The Toledo program is in flux, and Louisville was able to take advantage. The Boca Raton Bowl had all kinds of impressive flashes from both offenses. When it was all said and done, Louisville prevailed, 27-22. For the majority of the game, the two teams traded punts and wacky turnovers before Louisville was able to break through and pull out to an insurmountable lead.
There are reasons for optimism moving forward for Toledo. However, as the team looks back at this matchup, it’ll be focused on what could have been. Toledo set a Boca Raton Bowl record with 14 penalties. It also set another record with a 50-yard field goal from Robert Hammond in his first-career game. He made his first and third kicks while missing the second.
It was capped off with an insane, 32-point fourth quarter.
Louisville Takes Advantage of Toledo Miscues for All the Beans
Defense Wins Beans
Both of these teams came in with solid defenses, with Toledo riding a strong regular season to a top-10 defense in just about every way. Of course, running through the MAC and dominating those offenses may not translate against an ACC foe.
In the first half, Toledo had the Cardinals’ number. Louisville scored a touchdown on an easy first drive. After that, Toledo stepped up. After giving it away via a fumble, the Rockets blocked a field goal attempt. Louisville had the ball five times in the second quarter, resulting in three punts, a lost fumble on what looked to be an attempt at a double pass, and the end of the half.
On the other side, the Cardinals forced a fumble off a quarterback scramble on the first drive. After that, Toledo came back to sink a field goal. But after that, Toledo was forced to punt four times in the second quarter with three three-and-outs.
In the second half, however, Louisville found paydirt. After Toledo missed a field goal, the Cardinals punched it in. They responded with a three-and-out, accentuated by a strip sack which forced Toledo to punt from deep in its own endzone. That drive ended in a Louisville touchdown as well.
Oddly enough, neither defense decided to make a play in the fourth quarter, resulting in one of the more exciting periods of football we will see this bowl season. Louisville gashed the Toledo defense for nine big plays (ie, runs of over 10 yards), and six were in the fourth quarter alone.
In total, the Cardinals forced 10 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Triple-Threat
Kalieb Osborne notched the first start of his Toledo career. There were moments where he looked every bit of a redshirt freshman. He looked unsure of his reads and often took off after his first option was not open. Osborne left a little bit to be desired when throwing the ball.
However, his natural athleticism is something else. Osborne had some success in both designed runs and scrambles against the Louisville defense. The Cardinals blitzed often, and he was able to take advantage by running right by.
On the day, Osborne took off for 18 carries for 77 yards, a Boca Raton Bowl record for a quarterback. He missed his receivers on far too many occasions. At the same time, when Toledo was on the mat, he fired a dart to his tight end on fourth-and-eleven to cut into the lead. After the two-point try was successful thanks to a Chip Trayanum run, the Rockets trailed, 21-11.
Oh, and he launched a perfect quarterback pooch punt to pin Louisville inside the 10-yard line.
Cardinals Flying High
Miller Moss struggled for the majority of the game, but he found Caullin Lacy for a massive 28-yard completion for Louisville’s first third-down completion of the game well into the third quarter. Lacy ended the game with 88 yards on six receptions, leading all receivers.
The difference was the two-headed monster at running back. For a large chunk of this game, Toledo completely took away the run game. Then, Louisville turned it up a notch in the second half, led by Keyjuan Brown and Isaac Brown. Both backs took advantage of Toledo’s aggressive front and earned chunk yards with ease. The inside zone run was working perfectly with Isaac Brown’s impressive vision.
When Toledo notched that record-breaking field goal to pull within seven, Brown took off for a back-breaking 53-yard touchdown. He finished the day with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. Keyjuan Brown had his success as well, particularly in the fourth quarter. His contribution led all rushers with 112 yards on 12 carries
What’s Next?
Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm has been a popular option for the open Michigan job. He’s been the leader of the Cardinals for the last three seasons. It would likely take quite an offer to pry him away from his alma mater. Meanwhile, Toledo heads into 2026 with its first new coach since 2016. Jason Candle is headed to UCONN, so former Mercer head coach Mike Jacobs will become the program’s sixth head coach since Nick Saban left after the 1990 season.
Next year’s Louisville schedule features Ole Miss, Kentucky, and Villanova out of conference, while drawing Georgia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Syracuse, North Carolina, Pitt, SMU, Stanford, and NC State in the ACC. For the Rockets, Toledo gets Michigan State, Syracuse, San Diego State, and Central Connecticut out of conference. As for its MAC schedule, thanks to Northern Illinois’s defection to the MWC, it’s still in progress.
Main Images: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images
