No. 22 Louisville lost 34–27 to SMU on Saturday after an apparent fumble by Mustangs running back Brashard Smith was overturned on a replay review.
Smith looked as if he fumbled after gaining 19 yards on a rush to the Louisville 13-yard line and the ball was recovered by the Cardinals. That was the call on the field. However, upon reviewing the play, officials ruled that Smith’s shin had touched the ground before the ball came loose from his right arm.
Retaining possession, SMU advanced to the Louisville 1-yard line on consecutive pass interference and offsides penalties. On the next play, LJ Johnson Jr. scored on a rush up the middle.
On the following series, Louisville drove 59 yards on nine plays toward the game-tying score highlighted by a 32-yard pass from Tyler Shough to Mark Redman followed by a hands to the face penalty on SMU defensive lineman Cameron Robertson.
Three plays later, Shough was picked off in the end zone by Isaiah Nwokobia. That effectively ended the game with 2:34 remaining and SMU able to run out the clock on a Johnson 11-yard run and an 18-yard pass from Kevin Jennings to Key’Shawn Smith.
