Jack Plummer aware of importance of Kentucky rivalry

Jack Plummer is still new to Louisville. However, it hasn’t taken long for one message to become ingrained in the sixth-year senior’s head: beat Kentucky.

“I’ve gotten a little bit of it. I still think I need a ways to go, but just walking around and people are like, ‘Hey man, you got to beat Kentucky,'” Plummer said on a recent appearance on “The Deener Show.”

After a record-breaking year with Cal football, Plummer joined the Cardinals this offseason. In his single season with the Golden Bears, the 6-foot-5 QB threw for 3,095 yards and 21 touchdowns, the sixth-most in a single season in program history.

During Cal’s 12 regular season games, Plummer ranked third in the Pac-12 and tied for 16th nationally in completions per game (23.50). Plummer had a three-star college rating, according to On3 Sports.

While Plummer’s season with Cal was successful, it wasn’t the bulk of his collegiate career. The Arizona native played for four years at Purdue. While there, Plummer played in 21 games with 13 starts over the final three seasons of his four campaigns at Purdue and completed 319-of-492 passes (64.8%) for 3405 yards with 26 touchdowns.

The former three-star recruit isn’t a stranger to rivalries. Purdue and Indiana are bitter enemies. Stanford and Cal can’t stand each other. Plummer seemingly enjoyed every moment.

“Obviously Purdue [and] Indiana, there’s a hatred there for sure. Every time we kick the ball off, no matter what team we’re playing, they would chant ‘IU sucks,'” Plummer recalled.

“To play last year though, in the big game — Stanford-Cal was actually a really cool thing. And that was another one when I was there. It’s like, ‘Hey man, you could do anything, but if you beat Stanford, it’s a good year,'” Plummer said. “To be able to play in that game was awesome. Just feeling the atmosphere and the packed house.”

Louisville will need Plummer’s rivalry experience to shine through. The Cardinals fell 26-13 to Kentucky last season in the final game of the regular season. UofL has lost its last four meetings with the Wildcats by a combined total 179-57.

The two programs are scheduled to face off again on Nov. 25. Yet, before Plummer can look that far ahead he must focus on the task at hand. First-year head coach Jeff Brohm and Co. will kick off the 2023 campaign against Georgia Tech on Sept. 1.