In a game that many had labeled as a possible slipup for Bowling Green, Louisville almost pulled it off, eventually going down 22-12 to the MAC Conference leaders.

Louisville looked for all the world like they might take down the Falcons as they put together a very nice sequence for a try within the first three minutes. The Cardinals exposed Bowling Green out wide and put Chris Reithmeier in at the corner for a 5-0 lead. Cruelly, Reithmeier would leave the field ten minutes later with a high ankle sprain, and while freshman AJ Ayres did very well in his stead, Louisville had lost an experienced try-scorer in a crucial game.

Meanwhile, BGSU was stunned by the opening salvo and spent the next several minutes trying to regroup as they played some tough defense bottled up in their own half.

Relying on the foot of flyhalf Jake Kubicki, Bowling Green kept digging themselves out of trouble and finally started to get some decent field position.

Louisville's defense was equally tenacious but slowly BGSU worked their way back into the Louisville 22, and after several phases, struck back with a try of their own.

Kubicki spotted a gap in the Cardinal defense and won the 35-meter footrace to the tryline. His kick was good and BG had a 7-5 lead.

With both teams playing the rest of the half between the 22s, Louisville kept spreading the ball to the wider channels and had multiple line breaks, but could not turn those opportunities into points.  And then, Louisville was on the attack when Falcon No. 8 John Stuhldreher stunned everyone as he picked off a pass and raced 60 meters to score. Kubicki's conversion made it 14-5, which is how the half ended.

The second half started with the same intensity as the first with both teams understanding that it's the discipline that was going to set the two teams apart.

Kubicki got things going by landing a 22-meter penalty kick to put BG up 17-5, and then Falcon center Joe Johnson put Louisville in a three score hole when he slipped through a Cardinal tackle to score in the corner. The kick was missed but Bowling Green now led 22-5. 

Louisville then marched down the field with multiple phases of attack. The ball was played to the wide channels and then Louisville knocked at the door. After a few phases, the Cards crossed over the line with freshman Christopher Jensevold scoring the try. The conversion by Cameron Donlon was successful and the score was 22-12. Louisville made four subs, bringing in some fresh legs and younger players to keep the attack going. The subs made a huge impact on Louisville's dominance in the second half. They just couldn't put it into points. Donlon missed a penalty kick by inches, and Bowling Green continued to hold on.

Bowling Green 22 Louisville 12

The Louisville B side continued its unbeaten run with a 7-5 win over Bowling Green.

"I'm very pleased with our performance," said Louisville Head Coach Emil Walton. "The fact that we have a very young team and the program still in its infancy stages holding a candle against multiple Top 10 programs in the country is just a testament to the rapid growth of our program. The boys have bought into the system and process and we will continue to grow and compete at the highest level. You might not like the Cardinals, but you can't ignore us; we're not going away any time soon." 

Next week Bowling Green will  be hosting Notre Dame University while Louisville will be hosting Western Michigan as those two clubs battle it out for the number two slot in the Mid American Conference.