Have You Seen Me: Lost Keg of Nails, Taken by Flock of Cardinals

October 26, 2012; Louisville, KY USA; Louisville Cardinals cornerback Terell Floyd (19) intercepts a pass intended for Cincinnati Bearcats tight end Travis Kelce (18) during overtime at Papa John

The Keg of Nails is a coveted trophy in college football that travels the interstate of 71, between the cities of Cincinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky. It is a tradition that dates back to 1929 when the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats began playing one another in football. A rivalry between two schools that started with their basketball teams bled over to the gridiron when rival fraternities came up with the idea to hand out a keg of nails to the winning team of the matchup every year to signify that the team was tough as nails.

Since the inception of the trophy, The Keg of Nails has found solace in the Queen City as the Bearcats have dominated the Cardinals with a record of 30-21-1. In fact, Louisville hasn’t seen as much of a glimpse of the keg in the past four years. That all changed on Thursday night though.

The Cardinals finally found their stride against their Big East Conference rivals at home on their way to an undefeated 8-0 record. The 5-2 Bearcats didn’t make it easy for them, though. Cincinnati got out to an early lead and led by as much as 10 points on two separate occasions in the game. Louisville rallied each time, though, and sent the game to overtime.

Bearcat fans looked on in disbelief as Munchie Legaux floated the ball to Louisville’s Terell Floyd for an interception. Not only did this blow the first possession opportunity in overtime for the Bearcats, it led to a John Wallace 30 yard field goal kick to end the game. The final score was UC 31, UofL 34.

This is the second straight dropped game for the Bearcats after going 5-0 to start the season. If two weeks of losing is not bad enough, the Cincinnati quarterback Legaux stated earlier in the week that he was better than his Louisville counterpart. This declaration from Munchie set the team up for even more disappointment after watching Louisville hoist the Keg of Nails over their heads at the end of the game.

It should be noted that Legaux threw for 157 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. He also rushed for 32 yards, bringing his total yardage to 189. Meanwhile, Bridgewater threw for 416 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Though, the Cincinnati quarterback may be the best quarterback of the two overall, he certainly was not on Thursday night. Whether his words sparked Bridgewater and the Cards to a win or not, Cincinnati needs to find a way to rebound next week against Syracuse at home.

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