I guess we probably should have figured. The last time there was a substantial favorite in a UK-UofL matchup, Kentucky upset Louisville in an epic game, headlined by a late, long game-winning touchdown pass from Andre Woodson to Steve Johnson.

This time, with UK playing the part of favorite, it looked like it was going to be Justin Burke to Trent Guy on a long, not quite as late touchdown connection down the exact same sideline was going to be the game-winner.

After that 66 yard bomb with a little under 8 minutes to go, UK stalled on the following possession and was forced to punt. Things at that point were a bit desperate. It appeared that UK was going to have to hand the ball back to a UofL offense that had been on the field for almost the entire second half and there was no indication the UK defense would be able to keep the Louisville offense from running most of the remaining time off the clock.

Then, Trent Guy, who had just scored the go ahead touchdown, sprinted forward to receive yet another short Ryan Tydlacka punt, but could wrangle in the fair catch, handing UK the ball with excellent field position. Just a few plays later, UK’s best offensive player, Randall Cobb, caught a touchdown from Mike Hartline to give UK a lead. UK had to withstand two more Cardinal drives into Wildcat territory thanks to a Sam Maxwell interception and, of course, a hail mary attempt to end the game.

Despite the similarities between today’s game and the 2007 edition (back and forth action, big plays on offense and in the kicking game, a late score on a long pass play, failed UofL hail mary at the horn), it was a different feeling in Commonwealth Stadium compared with 2 years ago…a lot different.

Walking around the tailgates, you felt it immediately. To begin with, the early start dampened the festive atmosphere, but there was an air of confidence among UK fans. No one really thought UofL was going to give UK a game. Condfidence is usually a good thing, but there was a buzz missing among UK fans.

The flatness of the crowd translated on the field as well. UK came right out and drove deep into UofL territory, and it looked like things would happen about like we thought. Then, UofL’s defense stiffened, holding UK to a field goal.

When UofL got the ball on the following possession, they set the tone right away. Victor Anderson, one of UK’s fans sole reasons for pre-game consternation, reversed the field on his first carry when it looked like UK had him bottled up, racing 35 yards into Kentucky territory. From that point forward, it was a fight.

Derrick Locke quickly shifted the momentum Kentucky’s way with a long kick return touchdown after Anderson finished off the UofL drive to give UofL a 7-3 lead.

UK extended its lead to 17-7 when John Conner scored on the ground following a red zone stand by the Whomp! Squad, which would turn out to be the first of many.

UK missed out on a big opportunity to potentially put some distance between themselves and UofL with a combination of some spectacularly bad clock management and some even worse clock operation.

UK drove down to the Louisville 5 yard line as the first half was coming to a close. Hartline spiked the ball with 15 seconds left, giving UK a couple shots at the end zone before a field goal attempt…or so it seemed.

After backing themselves up with a false start, UK ran a very curious pass play to wide receiver Chris Matthews. You would think a fade to the corner for the big 6-5 target was in order, but instead, Matthews had trouble getting off the line and Hartline got the ball to him at the 8 yard line and was quickly tackled. UK should have been able to quickly spike the ball and get off a field goal, but the clock operator forgot to operate the clock, which, by rule, results in a 15 second run-off, thereby ending the half.

The third quarter was flat out dominated by the Cards. I hoped the ‘Cats would come out inspired after a lackluster first half, but it was quite the opposite. UK ran 4, count ‘em, 4, offensive plays in the quarter. I wasn’t even mad, that was amazing. UK fumbled the ball away twice, once on a kickoff return by Locke and once on QB option by Hartline, and Hartline also tossed a pick.

Meanwhile, UofL had no trouble holding the ball. They ran 27 plays and 3 times had the ball with goal to go, and once more drove to the UK 11, but they managed only 13 points, including their drive that spanned the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th quarter.

In their first drive of the 4th quarter, once UofL grabbed a 20-17 lead, UK ran 12 plays on the way to a D-Locke TD, tripling their 3rd quarter total. Trent Guy’s long touchdown catch followed, then the aforementioned end of game drama.

This has to be the first time, regardless of sport, that I can remember feeling unsatisfied after a victory by UK over UofL. It’s hard to imagine a team or a crowd overlooking its archrival, but, honestly, that’s kind of what it felt like. UofL capitalized, doing everything but finishing off the win. They probably deserved the W and they will remember failed red zone opportunities as the reason they didn’t.

UK, on the other hand, weathered a strong UofL performance and performed when they needed to. The offense scored when it had to and the defense kept UofL out of the end zone most of the time, even though it was on the field for basically an entire consecutive quarter.

UK managed to get a win to move to 2-0 as they enter a stretch of 4 very difficult games, but gave UK fans no delusions of grandeur with their play. Those next 4 will be tough, but that’s to think about later. Let’s enjoy the fact the the Governor’s Cup will reside in Lexington for the third year in a row.

I will be back with a post tomorrow looking at what we learned today and an injury update, so keep an eye out for that.

By the way, I saw much of the UK basketball team in the tunnel of section 112. I walked by Patrick Patterson, John Wall, Jon Hood, and Perry Stevenson, and they seemed in very good spirits, dealing with all the attention being showered on them, but enjoying each other’s company quite a bit. They signed a bunch of autographs and were hosting Brandon Knight, Stacey Poole, and Chase Benahan. The three seemed to be having fun and the student section even started a chant for Knight. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about the visits soon.