, TE Morris was whistled for a false start - the Bears eighth penalty of the night, pushing them back to their 8, forcing them to settle for a 26-yard Meyers field goal to go up 23-20 at the end of the third quarter.
The lead was short-lived.
Facing 3rd-and-1 to open the drive, QB Moss hit tight end Nate Kurisky for 37 yards to the Cal 38. After the Cardinals’ drive stalled on the Cal 26, Louisville settled for a 39-yard Ranvier field goal to again knot the score at 23 with 11:08 left in the game.
After trading possessions, the Bears had a chance to win it late, but it wouldn’t be easy, as Louisville punter David Chapeau dropped a masterful punt that rolled out at the 1 with 3:36 remaining. The Bears were able to pick up a couple first downs but were forced to punt with 1:08 remaining, with the Cardinals taking over on their 24 after the 39-yard Brook Honore punt.
The Bears’ defense stepped up big, forcing a quick 3-and-out, giving themselves one last chance, taking over at their 38 after a short 32-yard Chapeau punt with :40 remaining.
The Bears’ line was a sieve on the first play from scrimmage, with Louisville sacking the frosh QB for six yards at the Cal 32. On the next play, most of the line was pushed into the backfield and Sagapolutele’s pass was batted down, leaving them at 3rd-and-16 with :32 left. The next pass fell incomplete, giving the Cardinals a last chance of their own.
Disaster nearly struck on the punt as Honore shanked an 18-yard punt to midfield. Moss was sacked on their first play of the drive by DT Aidan Keanaaina at the Louisville 45 and the next play only picked up 3 yards. A Moss spike gave the Cardinals one last chance but the senior QB was chased out of the pocket and his pass fell harmlessly to the turf as the Bears went into OT for the second time in the last three games.
After winning the OT toss, the Bears defended first. The Cardinals were whistled for a critical 15-yard illegal block in the possessions, eventually forcing Louisville into a 49-yard goal situation and once again, Ranvier converted, giving the Cardinals a 26-23 lead.
The Bears were able to move the ball to the Cardinals 4, facing 3rd-and-goal. The Bears tried a trick play, with De Jesus looking to pass after a sideline toss behind the line of scrimmage but was forced to run, advancing the ball to the Louisville 3. The Bears called timeout to consider their options and decided to lay it all on the line, going for the win on fourth-and-goal. Louisville called timeout as tention mounted. As play resumed, the gamble paid off as Sagapolutele rolled left under pressure and hit De Jesus in the flat, with the receiver fighting his way into the end zone for the winning score.
The locker room was electric after the amazing upset win, with raucous cheers and signing emanating from the visitors quarters for well after the game.
The Bears move to 6-4 (3-3) on the season and Louisville fell to 8-2 (5-1).
The Bears will have a much-needed bye week after returning home to savor the victory before facing Stanford in the Big Game in Palo Alto.
