Miller Moss threw for two touchdowns and Isaac Brown added two more on the ground to lead the Louisville Cardinals, who hung on for a 27-22 victory over the Toledo Rockets Tuesday in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Back on the field for the first time since Nov. 1, Brown scored twice in the fourth quarter. His first, an 11-yard run, gave the Cardinals (9-4) a 21-3 lead seven seconds into the final period. The sophomore added a 53-yarder with 5:03 remaining. However, Toledo’s Avery Smith blocked the extra point kick attempt by Cooper Ranvier, returning it for a defensive two-point conversion to make it 27-16.
Brown, a sophomore running back, ran for 102 yards on just 10 carries. Keyjuan Brown, who also missed the final two weeks of the season, added 112 yards on 15 rushes. The Cardinals accumulated 180 yards on the ground, 100 coming in the final quarter.
Louisville started the game with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that Moss capped with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Treyshun Hurry. After that score, which came with 10:26 left in the first quarter, the Cardinals gained just another 70 yards in the first half.
Toledo (8-5) itself only managed 126 yards in the half, with its only points coming on a 41-yard field goal by Robert Hammond III with 11 seconds left in the opening quarter. Penalties hurt the Rockets in the first half, as they were assessed eight penalties totaling 65 yards.
The Rockets committed 14 penalties for 100 yards for the game.
Moss, a senior, completed 16 of 24 passes for 153 yards. He also threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Antonio Meeks with 3:40 left in the third quarter to make it 14-3. That drive came after Hammond missed a 41-yard field goal on the Rockets’ first drive of the second half.
Kalieb Osborne, making his first start for the Rockets, threw for 167 yards and a score on 17-of-28 passing. He added 77 yards on the ground.
Chip Traynum’s 3-yard scoring run cut the Louisville lead to five points, 27-22, with 2:24 remaining. However, the two-pass pass was incomplete, and the Cardinals ran out the clock.
