University of Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino once again showed his strength in developing quarterbacks when seldom used Kyle Bolin was thrown into the intrastate rivalry game with the University of Kentucky.
Mr. Afterthought scrambled to find his helmet, then calmly completed 21 of 31 passes for 381 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also threw a pick 6 and fumbled to give UK another defensive touchdown.
Once victory was assured for the Cardinals, Lexington native Kyle Bolin became the toast of Louisville.
Down 13-0, Petrino sent Bolin onto the field with an empty backfield, showing UK that the new kid was going to throw. Two plays, two completions, the second one for a 45 yard touchdown strike to DeVante Parker.
Louisville would go on to win 44-40 in an epic seesaw battle.
“Let’s go,” Bobby Petrino said to UofL third-string quarterback Kyle Bolin after Reggie Bonnafon was injured during the second quarter. “It’s your turn, baby.”
Bolin snapped out of clipboard-holding mode, then promptly led the Cards from malaise to victory. In post-game comments, Petrino said of the quick quarterback switch, “There was no (time for a) ‘one for The Gipper’ speech.”
“Thanks, Coach Berezowitz. Happy holidays!”
Complete video wrap from The Crunch Zone
Teddy Bridgewater left for the NFL. Bobby Petrino replaced Charlie Strong as head coach at Louisville and quickly worked on the quarterback corps.
Will Gardner won the starting job and promptly beat Miami in UofL’s highly publicized ACC opener. Gardner threw for 208 yards on 20 of 28 passing.
Later in the season, Petrino lost Gardner to a season-ending injury and true freshman Reggie Bonnafon was thrown into the fire. Bonnafon played his best game against Notre Dame in another nationally televised clash. That’s two new QBs who delivered when it mattered.
Suddenly in the regular season finale, it’s Lexington native Kyle Bolin scampering onto the field versus his hometown university and Petrino’s quarterback tutelage struck gold again.
Wide receiver DeVante Parker made Kyle Bolin’s job a lot easier. The smooth senior Parker caught 6 passes for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Kentucky’s football season ends with a 5-6 record and 9-3 Louisville awaits its postseason bowl assignment.
