“Well that was Monday,” Corso explained. “Tuesday I did as Paul Brown said. It was the worst practice we ever had. He told me to expect that. Then I chewed them out like I never did a team in my life. He told me I’d probably have to do that, too. Well, Wednesday we were back down out of the clouds and on the ground.”
Only an estimated 3,000 fans showed up for the rainy game which featured 26 combined fumbles, 15 by UC and 11 by Louisville (UC lost four fumbles, U of L lost five).
A 45-yard field goal by UC’s Steve Schultz with two seconds left led to the final score.
Quarterback Art Bailey threw three interceptions for the Bearcats, something coach Ralph Staub was quick to voice his frustrations with.
"I'm very much displeased with the number of interceptions he had," Staub told the Enquirer. "He would scramble a bit and throw back to the middle of the field which is very, very dangerous."
This was the first season where the Bearcats experimented with playing home games at the larger Riverfront Stadium. Only a reported 14,324 showed up for the big win.
"It's the only way we can get the the Penn States and the Pitts to play us," Cincinnati coach Mike Gottfried explained after the game.
The fans who did show up managed to see one of the best passing performances in school history.
UC quarterback Danny Barrett threw for 311 yards and tied a school record with four touchdown passes. Three of his TD passes went to receiver Deno Foster .
"To me, if one person shows up, or a million show up, it's the same," Barrett told the Enquirer after the game. "We can't worry about that. But I'll tell you, it feels good playing down here. We could hear the crowd. The students were sitting behind us, and we knew they were there."
∙OCT. 27, 1984:
Five-foot-seven, 170 pound running back Reggie Taylor had the big day for UC, carrying the ball 29 times for 180 yards and adding four receptions for 43. He had two touchdowns rushing and one receiving.
"The little guy really makes a good coach of you," UC coach Dave Currey said after the game.
Bearcats quarterback Troy Bodine added 236 yards passing and three touchdowns.
∙ NOV. 8, 1997:
It gave him four punt returns for scores that season.
“Once you get past the first line of defense, you end up with one or two guys to beat, and in the open field that’s not hard to do,” Keck told the Enquirer. “It was actually pretty easy, because the other 10 guys were making a lot of blocks.”
The Bearcats won despite a big day from Louisville's Chris Redman . The Cardinals' quarterback was 32 of 62 passing for 337 yards, but was held to only one touchdown pass.
∙ NOV. 7, 2002: beating the Cardinals 24-14 .
Louisville entered the game with a 5-3 record in 2002 and a four-game winning streak in the rivalry.
UC had close losses to West Virginia and a Ben Roethlisberger-led Miami University team earlier in the year. This was also the season the Bearcats had eventual national champions Ohio State on the ropes at Paul Brown Stadium, but couldn't finish off the upset bid .
The UC defense did its part to win back the Keg. They held two-time Conference USA offensive player of the year Dave Ragone to 11 of 31 passing for 91 yards.
"Our defense set the tone for the game," UC coach Rick Minter said following the game. "Everybody talked about the quarterbacks, but all week long I said the difference would be on defense and special teams."
Cincinnati quarterback Gino Guidugli got the only Keg of Nails win in his career (he was injured and missed the 2004 game). He went 9-for-23 passing for 120 yards. Minter said that those numbers weren't entirely his fault.
"Gino didn't get any help in that first half," Minter said. "He must have had five drops. Some of those were very catchable."
The defense ultimately was the difference in the game. Louisville led 7-0 at halftime, but Antwan Peek's fumble recovery and return for a touchdown in the third quarter got the Bearcats on the board. Louisville was held to 12 first downs in the game and only 70 yards rushing and 106 passing.
∙ NOV. 14, 2008: Dustin Grutza took over for an injured Tony Pike and led a game-winning drive in UC’s 28-20 win.
Grutza guided the Bearcats down the field on a drive topped by a John Goebel touchdown run with 6:29 to go in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
"I think we can all say the rivalry is back," UC coach Brian Kelly said after the win . "There was a lot of emotion out on the field in this game."
The Bearcats took back the Keg for the first time in six years with the win.
∙ OCT. 15, 2011:
Isaiah Pead had 20 carries for 151 yards, including a 50-yarder to seal the win.
The UC defense was led by Derek Wolfe and J.K. Schaffer , each with 11 total tackles. Wolfe added three tackles for loss, and Schaffer had two for loss.
The Louisville offense, led by Teddy Bridgewater, was held without a touchdown.
∙ DEC. 5, 2013:
Winton Woods High School grad Dominique Brown scored the final touchdown in the rivalry. He ran for a score on U of L’s opening OT possession, and the Cardinals kept the Bearcats from scoring.
Bridgewater threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns.
Anthony McClung had seven catches for 97 yards and Chris Moore had seven catches for 92 yards to lead UC.
