QB Miller Moss, Louisville's Defense Bounce Back in Second Half to Fuel Comeback at Pitt

As the old saying goes, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Well, for the Louisville football program, that saying certainly applied in their ACC opener against Pitt.

Before the first quarter even ended the Cardinals found themselves falling behind by three scores. Just over 12 minutes into the game, the Panthers took a 17-0 lead, and a blowout loss seemed to be loading for the away team.

But such an outcome was not in the Cards. Louisville proceed to go on a 34-10 run over the final three quarters, culminating in a 34-27 victory in the Steel City. UofL scored the final 17 points of the game, overcoming a 10-point Pitt lead in the third quarter.

"Without question, we're really proud of our football team," head coach Jeff Brohm said after the game. "We hung in there and played until the end, we stuck together. I know fans think you just step on the field and win, but we talk all the time about how conference games would be just like this for the remainder of the year. You're going to face good football teams, they have talent, they're well coached. They know how to play football. You just got to hang in there, and you strive for perfection. But that's not realistic."

As you can imagine, it was a tale of two halves for the visiting squad. Louisville trailed 27-17 at halftime, with Pitt having a 239-to-183 yardage advantage. But in the second half, the Cardinals tossed a 17-0 shutout on the scoreboard, while out-gaining the Panthers 209-to-100 in yardage.

The crux of the comeback boils down to the fact that, after halftime, both Louisville quarterback Miller Moss and the Cardinals' defense played much better than in the opening half.

"They came in with it with a good plan, it a little bit different than what we've seen," Brohm said. "They made some adjustments, and we did on both sides of the ball. I thought in the end, on offense, it was about who are our playmakers that are healthy, and let's get them the ball. We did.

"Miller got in a rhythm too, and made some good throws. Our tight ends got involved, which was great. Then defense, when you're able to get some momentum, they make plays, and they got turnovers. They just did a really good job. ... It took every last play that we did could get in order to find a way to win."

To say Moss struggled in the beginning of the game would be an understatement. He started the game just 8-of-16, including the pick-six to make it a 17-0 Pitt advantage. His timing routinely seemed off, and his passes regularly sailed long.

That being said, he started to find a bit of a rhythm in the second quarter. Even after the rocky first period, he wound up finishing the first half throwing 18-of-31 for 170 yards, plus a touchdown to Chris Bell and another touchdown on a QB sneak.

In the second half, Moss seemed much more poised. His timing was vastly improved, and while he still had a couple overthrows, he was much more accurate throwing the football. In the second half alone, he went 15-of-20 for 169 yards, with touchdown throws to Jaleel Skinner and Nate Kurisky.

By game's end, Moss had gone 33-of-51 for 339 yards, three touchdowns and the interception. His completions, yardage and touchdown marks were all season-highs.

"The biggest thing for us that we just kept playing," he said. "I don't know what the numbers are on being down 17-0 on the road, but I would assume they're not very high. I'm really proud of the group in terms of their ability to just continue to play the next play, continue to fight. I think that's the biggest takeaway from this game, just the character that was that we displayed."

Of course, no matter how efficient Moss was after halftime, the comeback doesn't happen without also getting a turnaround performance from the defense.

Like Moss, this unit didn't exactly play their sharpest football to begin the game. The bookends of the first half was particularly difficult for the Cardinals, as they gave up a touchdown and a field goal in both the first five-plus minutes of the game, and the final two minutes before halftime.

Pitt found success dinking-and-dunking down the field in the first half, mixing in the occasional long bomb. But after struggling to get push up front and having several lapses in coverage, Louisville was much more pesky and opportunistic in both departments after halftime.

The Panthers went from averaging 7.2 yards per play in the first half, to averaging 4.5 in the second. Pitt QB Eli Holstein went 12-of-20 for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the opening half, but 2-for-6 for 54 yards in the second half - even getting benched at one point. Louisville also snagging all three of their interceptions in the second half - two of which came from T.J. Quinn.

Quite simply, the defense made plays when they needed to made. Pitt's final fives drive of the day either ended with a turnover on down, or an interception.

"I think on defense, we found a way to settle down a little bit in the second half," Brohm said. "We gave up some big plays in the first half, which we hadn't faced a team of this caliber, so it was good to see. We got hit in the mouth a little bit, but we regrouped.

"I think that's the sign of a team that understands what it's going to take to win. That understands that every week, you got to just find ways to improve, and come out swinging, and be able to take blows and hang in there and just play to the end. Good football teams play that way, and that's how we got to play the rest of the year."

Louisville will be back in action next weekend, when they return home to L&N Stadium to take on Virginia. Kickoff is set for Saturday, Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m. EST.