Louisville-West Virginia rivalry
{|td align=right border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=5>
<tr><td align="center" width="140px"><td>
<td align="center" width="140px"><td>
|}
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; clear: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 23em;"
|- style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: {{{Color|LightSteelBlue}}};" | Louisville Cardinals-West Virginia Mountaineers
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center" | [[Image:LouisvilleCardinals.png|125px]] [[Image:WestVirginiaMountaineers.png|125px]]
|-
! style="background: #E0E7EF;" colspan="2" | History
|-
| '''1st Meeting''' || [[September 8]], [[1984]]
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Last Meeting''' || [[November 8]], [[2007]]
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Next Meeting''' || [[2008]]
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Number of Meetings''' || 9
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''All-Time Series''' || [[West Virginia Mountaineers|WVU]]: 7-2
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Largest victory''' || [[West Virginia Mountaineers|WVU]]: 52-13 (9/07/1985)
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Current Streak''' || [[West Virginia Mountaineers football|WVU]]: Won 1
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Longest Louisville Win Streak''' || 1 (1990 & 2006)
|-
| style="vertical-align: top;" | '''Longest West Virginia Win Streak''' || 4 (1984-1986, 1989)
|}
The '''Louisville-West Virginia rivalry''' is a new rivalry game between the [[University of Louisville]] and [[West Virginia University]] [[American football|football]] teams. The rivalry was introduced in [[2005]], as Louisville left [[C-USA|Conference USA]] and moved into the [[Big East]] conference.{{fact|date=January 2008}} Since then, it has become a marquee matchup in Big East play and college football. The game has also become more important in [[basketball]] play as well.{{fact|date=January 2008}}
West Virginia leads the current series 2-1, and The All-time series 7-2.{{fact|date=January 2008}}
==History==
===Pre-rivalry===
The Mountaineers and Cardinals first met on a football field in [[1984]].{{fact|date=January 2008}} In that game, the Cardinals were defeated at [[Mountaineer Field]] in [[Morgantown, West Virginia|Morgantown]] to a score of 30-6. The next year, [[1985]], the Mountaineers again defeated Louisville, this time to a score of 52-13, infront of 62,000 fans in Morgantown. In [[1986]], the first game was played in [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], but the Mountaineers won for the third-straight time, 42-19.
In [[1989]], the #9 Mountaineers came into Louisville to fans who were calling the game, the “Game of the Century.” Louisville legend [[Johnny Unitas]] and West Virginia legend [[Sam Huff]] were brought in on helicopter to watch the ceremonial coin toss infront of a [[CBS]]-televised audience. The Cardinals were winning the game going into the fourth quarter, before the Mountaineers rolled off 17 unanswered-fourth quarter points to win the game, 30-21.<ref>http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=10002&cat=exclusives</ref>
In [[1990]], the Mountaineers suffered their first loss to the Cardinals. In Morgantown, the Mountaineers fell to Louisville, 9-7.{{fact|date=January 2008}} The game was hailed as "The Rematch".{{or|date=January 2008}}In [[1993]], the Mountaineers were down 21-10 going into the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers used Louisville turnovers to then comeback and win by a score of 36-34.
===Early rivalry===
In [[2005]], the [[Big East Conference]] opened its season with the arrival of three teams from the [[Conference USA]]: [[University of Louisville|Louisville]], [[University of Cincinnati|Cincinnati]], and [[USF|South Florida]]. Louisville entered the season behind [[Heisman]] candidates [[Brian Brohm]] and [[Michael Hart]]. West Virginia entered the season with a young team. The Mountaineers lost early to [[Virginia Tech]], but rallied behind freshman [[Patrick White (American football)|Pat White]] and [[Steve Slaton]] to have a 5-1 record for the matchup, while Louisville entered with a 4-1 record after being upset by South Florida. In the game, Louisville held a 24-7 record going into the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers rallied behind Slaton and scored three consecutive times to tie the game 24-24. The game went into three overtimes, and the Mountaineers held a 46-44 lead after Louisville scored a touchdown. Brohm tried to run on the ensuing 2-point conversion, but was tackled short of the endzone by [[Eric Wicks]] to win the game, 46-44, for the Mountaineers. Slaton scored a Big East record six times in this game, cementing his place in West Virginia lore. Controversy surrounded this game due to an onside kick in the fourth quarter by West Virginia, which fans determined was illegal. The Big East apologized for missing the call after the game.<ref>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2195722</ref> The Mountaineers won the Big East championship and upset the [[Georgia Bulldogs]] in the [[Sugar Bowl]], 38-35. Louisville lost the Virginia Tech in the [[Gator Bowl]], 35-24.
In [[2006]], the Mountaineers and Cardinals entered the game undefeated. The Mountaineers were ranked #3, while the Cardinals were ranked #5. The game ended with a 44-34 score in the Cardinals' biggest win in school history.{{fact|date=January 2008}}{{Lopsided|date=January 2008}} The Cardinals entered the game without Michael Bush, but relied on the arm of Brian Brohm and their defense to win the shootout. The Mountaineers committed three turnovers and the Cardinals took a punt and fumble back for touchdowns. Slaton ran for 156 yards and a score, but fumbled twice, and White threw for 222 yards and ran for 125 yards and 4 touchdowns. But Brohm was the star, as he threw for 354 yards and a touchdown against the poor Mountaineers' secondary.{{Lopsided|date=January 2008}} The game set a new [[Big East]] record with 1,008 total yards in the game.{{fact|date=January 2008}} The Cardinals won the Big East crown and won in the [[Orange Bowl (game)|Orange Bowl]] against the [[Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC]] champs, [[Wake Forest]]. The Mountaineers earned runner-up status in conference play and won in the [[Gator Bowl]] against [[2006 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team|Georgia Tech]], 38-35.
In [[2007]], the #7 Mountaineers entered the match-up with a 7-1 record after losing to South Florida, who after the win was ranked #2 in the nation before losing three games in a row. The Cardinals entered the season with a new head coach, [[Steve Kragthorpe]], and entered the game with a disappointing 5-4 record after an early season loss to [[University of Syracuse|Syracuse]]. The Cardinals, however, still had [[Brian Brohm]], while Slaton and White were still juniors for the Mountaineers. The game looked like an easy win for the Mountaineers, who jumped out to an early 21-7 lead.{{Lopsided|date=January 2008}} However, Brohm had a one-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-14 at halftime. The Mountaineers added a field goal, and then forced Brohm to fumble on a sack that safety [[Eric Wicks]] took 44 yards for a score to make the game 31-14. The Cardinals answered with three straight scores - two touchdowns and a field goal - to make it 31-31 with 3:05 left in the game. However, freshman running back [[Noel Devine]] returned a kickoff for 41 yards, which led to Patrick White's 50-yard game-winning touchdown run.{{fact|date=January 2008}} West Virginia kicker [[Pat McAfee]] booted the ensuing kickoff down to the one-yard line as it rolled between the Cardinals' returners' legs, which sealed the 38-31 win. White racked up 328 total yards and 3 touchdowns, even though fumbling twice, while Slaton was held to 60 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Brohm had 345 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air, and a rushing touchdown, as he tried to lead the Cardinals to a comeback win.
==Game results==
Games before the game was officially considered a rivalry are annoted with * by the date.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Start|type=rivalry|conf=|bowl=|rivalryteam1=Home|rivalryteam2=Away}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[1984]]*
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 30
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 6
| location = [[Morgantown, West Virginia|Morgantown]]
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[1985]]*
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 52
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 13
| location = Morgantown
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = away
| year = [[1986]]*
| hometeam = Louisville
| homescore = 19
| awayteam = West Virginia
| awayscore = 42
| location = [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]]
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = away
| year = [[1989]]*
| hometeam = Louisville
| homescore = 30
| awayteam = West Virginia
| awayscore = 21
| location = Louisville
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = away
| year = [[1990]]*
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 7
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 9
| location = Morgantown
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[1993]]*
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 36
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 34
| location = Morgantown
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[2005]]
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 46
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 44
| location = Morgantown
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[2006]]
| hometeam = Louisville
| homescore = 44
| awayteam = West Virginia
| awayscore = 34
| location = Louisville
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
| rivalrygame = yes
| wincolor = #FFFFFF
| winner = home
| year = [[2007]]
| hometeam = West Virginia
| homescore = 38
| awayteam = Louisville
| awayscore = 31
| location = Morgantown
}}
|}
==Trivia==
{{trivia|date=January 2008}}
*In the [[2006]] matchup, the Louisville Cardinals announced that the game would be "Black Out Thursday". The Louisville fans showed up at the game in all-black, and the Cardinals' uniforms were black alternates. In [[2007]], the Mountaineers announced that the game would be a "Gold Rush", using the same idea Louisville used the year before. The Mountaineers sported all-gold uniforms.<ref>http://www.msnsportsnet.com/page.cfm?story=10002&cat=exclusives</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[West Virginia Mountaineers football]]
*[[Louisville Cardinals football]]
*[[Big East Conference]]
[[Category:College football rivalries]]
[[Category:Louisville Cardinals football]]
[[Category:West Virginia Mountaineers football]]
[[fi:Louisville-West Virginia]]