"Throw out the record books." Stoops, Brohm Talk Governor's Cup Rivalry

Rivalry week football is back and neither coach is shying away from the importance of the Governor’s Cup. Unlike all of the previous rivalry week games that wrapped up the regular season, Kentucky is playing Louisville without postseason stakes.

It doesn’t matter. Mark Stoops always has his team ready to play against the Cards, even when they were overmatched.

“We hadn’t done very much and they were top five, top 10 team at the time. And I never shied away from the importance of this game,” the Kentucky head coach said on Monday.

“Told you that day one, game one, and I’ll say it again this year: it doesn’t really matter what the records are or anything like that. I have a lot of respect for Jeff (Brohm) in the way he coaches in their program, but it’s important. It’s important to our fanbase, it’s important to our players. It’s important to me that we go play well.”

Brohm echoed a similar message during his Monday presser.

“Our guys understand this is a rivalry game. It’s a game we haven’t won in quite some time, and we want to play well,” said the Louisville head coach.

“You can throw out any records. In this game, you’ve got to show up ready to play. Kentucky’s a very talented team, a lot of the same guys on defense they had last year. They can hold people to a small amount of points. They’ve got very capable athletes on offense as well. So this is, you know, we’ve got to continue to improve and eliminate some silly mistakes we’ve made in the past and be as clean as we possibly can in all three segments in order to win.”

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board.

Did Jeff Brohm Guarantee a Victory?

“I hope everybody enjoys Thanksgiving. I’ll possibly enjoy it after the game,” he said Monday.

Here is the full video of everything Louisville coach Jeff Brohm said about Thanksgiving … pic.twitter.com/R74YROliAl

— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) November 25, 2024

That quote piqued the interest of many Kentucky football fans. I have a little different perspective. We’re kinfolk, first cousins. When he showed up to Thanksgiving last year, I had spent the whole day working the phones to try to confirm Mark Stoops to Texas A&M and he had clearly spent the whole day preparing for the Kentucky game. It was not the most enjoyable holiday for either of us. Doubt he’ll enjoy the holiday too much this year either.

That is the only time you’ll hear me defend family members wearing red this week. Back to the Ls Down from here on out.

Hear more Kentucky-Louisville talk on the KSR Football Podcast.