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No. 21 Louisville downed by unranked Virginia

Geoff Burke / USA TODAY Sports

Virginia stunned No. 21 Louisville 23-21 on Saturday at home.

This game can be summed up by one set of plays in the fourth quarter.

After being held off the score sheet since five minutes into the first quarter, Louisvile exploded in the final frame for 14 unsanswered points behind the arm of quarterback Will Gardner. Just like that, a 20-7 Virginia lead was wiped away and the Cardinals were given a second wind, taking a late 20-19 lead. 

Louisville stuffed Virginia with less than five minutes to go, forcing a punt. But on a seemingly harmless fair catch call, two Cardinal players collided, fumbling the ball and giving up possession to the Cavaliers, who would convert on the eventual game-winning field goal. 

Unranked Virginia wasn't tremendous on offense, but their defense stepped up when they needed to.

For a moment, it looked like Louisville would complete the comeback, but truthfully, Virginia earned this one, despite two consecutive false starts after the botched punt return late in the game. 

Cavaliers quarterback Greyson Lambert was good enough, completing 13 of his 25 passes for 161 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a rushing TD. On the ground, he was in the negatives, racking up -19 yards.

But on this day, Virginia kicker Ian Frye was the hero as he was a perfect 5-5 on kicks, including the game-winner from 47 yards out.

After starting off the season strong in their new conference, Louisville showed everyone how human they are. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Will Gardner was poor, slinging 14 for 34 passing for 165 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. 

Although his arm was nowhere to be found on this day, his rush didn't come to play, either. The team combined for 79 yards on the ground, including two running backs with negative yardage. Redshirt senior Dominique Brown carried the load, running 74 yards on 20 tries with a touchdown. 

Either way, his longest run was 12 yards as he, nor anyone, could find a way to penetrate the Cavaliers' defense in crunch time.  It would be safe to say that the Cardinals fall out of the top 25.

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