College Football

Louisville Football: 10 greatest moments from the 2015 season

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:03 a.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

We take a look at the ten greatest moments from the Louisville football team’s up and down 2015 football season.

The 2015 season for the Louisville football team was up and down across the board. There were many players who were starting for the first time and a few guys who were on their way out of the door. However, Bobby Petrino was able to recover from an 0-3 start and finish the season 8-5.

It’s never fun when you don’t know who you are going to start at quarterback, which is where the Cards were going into their first game against Auburn. However, it didn’t take very long into the season to see which player had a higher ceiling than the others. It was Lamar Jackson who instantly showed why he would be a player to watch going forward.

After starting the year 0-3, the Cardinals were able to win eight out of their last ten games that would give them a shot at Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl. What we wouldn’t give to see the Cards play the Aggies right now.

With that being said, there were so many great moments from last season. The good news is that there have been even better moments from this season, hopefully concluding with Louisville making it into the college football playoff.

Whether that happens or not, it has still been an incredible season.

Here are the ten best moments from the 2015 Louisville football season.

10. Sheldon Rankins 46 yards touchdown against Boston College

Everybody loves to see one of the big guys scoring a touchdown. Not to mention, this fumble and return was huge in terms of the Cardinals beating Boston College last season. The Cards only won the game 17-14, therefore this touchdown was the biggest play of the game.

Boston College was able to shut down Lamar Jackson all afternoon, which is something that not very many football teams have been able to say up to this point.

Rankins hasn’t been able to suit up for the New Orleans Saint yet this season, but I know he will make an immediate impact when he does. It was plays like this that always separated himself from the rest of the pack.

Louisville football fans were lucky to have a player like Sheldon Rankins on their defense for so many years.

9. Lamar Jackson makes his debut as a Louisville Cardinal

The first play of Lamar Jackson’s NCAA football career didn’t turn out as expected, but he has rebounded very well since then. It was a debate all off-season long as to who Bobby Petrino would start at quarterback in this game versus Auburn. Reggie Bonnafon, Kyle Bolin, and Lamar Jackson all had people in their corner, but Bonnafon ended up getting the nod.

However, Bonnafon struggled big-time against the Tigers, which meant it was Lamar Jackson time in the Georgia Dome. Jackson led the Cards almost all the way back, but ended up losing 31-24 in a great second half effort.

Jackson finished the football game with 100 yards passing and 106 yards rushing. Little did we know just how far Jackson would come over just one season with head coach Bobby Petrino.

It’s a game we would like to forget, but a first start that we may remember forever.

8. Louisville holds off the Virginia Cavaliers at home to get bowl-eligible

What is it with the Virginia Cavaliers? I’ll be the first to say that I look forward to not seeing the Cards play them in football for another year. It doesn’t matter who the Cards have playing quarterback or how bad the Cavs’ are, Louisville always struggles to knock them off every single year.

However, last season’s win against Virginia was huge because it gave them their sixth win of the season and got them bowl-eligible.

Kyle Bolin had a decent game at quarterback, but it was Brandon Radcliff who ran for over 146 yards and two touchdowns that gave Louisville the biggest boost.

This win got the Cardinals to 6-4 on the season and helped them earn a Music City Bowl bid only a few weeks later.

7. Louisville blows out Syracuse to win their third game in-a-row

Louisville started out the 2015 season with an 0-3 record after losses to Auburn, Houston, and Clemson. It was pretty much the worst possible scenario after they were sure to schedule some tougher opponents to start the year. Those three losses put the Cards in a hole, but it didn’t keep them there for very long.

The Cardinals came out and blew the Orange out of the water at home. This win gave Louisville their first winning record of the 2015 season and set up a huge game against Virginia, which they eventually won at home as well.

Brandon Radcliff had another huge against against Syracuse where he ran for 117 yards. Not to mention, Trumaine Washington also had a great day by intercepting a pass and returning it for a 39 yard touchdown.

This was a big boost for the Cardinals in their 2015 football season.

6. James Quick goes for 130 recieving yards against Florida State

What happened in this game was pretty simple, Dalvin Cook ran all over the Louisville Cardinals and they couldn’t begin to slow him down. However, there was another guy who couldn’t be stopped and that was Cardinals’ receiver James Quick.

Quick had a huge day for the Cardinals as he had 130 receiving yards and three touchdowns. This was easily his game in a Louisville Cardinals’ uniform. It was pretty clear that Lamar Jackson and James Quick were developing a great on-field chemistry, which would be huge going forward.

In a game where the Seminoles were dominating, it was refreshing to see what the future held for the Louisville football team. Florida State was number 11 in the country when these two teams met, therefore it felt pretty good to see what Jackson and Quick could do against one of the ACC”s best teams.

Little did we know what this game would mean for the match-up in 2016.

5. Lamar Jackson runs all over NC State on the road

The NC State Wolfpack were undefeated when the Cardinals came to town last season, but because of Lamar Jackson’s rushing ability, they ended the day with their first loss.

The Wolfpack have had a very stout defense for a few seasons now, but Lamar Jackson’s legs have hurt them two seasons in a row. His speed is second to none and his ability to use his blockers in the open field is even better. I’m sure NC State is very tired of trying to tackle the future Heisman Trophy winner.

He ran for 121 yards and had one touchdown in the Cards’s 20-13 win last season. It gave Louisville their second win of the season, which would help them get going in the right direction after starting the 2015 season 0-3.

Louisville is making a habit of beating NC State. I am sure they will keep it up for a long time to come.

Nov 21, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Louisville Cardinals quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) scrambles with the ball against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the third quarter at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

4. Louisville ends the season 8-5 after starting the year 0-3

After starting the season 0-3, Louisville went on to win eight of their next ten games to finish the 2015 season at 8-5. There were a few key players that helped the Cardinals get there, but it was an all-around team effort that got the Louisville football team back on the right track.

Having to play Auburn, Houston, and Clemson all in-a-row was probably not the brightest idea when the Cards had no idea who would play quarterback. However, it’s not like they can take that into consideration when scheduling those non-conference games a few years before.

Winning eight of your last ten games is extremely impressive. Last season gave everyone their first glimpse of Lamar Jackson, why the Cards could beat FSU, and where this team could go moving forward.

Everyone should be very proud of what they were able to accomplish in 2015.

3. Lamar Jackson rushes for a 61 yard touchdown against Texas A&M

This was easily one of the best runs that we saw all season long from Lamar Jackson and the Louisville football team. The Cardinals were already up 13-7 and had an opportunity to take full control of the game. When the Cards need a big play, that seems to be when Jackson decided he is going to take his game to the next level.

What stood out to me on this play was his ability to use his blockers downfield and how easily he ran away from the secondary. There aren’t very many guys who have speed that can distance themselves from the cornerbacks and safeties, but there are even less quarterbacks that can do the same thing.

We all knew how great Jackson was playing at the end of last season, but did we know that this performance against the Aggies would become the norm from Jackson?

This guy is very special and the Louisville football program is very lucky to have him playing quarterback.

2. Louisville beats Texas A&M and wins the Music City Bowl

There wasn’t a better way to finish the 2015 season than beating Texas A&M in the Music City Bowl. The Cardinals have made a habit of winning bowl games and this one was no exception. Louisville was able to beat the Aggies 27-21 down in Nashville.

Texas A&M had a quarterback nightmare on their hands, but they couldn’t stop Lamar Jackson either. Even if they would have had Trevor Knight, I don’t think they would have been able to beat the Cards on that night.

Jackson threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 226 more yards and 2 more touchdowns. It’s performances like these that are killers for teams trying to beat the Louisville Cardinals on any given day.

It was a huge win and the start of something even greater.

1. Lamar Jackson leads Louisville back from a 21-0 deficit against Kentucky

Oh Kentucky, for the second season in-a-row you almost had the Louisville football team beat. But again, for the second year in-a-row, the back-up quarterback came in and shut the door. This is easily one of the best Louisville vs. Kentucky football games of all-time.

Thanks to Kyle Bolin, the Cards were down 21-0 very early in the football game, however Lamar Jackson came in and brought the Louisville football team all the way back. The Cardinals ended up winning the game 38-24 and spoiling the Wildcats’ 2015 bowl hopes.

It was incredibly shocking that Bobby Petrino started Bolin over Jackson because Kentucky has struggled with mobile quarterbacks and the read-option all season. I guess it took a 21-0 hole to make him realize it was Jackson time in Lexington.

However, at the same time, I think we all have learned to never question the great Bobby Petrino. Who knows, it may have been his plan to dangle a win in front of Kentucky all game long.

More from Big Red Louie

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Football

Louisville Cardinals