Louisville went on the road to Chapel Hill and defeated North Carolina by a score of 16-14 Saturday night. The Cardinals improved to 7-3 overall (6-2 in the ACC) and extended its winning streak to five games.

Louisville relied heavily on its defense to pull out the win and ended a five game losing streak in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

How it Went Down:

The First Half

Louisville’s first drive of the game went for 46 yards and a Carson Hilbert field goal. Lawayne McCoy’s 26-yard grab set the Cards up in Tar Heel territory, which led to the early 3-0 lead.

North Carolina responded with a 12 play drive ending in the endzone. UNC picked up 3 third-down conversions and 3 double-digit gains, including an 11-yard TD run from Benjamin Hall.

From that moment on, the Louisville defense put together a quality half. Koen Entringer had a strip-sack on Billy Edwards the following drive, and then the defense would go on to force 3 three-and-outs.

After the fumble recovery, Keyjuan Brown set the offense up inside the five-yard line, and Lincoln Kienholz capped off the 4-play drive with a TD pass to Jaleel Skinner. The previous Cardinal drive (following the North Carolina TD) resulted in a 32-yard FG from Hilbert. The Cards took a 13-7 lead with 12:15 to go in the second quarter.

Both teams then traded punts for the next five possessions, and Hilbert badly missed a 48-yard try following a 42-yard Louisville drive. The Cards held the Tar Heels to only 14 yards in the second quarter and went to the locker room with a 6-point lead.

The Second Half:

Both teams traded punts to begin the third quarter before UNC’s 7 play 59-yard drive. Edwards hit tight end Jelani Thurman for a 34-yard gain to start the possession. However, the drive stalled after a sack from TJ Capers and penalty, ending in a missed 39-yard FG attempt. During this drive, Koen Entringer broke up a pass in the endzone, a play that proved critical in the outcome of the matchup. On the Capers sack, Billy Edwards was injured and didn’t return to the game.

Following a Louisville punt, North Carolina put together an 8-minute drive with backup QB Travis Burgess, however he only used his arm twice. The Tar Heels ran the ball 11 times during the 13-play possession, with Burgess using his legs for a pair of 10+ yard carries. Burgess failed to connect with WR Jordan Shipp on fourth down, and the Cards responded with a run-heavy drive of their own.

Keyjuan Brown ran 7 times, accounting for 53 of the team’s total 60 yards on the possession. Ultimately, it led to Hilbert’s third made FG of the night.

North Carolina then successfully drove down the field and scored their first points since their opening drive. Burgess started getting into a rhythm in the air, throwing for gains of 12, 16, 11, and 12 to give the Tar Heels’ offense a spark. Hall punched it in from 6 yards out for his second score of the day, bringing the deficit to just two.

Following another short Louisville possession, North Carolina was driving before a Jabari Mack game-sealing interception with under a minute to go, giving the Cards a 16-14 win.

Notable Cards

• Stanquan Clark: Clark has unsurprisingly been having a really good year. Saturday, he led the team in tackles (10), including 2 tackles for loss and a sack. Also, Clark had a big hit on Jaylen McGill on third and short to force a UNC punt.

• Koen Entringer: Entringer racked up 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks (1 of which was a forced fumble). Entringer was in coverage on the North Carolina pass to the endzone near the end of the third quarter which would’ve potentially given the Tar Heels the lead.

Takeaways

• Defense Carries Offense: This is a statement that hasn’t been true about Louisville this season, until now. After UNC drove down the field on their opening drive, the Cards defense locked in. They held the Tar Heels scoreless for their next 7 drives and forced 4 consecutive punts as well as 2 turnovers (including the game-sealing pick) and a turnover on downs.

• No ‘O’ in Chapel Hill: It appears that the Cardinals forgot to pack offense in their trip to Carolina, or perhaps the FAA grounded it along with the flights Friday. Louisville averaged over 40 points per game in their last four wins and only managed to put up 16 Saturday. Also, they only found the endzone once, and that was with starting field possession inside UNC’s redzone. There weren’t many moderate/deep shots downfield, as the Cards lived on the short game.

Final Thoughts

Even if the ACC Championship hopes are dead, it’s rewarding to see Louisville play their best ball of the season now. The defense is finding their stride after a rough start and played a major role in keeping the win streak alive. The Cardinals look to extend the streak to six games next Saturday versus Pitt, as they host the Panthers for Senior Day.